Centre likely to withdraw and revise draft Broadcasting Services Bill: sources

The draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill 2024 is being withdrawn and the handful of industry stakeholders who received the copy of the draft are being asked to return the physical document without any feedback, multiple sources aware of the developments told ET.

"MIB is likely redoing the whole thing," one source told ET, while others confirmed that it has been withdrawn and the Ministry is likely coming out with a revised note.

In the draft shared with stakeholders a few weeks ago, the ministry was understood to have expanded its remit from OTT content and digital news to include social media accounts and online video creators compared to a version of the draft law, which was released publicly in November 2023.


The new version also defines a “digital news broadcaster” in sweeping terms, and requires prior registration with the government to prescribing standards for content evaluation, sparking concerns over free speech.

The draft was not released publicly and this drew sharp criticism from various groups who urged the government to leave it open for public comment.

The draft bill had said that within a period of one month from the notification of the proposed legislation, OTT broadcasting service operators and digital news broadcasters would have to provide an intimation to the Union government about their operations.