I&B Ministry
Despite industry’s closure threats, govt. implements 85 per cent pictorial warning on tobacco packets
New Delhi: Close on the heels of imposing stringent punishments to vendors of tobacco products in the vicinity of educational institutions in January and raising the tax in the budget in February, the Government has implemented its decision asking manufacturers to use 85 per cent space on tobacco packets on health warnings. The decision has come into effect from this month. An affidavit filed by the Health Ministry before the Rajasthan High Court on 28 March said the warning would appear on both sides of tobacco products and come into force from 1 April.
This follows a decision taken in September last year, after an earlier order for implementation from April 2015 was stayed in June by the Government to allow a parliamentary committee to study the issue further. The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Product (Prohibition of Advertisement & Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act also prohibits the sale of cigarettes or other tobacco products to people below 18 years and in areas within a 100- metre radius of educational institutions.
The Government nailed its latest decision by informing the Rajasthan High Court earlier this week to stick to its decision of 85 per cent pictorial warnings on every packet, thus forcing major tobacco companies to consider shutting shop in India. Interestingly, the Government has bypassed the advice of the Parliamentary Committee which recommended only 40 per cent pictorial warning. Until now, the coverage was forty per cent.
The Tobacco Institute of India said a unanimous ‘closure’ decision was made by the players in the industry in response to the ‘ambiguity’ in the centre’s policy on pictorial warnings on tobacco product packs. Prominent members of the TII including ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST have already announced their decision in this regard. ITC is already understood to have shut down five of its units. ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST reportedly account for over 98 per cent of domestic cigarette sales, along with other members of the Institute.
TII in a press release estimated a daily loss of Rs 350 crore in revenue for the tobacco industry from the production stoppage. It asserted that the revised pictorial warning would promote the trade in illegal cigarettes and affect the livelihood of 45.7 million (4.57 crore) people dependent on the industry.
The Indian tobacco industry had in mid-March written to the Health Ministry seeking clarification but did not get any reply, leading to the decision for closure ‘fearing, potential violation of rules by continuing production.’
TII has claimed that illegal cigarettes account for one-fifth of the industry, resulting in an annual revenue loss of Rs 9,000 crore to the exchequer. It even blamed ‘foreign-funded anti tobacco activists’ and ‘vested interests’ for pushing such a policy.
In fact, many of the tobacco majors in the country have already made inroads in other sectors like hotels, FMCG etc.
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.
