Penal provision remains as TV channel renewal abolition comes into immediate effect

Penal provision remains as TV channel renewal abolition comes into immediate effect

M Venkaiah Naidu

NEW DELHI: Even as Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu announced doing away with the annual renewal permission for television channels provided annual payment was made 60 days before the due date, the Ministry in a note in the evening said non-payment in time will be considered violation of the guidelines.

The note on the Ministry website which said the order was coming into immediate effect also warned that violators would attract penal provisions under the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines.

Meanwhile, Naidu announced that the 28th State Information Ministers Meet (SIMCON) would be held in the capital on 9 and 10 December.

Critical issues pertaining to the films sector, community radio and social media are on the agenda.

Speaking at a Consultative Committee of members of Parliament attached to the Ministry, Naidu also said the focus of the Ministry is to make the processes online,thereby promoting transparency and accountability.

In the meeting that concentrated on the Registrar of Newspapers in India, Naidu said there was a need to update contemporaries and revise the legal mechanism in the print sector and to give statutory backing to Print Media Policy and various guidelines. In this context, the Minister apprised the members about the salient features of the proposed Press and Registration of Books and Publication (PRBP) Bill.

Also read

http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/ib-ministry/tv-channels-annual-renewal-abolished-963-companies-to-benefit-161111