I&B Ministry
Action against GECs almost three times more than against news channels
NEW DELHI: Action was taken by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) 74 times against different television channels in the three years between April 2011 and March 2014.
Of these, action mostly in the form of advisories was taken suo moto by the I&B Ministry 12 times – seven against general entertainment channels and five against news channels.
Of the balance 62 cases, there were reports of violation by GECs 46 times and news channels 16 times.
In 16 cases, channels had to stop transmission for varying periods, while other punishments were either warnings or directives to run apology scrolls.
There were only six cases relating to advertisements, four of them about deodorants and two about liquor.
There is only one case where a channel was prohibited from telecasting a certain film in day-time following a Court order.
The rest of the cases were about telecast of adult certified films before 11.00 pm or in day-time, screening films without showing the certificate of the Central Board of Film Certification, obscene or vulgar content, scenes denigrating children or likely to affect them, revealing identity of sexually abused women or children, inflammatory or provocative matter, scenes that showed the lower castes or dalits in a bad light, and scenes promoting superstition or blind belief.
Individually, action was initiated against Bindass five times and three times each against Sony Entertainment Television, Colors, and Manoranjan TV. Action was initiated twice in the case of Channel V, SS TV, FTV and Comedy Central. 40 other channels faced action only once each.
The advisories from the Ministry related to guidelines relating to taking children in TV programmes or hiding identity of trauma-affected children, telecast of quiz-based programmes, against programmes promoting superstition and blind belief, news about movement of troops, showing as news scenes from uncertified films, barring telecast of a round-the-clock public demonstration, comparison of prime minister’s speech on Independence Day with that of other leaders, and live telecast of Republic Day parade from Doordarshan with sign language interpretation.
I&B Ministry
AIDCF moves TDSAT over Waves plan to stream linear TV channels
Industry body flags regulatory gap as OTT push sparks broadcast turf war
NEW DELHI: The battle between traditional television distributors and digital platforms has found its way to the courts, with the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) moving the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against Prasar Bharati’s latest OTT play.
At the heart of the dispute is Waves, Prasar Bharati’s OTT platform, which has invited applications to onboard linear satellite TV channels. Aidcf, which represents multi-system operators (msos), argues that this move sidesteps existing broadcasting rules and risks tilting the playing field in favour of digital platforms.
The federation’s petition hinges on a key provision in the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines, 2022. Clause 11(3)(f) allows broadcasters to downlink channels only if they provide signal decoders to recognised distribution platforms such as MSOS, DTH operators, hits operators and iptv platforms. OTT platforms, aidcf points out, do not feature on that list.
In simple terms, AIDCF’s argument is this: if OTT platforms are not officially recognised distributors, they should not be receiving broadcast signals in the first place. By inviting channels onto Waves, the federation claims, Prasar Bharati is opening a backdoor that lets broadcasters bypass long-standing rules.
The concern goes beyond legal interpretation. Aidcf says OTT platforms currently operate without a clear regulatory framework, allowing them to expand into traditional broadcasting territory without the compliance burden that cable and satellite operators must carry. That, it argues, creates an uneven contest.
There is also a warning for broadcasters. If they provide signal decoders to an OTT platform like Waves, they could risk breaching the very conditions under which their downlinking permissions were granted.
For its part, Prasar Bharati’s Waves initiative is positioned as a step towards wider access and digital reach, bringing linear television into the streaming era. But critics say the move blurs the line between regulated broadcasting and largely unregulated streaming.
The matter is expected to come up before tdsat next week. The outcome could do more than settle a single dispute. It may help define how India regulates the fast-merging worlds of television and OTT, where the lines are getting fuzzier by the day and the stakes, sharper than ever.
