Nasscom's feedback on the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023

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Nasscom's feedback on the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023

Sudipto

@Sudipto

January 17, 2024

Public Policy

159

On January 14, 2023, we submitted our feedback to the Ministry of Information and Technology (MIB) on the Draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 (Broadcasting Bill).

Our overall position on the Broadcasting Bill is as follows:

OTT Services should not be brought under the regulatory framework of the Broadcasting Bill: OTT services and digital news publishers are currently regulated under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules). The said IT Rules were specifically designed as a joint exercise between the MIB and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Based on the inputs we received from the industry, we submitted that there is no evidence of any market or regulatory framework which necessitated the inclusion of OTT services under the scope of the Broadcasting Bill.

An informed discussion on regulation of OTT services can take place once the draft of DIA is available for public consultation. At this stage, OTT services should not be brought within the purview of the Broadcasting Bill: The government is in the process of finalising the Digital India Act (DIA) to provide a future ready legal framework for India’s digital ecosystem. The core constituents of the DIA will be online safety, trust and accountability, open internet, and regulations of new age technologies. Therefore, it is expected that DIA will address issues related to OTT services in the context of their unique characteristics.
OTT services are unique and have characteristics that are different from broadcasting services and therefore, they should be treated in a different manner: The Broadcasting Bill overlooks these distinctions and subjects OTT services to obligations that should apply to only linear broadcasting services.
The Broadcasting Bill was introduced prior to the formulation of National Broadcasting Policy and conclusion of ongoing consultations: The outcomes from the consultation process for the National Broadcasting Policy (NBP), as well as other ongoing consultations, would have provided valuable insights for the development of the Broadcasting Bill. However, it is unclear why the Bill was issued before the formulation of NBP and conclusion of ongoing consultations.

Our specific recommendations are as follows:

There is a need to revisit the prescribed three-tiered regulatory structure for OTT services under the Broadcasting Bill (Chapter IV: Clause 24-29);
The establishment of Content Evaluation Committee, as prescribed under the Bill, is not required as OTT services already have functional in-house content evaluation practices (Clause 24);
OTT services should not be required to adhere to the Programme Code and Advertisement Code (Clause 19); and
The Broadcasting Bill should require prior publication and public consultation in places where rule-making powers are delegated (Clause 43).

Please see the attachment for our detailed recommendations.

For further details on the above feedback, please write to sudipto@nasscom.in with a copy to policy@nasscom.in.

broadcasting MIB OTT MeitY

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Sudipto