ITV

Category: Regulators

  • Online film certification starts, 33% rise in ‘shoot’ permission

    NEW DELHI: A total of 41 shooting Permissions were given for foreign films/projects in 2016 which was approximately 33% increase over 2015. Stating this, the information and broadcasting minister M Venkaiah Naidu said his Ministry has been proactively taking initiatives to promote Ease of Doing Business in the Media & Entertainment Sector.

    The Film Facilitation Office (FFO) established by the Ministry in November 2015 provided a Single window clearance to facilitate film shootings by foreign film makers in India.

    The Annual Renewal process for existing TV channels has been simplified and permitted broadcasters can continue their operations by paying annual fee up to 60 days before the due date for continuation of the channel for a further period of one year. The payment can now be made online through Bharat Kosh Portal since 1 January 2017.

    Launching the Online Film Certification System of the Central Board of Film Certification e-cinepramaan here, Naidu said it would facilitate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Ease of Doing Business and Digital India. The complete automation of the Film Certification Process would enable Good Governance making the entire process transparent and efficient. The objective is to eliminate the need for human interface to the extent possible.

    The new system would be an important step in making the CBFC Office paperless and would enable effective monitoring and real time progress tracking for both CBFC Officials and the applicant (Producers).

    More online initiatives would be introduced in the Ministry as part of the roadmap for transparent Governance.

    Emphasizing on the need to keep pace with paradigm change in technology and current industry trends, Naidu said the Film Industry in India has been growing at a significant pace with a noticeable increase in the number of films getting released every year. The changes in the current processes of CBFC would ensure better facilitation and technological upgradation to match-up with the pace of Indian cinema.

    On the issues of Film Certification, Naidu said the recommendations of the Shyam Benegal and Mudgal Committees were under consideration of the Ministry. Consultations with former Ministers had been held to elicit their views on critical issues of certification. It was also proposed to have further consultations with stakeholders in the film and media sector. Thereafter, necessary changes would be brought about in the certification process.

    Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal Chairman Justice Manmohan Sarin gave an overview of the functioning of FCAT and the measures being taken by the body for facilitating the appeals.Minister of State for I and B Rajyavardhan Rathore, Ministry Secretary Ajay Mittal, CBFC CEO Anurag Srivastava and senior officials from the Ministry were also present on the occasion.

    The online system has integrated the payments made by the producers towards certification fees with the Bharatkosh portal, a Government of India system for all Non-tax revenue receipts. It would be the First Software to fully integrate with the Bharatkosh.

    The Salient features of the online film certification system are as follows:

    · In the e-cinepramaan, the status of each application would be visible online in the dashboard of the producer/concerned CBFC official.
    · In case of short films/promos/trailers less than 10 minutes, even for Examination purposes also, the producer need not visit the Office/Theatre. They can merely submit their creations online.
    · For films longer than 10 minutes, the applicant will only have to show the film at the Examining theatre and will not have to visit the CBFC Offices at all except to collect their certificates.
    · The producer/applicant would be informed by SMS/e-mail of the status of their application and any action needed, beginning from the receipt of application to the certificate collection.
    · The transparency in the system and elimination of middle men would mitigate chances of any corruption and would also avoid allegations of jumping the queue or rigging up of Examination committees.
    · The implementation of QR code on the certificates would eliminate chances of fraudulent certificates.
    · The system envisages a robust MIS system for performance tracking and efficient reporting.
    · The system has inbuilt alerts depending on the pendency of the application to ensure that time limits prescribed by the Rules are not violated.
    · Simultaneously, a new CBFC Website has also been developed bringing in new user friendly features and important information at the click of a button.

  • Notices to several Pak TV channels for ‘violations’

    MUMBAI: Freedom of speech is being curtailed in the sub-continent. Media watchdog Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has issued show-cause notices to nine channels — Waqt TV, Ab Tak TV, Channel 5, 7 News, Aaj TV, Sach TV, Roze TV, News One and Capital TV — for airing ‘fake news’ between 8.00pm and 9.00pm on 22 March about a plane crash in Kallar Syedan near Rawalpindi. The channels have been asked to respond by 31 March.

    PEMRA has also issued a notice to ARY News, a private channel, for airing “hate speech” against the country’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif asking it to respond by the same date. The regulator has the powers to ban the channel’s ‘offensive’ programme, cancel its operating licence and impose a fine of a million rupees.

    Also, PEMRA issued a separate notice to Dawn News TV for failing to comply with its decision to suspend Zara Hat Kay talk show for three days. The host on 9 March had discussed a corruption case against Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui despite a case being sub-judice. This act of violating the Authority’s order is tantamount to willful defiance and the Authority has directed the channel’s management to explain within three days i.e. before or on 27 March before 4.00pm why it defied.

    According to the ‘hate speech’ details, a guest speaker, who appeared on ‘The Reporter’, a programme on ARY on Thursday, termed a recent statement of Sharif as “blasphemous”.

    PEMRA said it was a dangerous trend. The hosts of the programme neither intervened on this occasion nor stopped him from passing such comments, which was a violation of PEMRA Code of Conduct 2015.

    In a separate case, PEMRA had informed the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) on 17 February to amend the advertisement of “Zong 4G” till 20 February before 6 pm;  otherwise, PEMRA under Section 27 of PEMRA Ordinance 2002 as amended by PEMRA (Amendment) Act 2007 shall prohibit the said advertisement forthwith.

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  • TRAI rejects complaint against free promos, says consumer comes first

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Commission’s contention that free promotional offers are responsible for the industry’s falling financial health and lower licence fee payments to the government has been rejected by the regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

    TRAI’s response is expected to be sent to the Commission next week.

    The response to the Commission’s letter dated 23 February 2017 on the lines that tariff and tariff orders, solely under the regulator’s purview, need to be seen in the broader context of consumer interest.

    TRAI feels it is responsible for tariffs and anyone having an objection is free to approach the telecom tribunal TDSAT, TRAI sources said.

    In any event, TRAI feels that the government’s objective cannot be revenue maximisation. Higher tariffs can lead to greater accruals for the government from licence fee, but there is social obligation. So, revenue reduction should not been seen with a myopic view, but in the context of larger policy objectives and long—term interest of consumers, the sources said.

    Stressing that competition in the telecom sector had resulted in better tariffs and services for consumers, the source said, “competition may be disruptive, but it also leads to cheaper tariffs for consumers“.

    Defending its stance on allowing Reliance Jio to extend the promotional offers, the source said, “TRAI had sought the Attorney General’s opinion on the matter, and the latter has also opined that TRAI was correct in not blocking the offers“.

    Last month, the inter—ministerial body Telecom Commission in a letter to TRAI had warned of a loan default by operators and asked the regulator to revisit its tariff orders and free promotional offers of firms like Reliance Jio.

    The then Telecom Secretary J S Deepak, who headed the Telecom Commission, had written to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman R S Sharma about the “serious impact” of promotional offers on the financial health of the sector and the capability of the companies to meet their contractual commitments, including payment of instalments for spectrum purchased, and repayment of loans.

    Reliance Jio rolled out free voice and data under two promotional offers — Jio Welcome Offer and the Happy New Year offer.

    The Telecom Commission’s letter had noted that licence fee collections for the current fiscal have been showing “alarming” downward trend on a quarter—to—quarter basis.

    “These collections have fallen from Rs 39.75 billion in Q1 to Rs 35.84 billion in Q2 to Rs Rs 31.86 billion in Q3. It is expected that this revenue will further decline in Q4 by about 8 to10 per cent. The annual spectrum usage charge revenues are also likely to face a similar decline,” the TC letter had said.

  • No middlemen in film certification process anymore

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Government has said that it has obviated the role for intermediaries/ agents in the existing as well as new online certification system.

    Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore has told the Parliament that the online system is user-friendly, and will be accessible to all the applicants.

    The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certifies films in accordance with Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Rules and the Guidelines made thereunder.

    CBFC is in an advanced stage of setting up the online film certification system which is likely to be made operational very soon.

    (Meanwhile, the government is still studying the two reports on film certification submitted by the Shyam Benegal Committee, a ministry source told indiantelevision.com.)

  • 28 complaints against 12 TV channels about reality shows since 2006

    NEW DELHI: Twelve television channels have faced action from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for 28 complaints relating to reality shows since 2006.

    Parliament was told by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Ministry Rajyavardhan Rathore today that in addition to the above, two advisories were issued – one relating to depiction of cruelty to animals, and the other about quiz-based reality shows – to all television channels in 2011.

    Interestingly, there has been no complaint against any TV channel wth regard to violation of Programme or Advertising Codes after January 2015.

    The channels were either warned or issued advisories, asked to run an apology scroll for a fixed period, or shift the programme to after 11.00 pm.

    Colors leads the list with six complaints of which five relate to different seasons of Bigg Boss. The sixth related to Khatron ke Khilari.

    Bindass comes next with four complaints, followed by three complaints each against MTV, Channel (V), and Sony TV. There were two complaints relating to Star One and Zee Telugu, and one each against Star Plus, Real TV, NDTV Imagine and Imagine TV.

  • Automatic renewal of TV channels subject to fee and ten-year validity

    NEW DELHI: The Government, which had said that payment of annual permission fee sixty days before the due date will by itself be sufficient permission for continuation of a channel for a further period of one year, has clarified that all the TV channels and Teleports are likely to benefit from this decision provided the validity of 10-year permission is available.

    Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said that broadcasters which hold valid permission for uplinking and/or downlinking will not be required to obtain annual Renewal Permission from the Ministry in conformity with the policy guidelines for uplinking and downlinking of TV channels.

    He told Parliament that the Ministry had taken initiatives to promote the ease of doing business in view of commitment to the vision of the Government and Prime Minister:

    The Government had also done away with the restrictions imposed under clauses 2.1.4 and 3.1.15 of the Uplinking Guidelines dated 5 December 2011 and clause 1.10 of the Downlinking Guidelines dated 5 December 2011 regarding appointment at top management position with minimum 3 years of prior experience in a media company (media companies) operating News/Non-News and Current Affairs TV Channels. .

    It has also been decided that in view of the exemption mentioned in Master Circular of RBI dated 1 July 2014, regarding the Exchange Earner’s Foreign Currency (EEFC) account holders, the broadcasters and Teleport Operators who have EEFC account, may now make payment in foreign exchange towards availing transponder services on foreign satellite for uplinking of TV channels/Teleports/DSNG Vans, to the Satellite service providers without approval of the Ministry.

  • Eleven TV channels directed to go off air for fixed periods in last three years

    NEW DELHI: Eleven television channels have been asked to suspend transmission for limited period of a minimum one day up to 30 days for violations of Programme or Advertisement Codes since 2014.

    However, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told Parliament today that the orders were kept in abeyance in three cases – DY 365, NDTV Good Times, and TLC.

    Of all the channels, News Time Assam was asked to stop transmission for one day for three different programmes.

    Only one channel – Satlon News – was asked to go off air for as many as thirty days in March 2015.

    The other channels asked to stop transmission for fixed periods were: WB, NTV, Jai Hind, Al Jazeera TV, NDTV India, and Care World.

  • Public broadcasters of India and Ethiopia to work in exchange of content

    NEW DELHI: India and Ethiopia have agreed to have an institutional mechanism for collaboration between public broadcasters of both the countries in areas of content generation and capacity building of officials.

    The two countries also decided to strengthen cooperation in critical areas related to communication and outreach and this cooperation would be worked out through a policy and institutional framework in the various domains.

    This was decided in a meeting between Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and an Ethiopian delegation led by its communications minister Negeri Lencho

    India would provide full support to Ethiopia for capacity building in critical subjects related to communication and journalism through the Indian Institute of Mass Communications.

    The possibility of student exchange programmes between educational institutions of both the countries was also discussed.

  • Report details of TV channels by Mar-end or face action, teleports warned

    NEW DELHI: Teleports which fail to give full information of TV channels uplinked or downlinked by them within 15 days will be considered as lapsed and action initiated to cancel permission.

    The Information and Broadcasting Ministry said in a note put on its website but dated 17 March that all teleports have to report within fifteen days according to the formula attached to the notice on mib.nic.in.

    The Ministry had on 7 January 20I3 directed all the teleport operators having permission for up-linking and down-linking of TV channels to furnish the detailed list of TV Channels being uplinked from their teleport every month.

    The note said: “It has come to the notice of this Ministry that some of the teleport operators are still not furnishing the above monthly report and those who are furnishing the report, the data do not match with the permissions issued by this Ministry for uplinking/downlinking of TV channels from their respective teleports.

    The Ministry had decided that all the teleport operators having permission for up-linking and down-linking of TV channels shall immediately furnish details of the permissions issued by Ministry till date for uplinking/downlinking of TV channels from their teleports in the fixed proforma.

    Teleports who do not give such information will be presumed to be non-functional and action will be initiated for cancellation of the teleport permission.

    “Furnishing this information is mandatory and non-compliance will be construed as violation of the uplinking guidelines”, the Ministry said.

  • MIB’s Ajay Mittal allays media industry fears, paints positive picture

    MUMBAI: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) secretary Ajay Mittal today expressed faith in the strength of Indian institutions to withstand the challenges in the Indian media sector that have arisen out of fringe elements at play.

    Pointing out that MIB and the other government departments have taken several positive initiatives for the upliftment of the Indian media and entertainment sector, Mittal said, “Have faith in the strength of the Indian Constitution and various institutions to take on the challenges created by fringe groups (on creative freedom).”

    His comments on informal and fringe censorship issues came about as they were raised by Star India Chairman and CEO and Ficci Entertainment & Media Committee chairman Uday Shankar in his theme address earlier. Shankar criticized the fringe elements trying to bring about parallel censorships and media curbs in a modern India and which was detrimental to realizing the dream of Digital India.

    Mittal, who was delivering the Inaugural Address at the 18th edition of the Ficci-Frames 2017 here, said that while the country’s rich traditions have ample scope to provide base for varied content, it’s time for distribution and monetization of content to step in and take industry’s growth to the next level.

    The Indian M&E sector’s CAGR of 14.3 per cent by 2020 would be “almost double the growth” of global trends, Mittal reeled out some figures in his address, saying that the government is fully aware of the importance of the digital media that has shown a growth of 35 per cent.

    The secretary also pointed out that to further ease doing business in India, the government has created a separate category of visas for foreigners under ‘film visa’ so more films, etc could be shot in India.

    Dwelling on IPR and taxation issues, two vexed matters of the media industry, Mittal said that the government’s endeavor was to work with various stakeholders so IPR could be adequately and effectively protected. “Apart from IPR, we have also held discussions with various State governments on tax matters,” he added.

    As part of MIB initiatives, Mittal listed out work on digitization, radio FM, incentivizing film production, streamlining government support for print medium, amongst many other achievements, firmly adding that the government’s effort to “liberalize” media industry “cannot be denied.”