The first week of the month and the cableman comes calling for the subscription, service or no service. And there?s little you can do about it ? except refuse payment for service not provided, which in this case, could shave at least Rs 32 off your monthly cable bill.

The STAR channels are off-air in 70 per cent of the city homes. While STAR switched off multi-system operator (MSO) Manthan in March owing to dues, MSO SitiCable yanked the beam off its network in solidarity and in protest of the broadcaster?s ?high-handedness? in mid-April.

With consumer organisations sitting mum and the government failing to sort out the cable mess, viewers in the city are now beginning to voice their protest.

Leading the ?no-service-no-payment? cry are housing estates across the city, from Salt Lake to Santoshpur.

?There are several blocks in Salt Lake which are not being provided the STAR channels for quite some time. The operators should not charge for them either,? said Monimoy Saha of Cable TV Viewers? Forum, an association of residents formed in 2001 to tackle cable disputes.

?We have agreements with cable operators by which if service is disrupted for more than a week, the amount is supposed to be deducted from the monthly bill,? Saha added.

Agreed U.K. Ghosh of Neelachal Abasan, off EM Bypass: ?Whatever be the reason, neither the operator nor anyone else informed us that something like this would happen. They cannot be allowed to provide service at their whim.? The housing estate has decided to ask the operator to resolve the matter within seven days. ?Failing which, we will not pay the STAR portion in this month?s bill,? Ghosh added.

But operator unions leading the strike are not willing to take less for the service not provided. ?Only if STAR doesn?t charge the subscription can we think about such an option,? said Alok Jana of Cable Operators Sanjukta Morcha.

The amount to be deducted is another point of confusion. The pay channel rates added together amount to around Rs 300 but owing to under-declaration, the figure received by broadcasters is much less.

?We are urging viewers to ask their cable operators to shift to MSOs that are carrying the STAR beam or not pay the operators Rs 32, the maximum retail price of our first bouquet of channels,? a STAR official said.