Broadcasting Services Bill: Information and Broadcasting Ministry working on new Broadcasting Services Bill

The Ministry of Info and Broadcasting (MIB) is planning to return out with the Broadcasting Companies Regulation (BSR) Invoice 2023, which, as soon as it turns into regulation, will change the present Cable Tv Networks (Regulation) Act 1995, in keeping with a number of sources aware of the state of affairs who spoke to ET.

Whereas the CTN Act 1995 primarily regulates the content material and operation of cable TV networks, the BSR Invoice may have a significantly bigger scope as it’ll govern over-the-top (OTT), cable TV, direct-to-home (DTH), headend-in-the-sky (HITS), web protocol tv (IPTV), and radio.

The MIB grew to become the nodal ministry for OTT content material and digital information platforms in 2020.

“Broadcasting Companies Regulation will change the CTN Act of 1995. Nevertheless, the method will take time as we should first put up the draft invoice for public session. The invoice can be made public both in October or November,” an MIB official mentioned on situation of anonymity.
In keeping with the draft of the invoice accessed by ET, a broadcaster has been outlined as an individual who gives programming companies and has been granted registration below Part 5 for uplinking or downlinking of programmes.

OTT has been outlined as a broadcasting service that’s made out there on-demand or stay to customers in India, the place a curated catalogue of programmes is owned by, licensed to, or contracted to be transmitted over the web or a pc useful resource that’s not a closed community, and the place further {hardware} corresponding to a set-top field or dongle is required to entry content material on a non-smart machine.

The invoice clarifies that the OTT companies won’t embrace a social media middleman as outlined within the Info Expertise Act 2000.

The invoice has three components, with the primary half making use of to broadcasters and cable and satellite tv for pc broadcasting networks. The second and third components cope with radio and web broadcasting, respectively.

Each programme or commercial should conform with the Promoting and Programme Code, as could also be prescribed. Apart from, totally different programme and promoting codes could also be prescribed for linear, OTT, and radio broadcasting.

The violation of promoting and programme codes will entice fines starting from ₹5,000 to ₹10 lakh. The federal government may also ask TV channels to difficulty an apology or direct the channel to be taken off-air relying on the character of the violation.

The invoice additionally prescribes fines and imprisonment for cable TV, DTH, HITS, OTT, radio, broadcasting, and viewers measurement service suppliers who function with out registration. The high-quality ranges from ₹10,000 to ₹20 lakh, whereas the imprisonment ranges from two to 5 years.

To make sure compliance with the promoting and programme codes, the invoice prescribes a three-tier grievance redressal mechanism – self-regulation by the platform, a self-regulatory trade physique, and a Broadcast Advisory Council having 11 members from authorities and civil society.