diff --git a/cns/configuration/cns_config.json b/cns/configuration/cns_config.json
index 0cc1797962..16f72ef2f0 100644
--- a/cns/configuration/cns_config.json
+++ b/cns/configuration/cns_config.json
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
     },
     "MellanoxMonitorIntervalSecs": 30,
     "AZRSettings": {
-        "EnableAZR": false,
         "PopulateHomeAzCacheRetryIntervalSecs": 60
     }
 }
diff --git a/cns/configuration/configuration.go b/cns/configuration/configuration.go
index dfff508051..b31ae0c7f0 100644
--- a/cns/configuration/configuration.go
+++ b/cns/configuration/configuration.go
@@ -93,7 +93,6 @@ type ManagedSettings struct {
 }
 
 type AZRSettings struct {
-	EnableAZR                            bool
 	PopulateHomeAzCacheRetryIntervalSecs int
 }
 
diff --git a/cns/configuration/configuration_test.go b/cns/configuration/configuration_test.go
index 7de2d9bc1b..24f49c5701 100644
--- a/cns/configuration/configuration_test.go
+++ b/cns/configuration/configuration_test.go
@@ -84,7 +84,6 @@ func TestReadConfigFromFile(t *testing.T) {
 					TelemetryBatchSizeBytes:      16384,
 				},
 				AZRSettings: AZRSettings{
-					EnableAZR:                            true,
 					PopulateHomeAzCacheRetryIntervalSecs: 60,
 				},
 				UseHTTPS:     true,
@@ -238,7 +237,6 @@ func TestSetCNSConfigDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 					RefreshIntervalInHrs: 3,
 				},
 				AZRSettings: AZRSettings{
-					EnableAZR:                            true,
 					PopulateHomeAzCacheRetryIntervalSecs: 10,
 				},
 			},
@@ -261,7 +259,6 @@ func TestSetCNSConfigDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 					RefreshIntervalInHrs: 3,
 				},
 				AZRSettings: AZRSettings{
-					EnableAZR:                            true,
 					PopulateHomeAzCacheRetryIntervalSecs: 10,
 				},
 				WireserverIP:       "168.63.129.16",
diff --git a/cns/configuration/testdata/good.json b/cns/configuration/testdata/good.json
index a84c563792..ddc8cfb175 100644
--- a/cns/configuration/testdata/good.json
+++ b/cns/configuration/testdata/good.json
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
     "UseHTTPS": true,
     "WireserverIP": "168.63.129.16",
     "AZRSettings": {
-        "EnableAZR": true,
         "PopulateHomeAzCacheRetryIntervalSecs": 60
     }
 }
diff --git a/cns/restserver/homeazmonitor.go b/cns/restserver/homeazmonitor.go
index 84b1eb6676..3fb21e590f 100644
--- a/cns/restserver/homeazmonitor.go
+++ b/cns/restserver/homeazmonitor.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	GetHomeAzAPIName = "GetHomeAz"
-	ContextTimeOut   = 2 * time.Second
+	ContextTimeOut   = 5 * time.Second
 	homeAzCacheKey   = "HomeAz"
 )
 
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ func (h *HomeAzMonitor) readCacheValue() cns.GetHomeAzResponse {
 
 // Start starts a new thread to refresh home az cache
 func (h *HomeAzMonitor) Start() {
+	logger.Printf("[HomeAzMonitor] start the goroutine for refreshing homeAz")
 	go h.refresh()
 }
 
@@ -165,8 +166,12 @@ func (h *HomeAzMonitor) update(code types.ResponseCode, msg string, homeAzRespon
 		},
 		HomeAzResponse: homeAzResponse,
 	}
-	logger.Printf("[HomeAzMonitor] updating home az cache value: %+v", resp)
-	h.updateCacheValue(resp)
+
+	// log the response and update the cache if it doesn't match with the current cached value
+	if h.readCacheValue() != resp {
+		logger.Printf("[HomeAzMonitor] updating home az cache value: %+v", resp)
+		h.updateCacheValue(resp)
+	}
 }
 
 // isAPISupportedByNMAgent checks if a nmagent client api slice contains a given api
diff --git a/cns/service/main.go b/cns/service/main.go
index 43af60290d..8958ae2021 100644
--- a/cns/service/main.go
+++ b/cns/service/main.go
@@ -650,12 +650,6 @@ func main() {
 		return
 	}
 
-	homeAzMonitor := restserver.NewHomeAzMonitor(nmaClient, time.Duration(cnsconfig.AZRSettings.PopulateHomeAzCacheRetryIntervalSecs)*time.Second)
-	if cnsconfig.AZRSettings.EnableAZR {
-		logger.Printf("start the goroutine for refreshing homeAz")
-		homeAzMonitor.Start()
-	}
-
 	if cnsconfig.ChannelMode == cns.Managed {
 		config.ChannelMode = cns.Managed
 		privateEndpoint = cnsconfig.ManagedSettings.PrivateEndpoint
@@ -669,6 +663,14 @@ func main() {
 		config.ChannelMode = cns.Managed
 	}
 
+	homeAzMonitor := restserver.NewHomeAzMonitor(nmaClient, time.Duration(cnsconfig.AZRSettings.PopulateHomeAzCacheRetryIntervalSecs)*time.Second)
+	// homeAz monitor is only required when there is a direct channel between DNC and CNS.
+	// This will prevent the monitor from unnecessarily calling NMA APIs for other scenarios such as AKS-swift, swiftv2
+	if cnsconfig.ChannelMode == cns.Direct {
+		homeAzMonitor.Start()
+		defer homeAzMonitor.Stop()
+	}
+
 	if telemetryDaemonEnabled {
 		log.Printf("CNI Telemtry is enabled")
 		go startTelemetryService(rootCtx)
@@ -1015,11 +1017,6 @@ func main() {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if cnsconfig.AZRSettings.EnableAZR {
-		logger.Printf("end the goroutine for refreshing homeAz")
-		homeAzMonitor.Stop()
-	}
-
 	logger.Printf("stop cns service")
 	// Cleanup.
 	if httpRestService != nil {