The Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued a notification to the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules to provide for a statutory mechanism for the redressal of complaints relating to content broadcast by the television channels..
The ministry said the rules have been amended to provide a transparent statutory mechanism that would benefit the citizens.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a tweet “The @MIB_India has by amending the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994, developed a statutory mechanism to redress citizens’ grievances & complaints against programmes of TV Channels. The @MIB_India has also decided to recognize Statutory Bodies of TV channels under CTN Rules”.
At present there are over 900 television channels which have been granted permission by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting all of which are required to comply with the Programme and Advertising Code laid down under the Cable Television Network Rules.
Any person aggrieved by the content of a programme of a channel as being not in conformity with the Programme Code or the Advertising Code may file his complaint in writing to the broadcaster:
Such complaint relates to Advertising Code laid down by the Advertising Standards Council of India, such complaint may be addressed to the said Council and that Council shall deal with such complaint in accordance with the procedure laid down by it. Advertising Standards Council of India shall take a decision on the complaint within sixty days of its receipt, and communicate the same to the broadcaster and the complainant.
The broadcaster shall, within twenty-four hours of complaint being filed, generate and issue an acknowledgement to the complainant for his information and record.
(3) Every complaint shall be dealt with in the following manner, namely: –
(a) the broadcaster shall dispose of the complaint and inform the complainant of its decision within fifteen days of receipt of such complaint;
(b) if the decision of the broadcaster is not communicated to the complainant within the stipulated period of fifteen days, or if the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the broadcaster, he may prefer an appeal to the self-regulating body of which such broadcaster is a member, within fifteen days therefrom;
(c) the self-regulating body shall dispose of the appeal within sixty days of receipt of appeal and convey its decision in the form of a guidance or advisory to the broadcaster, and inform the complainant of such decision within a period of fifteen days; (d) where the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the self-regulating body, he may, within fifteen days of such decision, prefer an appeal to the Central Government for its consideration under the Oversight Mechanism referred to in rule 19.
