NEW DELHI: The government has come out with a progressive institutional mechanism for OTT platforms after several rounds of consultations with the stress on self-regulation, I&B minister Prakash Javadekar told representatives of various OTT platforms during an interaction on Thursday.
Speaking with representatives of Alt Balaji, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Jio, Zee5, Viacom18, Shemaroo and MxPlayer, among others, Javadekar said he had received representations from cinema and TV industries that while cinema and TV were regulated, there were no regulations for OTT platforms, a concern that led the ministry to develop a level playing field with the idea of self-regulation. Javadekar also said he was happy to see that many OTT platforms had welcomed the newly-minted digital media rules.
In a statement, the I&B ministry said Javadekar informed industry representatives about provisions of the new digital media rules. He also said the ministry would issue a format for this soon, while adding that the rules focus on self-classification of content rather than any form of government censorship. He added OTT platforms were expected to develop an effective grievance redress mechanism.
He also clarified that there would be no government appointee on the self-regulating body and the government would set up an inter-departmental committee to look into complaints that remain unresolved at the self-regulatory level.