I&B Ministry
Home Ministry to examine applications of MSOs for security clearance
NEW DELHI: Even as several multi-system operators (MSOs) have been waiting endlessly for security clearances to ensure they get licences for digital addressable system from the Government, the Home Ministry has now indicated requirement of fresh security clearance before renewal of permission can be considered.
According to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which has been pursuing the matter with the Home Ministry, the latter has finally decided to examine the application of which the details sent by the MSOs have been forwarded to it.
If found suitable, permission will be granted for renewal for an interim period up to 31 December, 2015 or till the final decision on your application for renewal of permission is taken, whichever is earlier.
However, MSOs have been asked to furnish an affidavit to the effect that the company will abide by all the provisions of the latest Uplinking/ Downlinking Guidelines and other relevant instructions and modifications issued from time to time.
All applicant MSOs have been asked to send the information to the I&B Ministry along with supporting documents at the earliest within 15 days to enable us to proceed further in the matter.
They may also enclose the details of Board of Directors (BOD) and latest Share Holding Pattern (SHP) including FDI component, if any, duly accompanied by requisite approval of the Foreign Investments Promotion Board (FIPB).
The companies may also ensure submission of the annual renewal fee for both Uplinking and Downlinking at rates as applicable as per Guidelines and for the period that may be due.
I&B Secretary Bimal Julka had earlier told Indiantelevision.com that he had sent a fresh reminder to the Home Ministry and also sought a meeting with concerned officials in this regard in view of the large number of applications pending.
Major players whose applications are pending for lack of Home Ministry Security clearance include Reliance Jio Media Pvt Ltd, CAT Vision Pvt Ltd, Signum Digital Network Pvt Ltd, Digirevo Networks, Goldy Dishnet Pvt. Ltd., Citv Television Network, Sri Udav Satvision and General Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
I&B Ministry
India turns up the heat on piracy, orders Telegram to axe 3,142 channels and blocks 800 websites
New legal teeth, nodal officers and notices to intermediaries signal that the government is done playing nice with copyright thieves
NEW DELHI: India’s war on film piracy just got significantly more aggressive. The government has ordered Telegram to remove 3,142 channels distributing pirated content, blocked access to around 800 websites through internet service providers, and put the full weight of freshly sharpened legislation behind the crackdown. The message from New Delhi is unambiguous: the free ride for copyright thieves is over.
Minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan spelled out the legal architecture to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023, he said, now contains specific provisions designed to make piracy a genuinely painful proposition. Sections 6AA and 6AB prohibit unauthorised recording and transmission of films, with violations attracting a minimum of three months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 lakh. At the upper end, offenders face three years behind bars and fines of up to 5 per cent of a film’s audited gross production cost — a figure that, for a big-budget production, could run into crores.
The legislation also gives the government powers to act against intermediaries hosting infringing content, by notifying them under Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and compelling takedowns and blocking actions. Under Section 79(3)(b), intermediaries are legally required to remove or disable access to unlawful content upon receiving government notice or court orders. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, add a further layer of obligation, requiring platforms to ensure their services are not used to host or distribute content that violates copyright or proprietary rights.
To put enforcement into practice, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has established a dedicated institutional mechanism, complete with nodal officers to receive complaints. Copyright holders, authorised representatives or individuals can report piracy through a prescribed format, after which the government issues notices to intermediaries to disable access to infringing links.
The most headline-grabbing action came on 11 March 2026, when Telegram was formally notified under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and directed to remove and disable 3,142 channels found to be distributing unauthorised content belonging to OTT platforms, content owners and producers. The complaints that triggered the action came from OTT platforms including JioCinema and Amazon Prime Video, which alleged that copyrighted films, web series and other material were being shared on the platform on a massive scale. Telegram’s architecture, with its large file-sharing limits and capacity for user anonymity, has made it a favoured vehicle for exactly this kind of large-scale piracy.
The Telegram action sits within a broader pattern of escalating enforcement. Just days before the Lok Sabha statement, the ministry banned five OTT platforms for streaming obscene content: MoodXVIP, Koyal Playpro, Digi Movieplex, Feel and Jugnu. In July 2025, the Centre ordered the blocking of 25 OTT platforms accused of streaming obscene, vulgar or pornographic material, a list that included ALTT, ULLU, Big Shots App, Desiflix, Boomex, Navarasa Lite, Gulab App, Kangan App, Bull App, Jalva App, ShowHit, Wow Entertainment, Look Entertainment, Hitprime, Feneo, ShowX, Sol Talkies, Adda TV, HotX VIP, Hulchul App, MoodX, NeonX VIP, Fugi, Mojflix and Triflicks.
Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provides the regulatory hook for those actions, prohibiting platforms from hosting content that is obscene, pornographic, invasive of privacy, gender-harassing, racially or ethnically objectionable, or that promotes hatred and violence.
For an industry that loses billions of rupees annually to piracy, the direction of travel is welcome. The question, as always, is not whether the laws exist, but whether the enforcement machinery can keep pace with the ingenuity of those determined to circumvent it. Three thousand channels down, and the pirates are already busy opening three thousand more.
