I&B Ministry Notifies Amendment Decriminalising Cable TV Act

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has notified the amendment decriminalising provisions of the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995.

Earlier, Section 16 of the said Act provided that contravening the provisions of the Act would result in punishment in the form of imprisonment. Thereafter, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, was enacted in August 2023, which proposed decriminalising minor violations under 183 provisions of 42 Central legislations. The 2023 Act further specified that instead of imprisonment, the penalty imposed by the designated officer under the Cable TV Act would be in the form of advisory, censure, warning, or a fine. As per the amendment, an appeal against the designated officer’s decision can be filed before the Secretary to the Government within 30 days.

Through a separate notification, the Ministry has also made changes to the Cable TV Network Rules, 1994 by defining “designated officer”, “local cable operator”, “Platform Services”, etc.