Parliament panel nudges govt to bring Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill

New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has nudged the government to spell out a timeline to introduce in Parliament the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill that was shelved last year after a furore over certain provisions that sought to regulate individual content creators.

The suggestion from the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, chaired by BJP member Nishikant Dubey, comes at a time the government plans to celebrate content creators at the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai from May 1-4.

The committee, in its sixth report tabled in the Lok Sabha earlier this week, has asked the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting "to set a deadline for completing the entire process (of stakeholder consultation) and introduce the 'Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill' in Parliament at the earliest".

The suggestion also comes at a time the Supreme Court has asked the government "to do something" about OTT regulation while hearing the case involving YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia for his comments on the comedy show India's Got Latent.

The ministry had informed the committee on January 17 that, after completing consultations with stakeholders -- extended until October 15, 2024, -- a new draft of the Bill would be prepared and sent for inter-ministerial consultation.

"Following this, the draft Bill will be submitted for the Cabinet's consideration. This process is expected to take some time. The committee will be duly informed about the progress of this process," the ministry had told the panel.

The committee, in its recommendations, said more than three months had passed since the additional time was given for receiving comments and suggestions from the general public and stakeholders.

It stressed on the need for a comprehensive law and asked the government to apprise it of the progress made with respect to the Bill.

"The committee call upon the ministry to set a deadline for completing the entire process and introduce the 'Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill' in Parliament at the earliest," according to the report.

The draft Broadcast Bill, 2023, was placed in the public domain on November 10, 2023, inviting views, comments and suggestions from the general public and stakeholders until December 9, 2023. The deadline was later extended to January 15, 2024.

The second draft was shared selectively in July 2024. It sought to impose obligations of OTT platforms on all news content creators, including those not associated with legacy media or registered digital media.

The government withdrew the second draft in August last year after backlash from stakeholders and announced that a fresh draft would be published after detailed consultations.