Replying to a Zero Hour mention in the Upper House of Parliament or Rajya Sabha, Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar said the ministry had received a lot of suggestions and complaints regarding the regulation of OTTs.
Replying to a Zero Hour mention, Javadekar said, “Guidelines and direction are almost ready. It will be soon be implemented,” adding that the government had also held several consultations with OTT players and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), urging them to put in place a self-regulatory mechanism for content over OTT platforms.
The Union Government has vide notification dated 9.11.2020 amended the Allocation of Business Rules while bringing news, current affairs, and audio-visual content on online platforms under the I&B Ministry’s mandate.
Meanwhile, IAMAI has said that it had finalised its self-regulation implementation toolkit that lays down guiding principles and procedures. “We will start the verification by March and April to ensure full compliance with the code by August,” IAMAI co-chair digital entertainment committee Gourav Rakshit, adding that the toolkit had addressed the government’s concerns.
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5, Voot, and SonyLIV have signed the document while MX Player and Disney+ Hotstar are expected to sign soon.
