Jail terms to be removed for violation of Cable TV Networks Regulation Act: MIB

As part of the ongoing exercise to reform governance, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has decided to undertake a detailed exercise to decriminalise minor offences under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. In this regard, the MIB has decided to delete the entire provision of Section 16, Section 17 and Section 18 under Chapter - IV of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, captioned as ‘Offences and Penalties’.

A major deletion is of Section 16, which involved imprisonment which may extend to two years for the first offence, and for every subsequent offence an imprisonment term which may extend to five years.

Moreover, any violation of the Programme Code under Section 5 or Advertisement Code under Section 6 shall invite an advisory, censure or warning; prohibition of transmission of the offending programme; or apology scroll specifying the date and time.

In severe cases of violation, a channel’s transmission could be stopped for a period not exceeding 30 days. In instances where violations are repeated five times or more for a channel, the Government may cancel the permission granted to the channel after giving due opportunity to the channel.

Section 18 that concerned cognizance of offences by a court has been deleted.