New Delhi: In a tizzy over Conditional Access System (CAS), the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is examining a proposal to set up a regulatory body for broadcasters and is likely to hold consultations with ministries concerned on the matter after the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

"In view of the emerging situation of broadcasting in its entirety and experience gained from CAS, it is required that a regulatory body be put in place," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in an informal chat on August 13.

However, he said there was need to discuss the issue with departments concerned before a decision could be taken on it.

Concerned about the major differences among stakeholders, which came to the fore because of CAS, the I and B Ministry now feels that broadcasting may require a structured regulatory body and should not be clubbed with the Convergence Bill, which has under its ambit telecom and IT as well.

There is also a fear that the Communications Commission of India (CCI), the regulatory body under convergence, may become too powerful if it had the authority to monitor all the three sectors, Ministry sources said.

The question the government faces now is whether one body can justify the larger interplay of forces, they said.

The officials of the I and B Ministry have been asked to examine the proposal of regulatory body. Prasad is likely to discuss the issue with Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Arun Shourie after the Parliament session.

PTI