I&B Ministry
CAS continues to stump I&B ministry
NEW DELHI: India’s federal government is still in a spot over the implementation, rather non-implementation, of the conditional access system (CAS) in the cities of Mumbai and Kolkata – with both the metros steadfastly refusing to toe the official line on rollout from 1 September.
A senior information and broadcasting ministry official today admitted that Mumbai is too hot for the ministry to handle and a “political decision would have to be taken” by the senior most ministers in the government.
Pointing out that the the 7 September address to the cable ops of Mumbai by Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray would be nothing but a “clarion call for revolt” (against CAS), the ministry official said: “In the wake of such unofficial boycott, a political decision has to be taken by the prime minister or the deputy prime minister in consultation with the I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.”
But that can only happen when Prasad, along with I&B ministry secretary Pawan Chopra, returns from Venice after soaking in some sun, movies (the film festival is on there) and, possibly, some bilateral agreements related to the film industry and entertainment content.
The Left-oriented West Bengal government, too, is no mood to relent. In one of its missives to the I&B ministry, the state government has said that the centre should call a meeting of all the states where CAS is being sought to be implemented. It has also been learnt that Kolkata has said that it would watch the Delhi scene very closely before taking a decision on CAS — to go ahead with it or abandon it.
This too has to wait the I&B minister’s return.
Meanwhile, the feedback that the ministry has got from Chennai, where CAS was rolled out in a limited way earlier this month, is that “people are saying they were better off without CAS.”
Some broadcasters too are realising that they may have got away lightly with other metros, but in Chennai the set-top boxes are moving too slowly and confusion reigns. “Our feedback is that about 5,000 boxes have been sold/rented over the last few days. But when you juxtapose this number against the cable subscriber base of over 1 million, the number of boxes out there looks ridiculously low,” a senior executive of a pay channel said
today after returning from Chennai.
One hopes that a rejuvenated Prasad will come back from Venice and sort out the various controversies that have plagued the scheduled rollout of CAS in the country.
Meanwhile, Mumbai-based lawyers are of the opinion that the central government’s dithering over the decision to postpone CAS (conditional access system) rollout in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata can be challenged in court.
I&B Ministry
CBFC speeds up film certification; average approval time cut to 22 days
Over 71,900 films cleared in five years as digital system shortens approval timelines
MUMBAI:Â The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has significantly reduced the time taken to certify films, with the average approval timeline now down to 22 working days for feature films and just three days for short films.
Operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the statutory body certifies films for public exhibition in line with the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. The rules prescribe a maximum certification period of 48 working days, though the adoption of the Online Certification System has sharply accelerated the process.
Over the past five years, from 2020-21 to 2024-25, the board certified a total of 71,963 films across formats. Of these, the majority fell under the U category with 41,817 titles, followed by UA with 28,268 films and A with 1,878 films. No films were certified under the S category during the period.
Film approvals have also steadily risen in recent years. The CBFC cleared 8,299 films in 2020-21, a figure that peaked at 18,070 in 2022-23 before settling at 15,444 films in 2024-25. During the same period, 11,064 films were certified with cuts or modifications.
Despite the high volume of certifications, outright refusals remain rare. Only three films were denied certification over the last five years, with one refusal recorded in 2022-23 and two in 2024-25.
The board may recommend cuts or modifications if a film violates statutory parameters relating to the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, defamation, contempt of court or incitement to an offence.
Filmmakers can challenge CBFC decisions in court. Data shows that such disputes remain limited but have seen some fluctuation. Between 2021 and 2025, a total of 21 certification decisions were challenged before High Courts, with the number rising to 10 cases in 2025.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan shared the data. The question was raised by Mallikarjun Kharge.
With faster timelines and a largely digital workflow, the certification process appears to be moving at a far brisker pace, signalling a shift towards quicker clearances for India’s growing film output.
