I&B Ministry
Day 17: FM Phase III bidding picks pace; winning price touches Rs 1116 crore
NEW DELHI: Bidding showed mild signs of picking pace as the number of channels being bid for also increased on the day seventeen of the e-auction for the first batch of FM Phase III cities. The cumulative provisional winning price touched about Rs 1116 crore at the end of the 68th round.
With this, a total of 93 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 458 crore.
Thus the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the corresponding 92 channels by Rs 657.59 crore or 143.5 per cent.
The cumulative provisional winning price has more than doubled at 102.8 per cent than the total reserve price of Rs 550.18 crore for the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities.
The Auction Activity Requirement rose to 100 per cent since 14 August, after being 90 per cent after the 37th round on 7 August.
Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources said the channel allocation stage will continue as long as bids are received for any of the 135 channels.
The thirteen cities for which bids have still not come are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.
The demand in most cities fell by up to three per cent and by four per cent below the excess demand at the price in 60th round in Hyderabad.
The Percentage Price Increment (in INR) applicable for the Next Clock Round was just one in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Cochin, Guwahati, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Mumbai and Nashik.
The highest provisional winning price in Delhi remained the same for the second consecutive day at Rs 169.16 crore (for just one channel), but rose marginally in Mumbai at Rs 122.81 crore (for two channels) while it was static in Bengaluru.
Among cities recording more than Rs 10 crore, it rose marginally in Cochin at Rs 15.04 crore and Nasik at Rs 10.94 crore.
Bengaluru with Rs 109.25 crore, Chennai at Rs 53.38 crore, Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Pune at Rs 42.03 crore, Chandigarh at Rs 19.04 crore, Jaipur at Rs 28.34 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore and Lucknow at Rs 14 crore remained static.
I&B Ministry
IT Rules tweaks are clarificatory, not expansion of powers: MeitY
Govt signals flexibility as platforms push for clarity on user content rules
NEW DELHI: The Centre has sought to dial down concerns over its proposed amendments to the IT Rules, with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology secretary S Krishnan asserting that the changes are intended as clarifications rather than an expansion of regulatory powers.
Pushing back against criticism from platforms and civil society, S Krishnan said the amendments “do not in any way actually give us wider powers” and are meant to remove ambiguity in how existing provisions are applied. He added that the trigger came largely from within the ecosystem, with intermediaries themselves seeking clearer guidance on compliance, takedowns and record preservation.
At the heart of the debate is the growing friction between platforms and policymakers over responsibility for user-generated content. Intermediaries have argued that they should not be treated on par with publishers, particularly when content is created and uploaded by users. Krishnan acknowledged this concern, noting that “a sharper distinction” between user content and publisher content is needed and is currently under examination.
The issue becomes more complex in enforcement scenarios. While registered publishers can be directly asked to modify or remove content, intermediaries often lack control over the original creator. “In such cases, the intermediary cannot direct those changes,” Krishnan explained, underlining the need for procedural nuance.
Another key proposal under discussion is to bring user-generated news and current affairs content within a more unified regulatory ambit, potentially under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The move follows suggestions that a single authority should handle such content, regardless of whether it originates from a publisher or an individual user.
Even as the government frames the amendments as a tidy-up exercise, fault lines remain. Industry players have flagged concerns over compliance burdens, especially for smaller businesses, and questioned whether advisories could effectively become binding without explicit legislative backing. Krishnan said the government is mindful of these risks and is exploring ways to ease obligations, including possible relaxations under certain provisions.
The ministry is also considering consolidating multiple advisories and guidelines into a more structured framework, a step widely seen as addressing long-standing confusion over what platforms are expected to follow.
On takedowns, the government has reiterated that due process will remain unchanged. Krishnan stressed that actions will continue to be governed by established procedures, with reasons recorded and review mechanisms in place. He also pointed to the surge in deepfakes and synthetic media as a factor behind rising content disputes, calling it a “scale challenge” for regulators.
Interestingly, Krishnan also framed social media platforms as commercial entities rather than pure vehicles of free expression, hinting at a broader shift in regulatory thinking as platform economics come into sharper focus.
With stakeholders seeking more time and, in some cases, a rollback of the proposals, the government has kept the consultation process open-ended. Krishnan said further revisions remain on the table, signalling a willingness to adapt the draft based on feedback.
For now, the message from MeitY is clear: the rules may not be tightening in intent, but the effort to define them more clearly is well underway.
