NEW DELHI: After nearly 11 years, the Central government on Wednesday approved the guidelines for the uplinking and downlinking of TV channels in India. The I&B Ministry announced a relaxation in guidelines for compliance for television channels in New Delhi today. As per the new guidelines, no prior permission for a live telecast of events would be needed; only prior registration of events to be telecast live would be necessary. Additionally, television channels will have to broadcast 30 minutes of public interest content every day on themes of national interest such as education and spread of literacy, agriculture and rural development, health and family welfare, science and technology, the welfare of women, the welfare of the weaker sections of the society, protection of the environment and of cultural heritage and national integration.
“It is not that the government will give any programs to the television channels for broadcasting under public interest content. The channels are free to create their own content on the themes mentioned in the guidelines,” I&B secretary Apurva Chandra said.
The consolidated guidelines are aimed at easing issues regarding permissions to the companies/ LLPs registered in India for uplinking and downlinking of TV Channels, setting up of Teleports/ Teleport Hubs, use of Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG)/ Satellite News Gathering (SNG)/ Electronic News Gathering (ENG) systems, uplinking by Indian news agencies and temporary uplinking of a live event.
The ‘Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Television Channels in India, 2022’, which have been approved by the Union Cabinet, allow limited liability partnerships and companies to allow uplinking of foreign channels from Indian teleports for beaming content in countries covered by the satellite.