Banks and finance companies are hoping that several consumers will seek easy and cheap finance for set-top boxes after the conditional access system is introduced.

UCO Bank was the first to evolve new finance schemes for set-top boxes, whereby the equated monthly instalment will range between Rs 55 for an analog set and Rs 100 for a digital one.

Consumers will have to make a down payment of Rs 300-400 for a set and pay up the rest in EMI over a maximum period of 35 months at a 14 per cent interest.

Both the multiple service operator and the local cable operator would have to stand guarantors for the loan, industry sources said.

However, a collateral security will not be required. The bank has noted that the demand for set-top boxes is expected to be high from the first month itself. The demand will increase when any popular sports event is to be telecast, it feels.

"Many viewers will prefer to purchase the set-top boxes at instalments if a reasonable finance scheme is available," a source in UCO Bank said.

Apart from the price of the channels that the consumer chooses to pay for in the new regime, he will have to pay Rs 72 plus taxes a month for the free-to-air channels.

Both the multiple service operator and the local cable operator will have the technology as well as the right to switch off or black out a set-top box at the subscriber's end in case of any default.

This, the banks say, is enough to tackle defaulting subscribers and cable operators.

The bank is, however, of the view that several purchases will happen through cash payments in one go.

"Borrowing arrangements can be considered only for those customers who are willing to pay for the set-top boxes in instalments. Since we are not in a position to contact every buyer, the job of identifying borrowers may be left to the local cable operators," an UCO Bank executive added.