Puducherry: Chief Minister N Rangasamy yesterday assured opposition AIADMK that a full fledged survey would be conducted soon to ascertain the actual number of connections private cable TV operators serve here, aimed at ensuring statutorily prescribed taxes to the municipality.
Replying to complaints by AIADMK legislator Om Sakthi Segar who raised the main question in the assembly that these cable TV operators were evading payment of municipal tax and furnishing only false accounts on the number of connections, he said the revenue netted by the municipality had increased.
But still the government would conduct a survey so that a real and factual picture could be known`, Rangasamy said.
Segar said Puducherry had 1.73 lakh connections. But the operators were furnishing record that only 58,234 connections were being served by them. `This wrong projection deprives municipality of the tax`, the AIADMK member said.
In reply, both the CM and Local Administration Minister N G Panneerselvam said a detailed survey would be conducted soon.
The LAD Minister said the Centre was also going to digitise television and once this was done there would be utmost transparency.
The under declaration of Cable TV connections is becoming a prevailing issue in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry union territory due to the poor penetration of digitisation process.
Experts feel that proper implementation of digitisation in this markets only can give a permanent solution and help the government and broadcasters to see better revenue from this markets.
