Broadcasting & Digital regulations amend penalty structure; bring emergency powers

With the inclusion of digital news media, the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) Board felt that it has become necessary to review and amend the News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Regulations (Regulations) to bring it in sync with the evolving media landscape. Accordingly, the regulations have been amended to bring digital publishers under the purview of NBDSA, the independent self-regulatory body of NBDA. Several new definitions have been added in the Regulations, which include:

“Digital News Media” means digitized news content that can be transmitted over the internet or computer networks and includes content received, stored, transmitted, edited or processed by a Digital Publisher.

“Digital News Platforms” refers to platforms which facilitate transmission of digitized news content over the internet or computer networks including social networking sites or social media.

“OTT Platforms” refers to platforms which facilitate transmission of any program, feature, news-item, news-report or any other matter over the internet or computer networks on demand.

“Digital Publisher” includes a news portal, news aggregator, news agency and any other entity which is engaged in publishing of news and current affairs content on Digital News Platforms, OTT Platforms, Social Networking Sites and Social Media.

Penalties for violation of Code of Conduct

Penalties to be imposed for violation of the Code of Conduct have been broadened to include graded penalties, which are as follows:

Powers of Authority

“Where, on receipt of a complaint made to it or otherwise, the Authority has reason to believe that a Broadcaster or Digital Publisher has violated the Code of Conduct, the Authority may, after giving the Broadcaster or Digital Publisher concerned, an opportunity of being heard, hold an inquiry in such manner as is provided by these Regulations and, if it is satisfied that it is necessary so to do, it may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, direct the following penalties to be imposed upon the Broadcaster or Digital Publisher.

For the first violation issue/ express:

• Warning, admonish, censure, disapproval, regret, apology, and/or
• Impose a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh

For the second violation issue/ express:

• Warning, admonish, censure, disapproval, regret, apology, and/or
• Impose a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh

For the third violation issue/ express:

• Warning, admonish, censure, disapproval, regret, apology, and/or
• Impose a fine up to 1% of the total annual turnover of the channel,
• Provided such fine shall not exceed Rs 25 lakh, in any given matter.

In addition to the above, on the third violation of the Code of Conduct, the Authority may direct a particular programme to be suspended for up to one week and/or direct the broadcaster to suspend the anchor for up to one month and/or issue any other direction as the Authority deems appropriate to the Broadcaster or Digital Publisher and/or recommend to the concerned authority for suspension/revocation of license of such broadcaster;

Provided that the fine imposed by the Authority shall be recovered from the concerned Broadcaster or Digital Publisher;

Provided that if the Authority holds that the Broadcaster or Digital Publisher has violated the Code of Conduct, it will direct the Broadcaster/ Digital Publisher to immediately remove or suitably edit the broadcast/ publication from all Digital News Platforms, Social Media and Social Networking Sites.”

Suo-Motu proceedings

“The Authority has the power to initiate suo motu proceedings and issue notice or, as the case may be, take action in respect of any matter which falls within the mischief contemplated in these Regulations or relating to any matter falling within or arising from the Code of Conduct, and in such cases the Authority would be free to adopt its own procedure and such procedure need not be the same procedure as when the complaint is filed.

The Authority may exercise suo motu power in cases where public interest requires immediate remedial action to be taken, or in other cases where the Authority deems it fit to do so.

Where suo motu proceedings have been taken ex-parte, the Authority will issue notice to the concerned Broadcasters/ Digital Publishers within three days giving an opportunity to explain why further action under the regulations should not be taken.

The Authority may exercise its powers suo motu even on a subject matter brought to its attention by a Complainant whose complaint has been dismissed due to delay in filing the Complaint.”

New provision added in the regulations

Emergency Powers

“In the event there is an emergency situation involving egregious and/or continuous and/or repetitive violation(s) of the Code of Conduct in the telecast/ publication by the member Broadcasters/ Digital Publishers on a particular subject, the Authority shall also have suo motu emergency powers to issue interim directions to Broadcasters/ Digital Publishers without following the procedures as mentioned in the Regulations.

In such emergency situations, an urgent meeting of the Authority will be convened within 24 hours of such violation of Code of Conduct being brought to the notice of the Authority.

After the urgent meeting, the Authority can take action against any Broadcasters/ Digital Publishers including a particular channel/ Digital Platform/ OTT Platform, which would include a direction to remove the content immediately.

After the passing of any such interim directions, the aggrieved Broadcaster/ Digital Publisher may approach the Authority for redressal of its grievance immediately. If a suitable explanation is given by the Broadcasters/ Digital Publishers, the Authority can set aside the Interim Directions and direct the programme/ content to be restored.”

In a statement issued, the NBDA Board thanked Justice (Retd) AK Sikri, Chairperson, NBDSA; Justice (Retd) RV Raveendran, former Chairperson, NBDSA; and Arvind P Datar, Senior Advocate, for their guidance and inputs in facilitating the process.

The NBDA is the collective voice of the news, current affairs and digital broadcasters in India, whose membership includes leading news and current affairs broadcasters and digital news publishers, who run news and current affairs channels and digital news platforms. Members of NBDA are some of the nation’s top-rated news channels and they command more than 80 per cent of news television viewership in India.

The NBDSA, which was established nearly 15 years ago, has emerged as a time-tested complaint redressal system and process for the viewers. Since its inception, NBDSA has been headed by eminent former judges of the Supreme Court of India, and by other renowned Independent Members, who have striven to improve broadcasting standards.

Also read: NBDA highlights 7 areas of concern in Draft BSR Bill 2023