The meeting to finalise the rates of pay channels under the conditional access system on Wednesday ended in a deadlock with cable operators rejecting the proposals given by the broadcasters.

The meeting to resolve the issue was convened by information and broadcasting secretary Pawan Chopra, official sources said.

A consumer might have to pay about Rs 550 per month if he wanted to enjoy all the pay channels under the CAS, they said.

The sources said the idea of such a meeting with Chopra and other officials of the ministry was to put in place a concrete arrangement since there were several issues common to broadcasters and multi-system operators.

The government had asked them to come out with details of which channels would be free-to-air and pay, rates of each pay channel and details about arrival of set-top boxes which would be required to access pay channels.

At its meeting with broadcasters on June 10, the government had agreed to be a 'little flexible' on the June 15 deadline for declaration of pay channel rates.