No need to register, Government tells OTT bodies

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has clarified that none of the OTT (over-the-top) platforms will have to register with the govt and no government nominee will be present in the self-regulatory body.

The Ministry statement followed I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar’s interaction with representatives of OTT platforms

The statement stated that during the interaction, Mr. Javadekar said the Ministry was open to any clarification or queries from the industry.

“The Minister said it merely requires them to disclose information and that there is no requirement of registration of any kind with the Ministry,” the statement said. The Ministry would soon be releasing a form for the same.

The statement, quoting Mr. Javadekar, further said, “the rules focus on self classification of content instead of any form of censorship.”

Grievance redressal mechanism

The OTT platforms, he stated, were expected to develop an effective grievance redressal mechanism to tackle complaints raised about the content on these platforms.

“Dispelling rumours, the Minister clarified that in the self-regulating body, no member will be appointed by the Government,” the statement said.

Mr. Javadekar informed the industry representatives that under the rules, the government would create an inter-departmental committee to look at complaints that remain unresolved at the self-regulatory level.

Representatives of Alt Balaji, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Jio, Zee5, Viacom18, Shemaroo and MxPlayer among others attended the virtual interaction.

The Minister reasserted that the code of ethics had been brought in following representations from various cinema and TV bodies stating that while there were regulations for them, none existed for the OTT industry.

“Thus, it was decided that the government would come out with progressive institutional mechanism for OTT players and develop a level-playing field with the idea of self-regulation,” the statement added.