I&B asks 121 pvt satellite channels to co-operate with EMMC

The I&B Ministry has asked 121 private satellite channels to provide necessary facilities to its content monitoring unit--Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC), failing which action would be initiated against the channels.

It has been informed by EMMC that content acquisition of 121 permitted private satellite TV channels of the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry is not being made possible since their technical parameters are not available with the content monitoring unit, said a notice issued to the channels recently.

The EMMC, which functions under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), is tasked to monitor the content of television channels and report on violations of the programme and advertising code.

The ministry also drew attention of the broadcasters to clause 5.5 of the uplinking guidelines which provides that a channel should provide for necessary monitoring facility, at its cost, for monitoring of programmes or content by the representatives of the MIB or any other government agency as and when so required.

All the broadcaster companies concerned are required to provide complete set of monitoring facilities/technical parameters in respect of their permitted TV channel(s) to EMMC for the monitoring purpose by May 30, 2018 positively, failing which action shall be initiated in accordance with the guidelines, the notice said.

According to policy guidelines for uplinking of television channels, the ministry can suspend the permission and prohibit the broadcast/transmission up to a period of 30 days in case of first violation of the policy guidelines.

In case of subsequent violations and non-compliance of penalty, the ministry could revoke the permission and disqualify the broadcaster to hold any fresh permission in future for a period of five years.