Draft guidelines for satellite TV channels

• Centre has issued draft new rules for satellite TV channels.

About:

• To overhaul its nine-year-old uplink and downlink policy for private satellite TV channels, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has issued draft guidelines.

• The Ministry has listed out 11 violations. These violations include:

• Delay or non-intimation to the Ministry about change in the shareholding pattern of the company,

• appointment of a Director without prior permission of the Ministry,

• non-removal of a Director who has been denied security clearance or

• showing dual logo/logo or name not permitted by the Ministry.

• For any of the 11 violations, the penalty ranges from warning, prohibition to broadcast up to 10 days and even cancellation of permission.

• All channels have to take security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which was the case earlier too.

• Once granted, the clearance is valid for 10 years. However, the MHA can withdraw the clearance which would mean that the permission to uplink would stand terminated automatically.

• A welcome change is the relaxation offered for non-news category channels to broadcast live events. Instead of seeking permission, now the channel merely has to register online at Broadcast Seva with the necessary document five days prior to the telecast.