The Centre has amended the Cable Television Network Rules. The amendment is to provide for a statutory mechanism for the redressal of complaints relating to content broadcast by the television channels. In an official gazette on Thursday, The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry notified the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021.

I&B ministry said that the CTN rules have been amended to provide a transparent statutory mechanism that would benefit the citizens.

Currently, there is an institutional mechanism by way of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to address grievances of citizens relating to the violation of the Programme and Advertising Codes under the rules. The ministry said in a statement, “Similarly, various broadcasters have also developed their internal self-regulatory mechanism for addressing grievances.”

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A need was felt to lay down a statutory mechanism for strengthening the grievance redressal structure, as noted by the I&B ministry. Some broadcasters had also requested for giving legal recognition to their associations/bodies, the ministry further added.

The I&B ministry said, “The Supreme Court in its order in WP(C) No.387 of 2000 in the matter of ”Common Cause Vs Union of India & Others” while expressing satisfaction over the existing mechanism of grievance redressal set up by the Central Government, had advised to frame appropriate rules to formalise the complaint redressal mechanism.”

The ministry said that the amended rules provide for “a statutory mechanism for redressal of the grievances/complaints of the citizens relating to content broadcast by television channels in accordance with the provisions of the Cable Television Network Act, 1995.”

It further added, “At the same time, self-regulating bodies of broadcasters would be registered with the central government.”

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At present, there are over 900 television channels that have been granted permission, said the ministry. All of these TV channels are required to comply with the Programme and Advertising Code laid down under the Cable Television Network Rules.

The amendment to the CTN rules is significant. It paves the way for a strong institutional system for redressing grievances while placing accountability and responsibility on the broadcasters and their self-regulating bodies, the ministry said.

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Complaint escalation & oversight

An aggrieved viewer can file a complaint directly to the broadcaster, who will have to respond within 15 days. If the indignant complainant is not satisfied with the response, the complaint can be escalated to the self-regulating bodies set up by TV channels. This escalated complaint with the case should be dealt in 60 days.

The amendment said, “If the complainant is not satisfied with the decision of the self-regulating body, he may, within 15 days of such decision, prefer an appeal to the Central Government for its consideration under the Oversight Mechanism.”

Hence, under the oversight mechanism, a complainant may prefer an appeal to the Central government for review.