Cable TV
MSO strike against service tax suspended
NEW DELHI: The All India Cable Operators Forum, today said it is “suspending” (not calling off) its indefinite agitation against imposition of service tax “in the interest of cable TV viewers and the ongoing Olympics at Athens.”
A convenor of the Forum, Siti Cable head Jawahar Goel said, “We are suspending our agitation in the interest of cable TV viewers as we don’t want to seen as standing between them and the telecast of the Olympics. We would continue our agitation after the Olympics.”
Another Forum member said that the “just agitation” should not come in between India’s performance in the Olympics.
The effect of the agitation, seen especially in smaller cities of North India, had resulted in people cribbing that they were unable to watch the India-South Africa hockey match, which India won 4-2, as also Maj. Rathore’s silver medal-winning performance in shooting in the Olympics.
According to Goel, the agitation’s suspension should not be viewed as a failure as it would be revived after the Olympics.
On Monday, the Forum had given a call for an indefinite nation-wide strike beginning Tuesday in protest against the imposition of 10 per cent service tax on MSOs and the cable industry, in general. The call, later, was boycotted by many independent cable ops and notably a big MSO, the Hindujas-controlled INCablenet.
