TV Programme Code: I&B advisory follows Inter-Departmental Committee's findings
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 21 October 2026 advised private satellite TV channels to follow the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, after the Inter-Departmental Committee found lapses. The advisory asks for editorial control over debates, no live coverage of anti-terror operations and AI only as an assisting tool.
Syllabus: GS2 · Statutory & Regulatory Bodies; GS3 · IT, Space, Biotech & IPR; GS2 · Governance & e-Governance
Why this matters for UPSC
GS2 Mains asks how far the State may regulate broadcast speech under Article 19(2), and GS3 about AI in newsrooms; Prelims can ask what the Programme Code bars and how the 2021 three-level complaint structure works.
Why it matters
A family watching a prime-time debate is the first to feel this. If panellists trade communal abuse, the channel is expected to mute them, add a disclaimer or cut the feed, not let the clip run for ratings. A viewer watching a flood or a terror attack should be able to tell old footage from live pictures, so panic does not spread. A survivor of sexual assault should not be traced through hints about her family or street. And a viewer should be able to trust that a news presenter or graphic made with AI has been checked by a human editor. The larger question is who decides what may be broadcast: the channels themselves, or the government.
Prelims pointers
- Rule 6(1) of the 1994 Rules bars content that criticises friendly countries, attacks religions or communities, amounts to contempt of court or offends good taste or decency.
- Rule 7 of the 1994 Rules holds the Advertising Code; it caps advertising at twelve minutes an hour, of which up to two may be a channel's self-promotion.
- Rule 6(7), added in 2021: after a hearing, the Centre may by written order prohibit transmission of a channel or programme that breaches the Programme Code, under section 20.
- A self-regulating body needs at least forty broadcasters and is headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge or an independent eminent person.
- The IDC is chaired by an Additional Secretary of the I&B Ministry, with members from the Women and Child Development, Home, Electronics and IT, External Affairs and Defence ministries.
- Under Level I, a broadcaster must acknowledge a complaint within 24 hours and decide it within fifteen days; a self-regulating body decides appeals within sixty days.
- Rule 21 of the 2021 rules: broadcasters and self-regulating bodies disclose complaints and action taken, updated quarterly; broadcasters keep telecast records for at least ninety days.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the complaint redressal structure under the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021, consider the following statements:
1. The Inter-Departmental Committee is chaired by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court.
2. At the first level, a broadcaster must decide a complaint within fifteen days of receiving it.
3. A self-regulating body of broadcasters must be constituted by a minimum of forty broadcasters.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. The retired judge heads a self-regulating body; an I&B official chairs the IDC.
Statement 1: incorrect. Rule 20 makes an Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting the chair of the Inter-Departmental Committee.
Statement 2: correct. Rule 16 gives the broadcaster fifteen days to dispose of a complaint and inform the complainant.
Statement 3: correct. Rule 18 requires every self-regulating body to be constituted by at least forty broadcasters.
Eliminate: Statement 1 swaps the self-regulating body's head onto the IDC, so it is wrong. Out: (a), (c), (d).
Trap: Swapped attribution. A retired judge does head a body in this structure, but the self-regulating body, not the government's committee.
Remember: Level I broadcaster (15 days), Level II self-regulating body (judge-led), Level III IDC (I&B Additional Secretary).
More from the 22 October 2026 edition
- Tamil Nadu orders State-wide rainwater harvesting drive as a mass movement Environment
- Counter-drone air defence: MoD signs BEL contract for LLLR-I low-level radars Defence
- Bihar relaxes VB-G RAM G farm-season pause for 38 disaster-hit districts National
- PARAKH turns PRS 2024 learning gaps into monthly district action National
- UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2026: 1.5°C without overshoot is lost Environment
- Vienna Conventions: India presses mission protection at UN Sixth Committee World & IR
- India tells UN Third Committee its safeguards against enforced disappearance World & IR
- India reiterates call for binding PAROS treaty at UNGA First Committee World & IR
- WHO report maps within-country NCD inequalities: 35 indicators, up to eight dimensions World & IR
- Mecca Joint Defence Agreement goes to Turkey's parliament for ratification World & IR
- Ladakh dissolves Kargil hill council, sets panchayat polls for 21 November Polity
- ASI begins fresh excavation at Kashipur (Govisana), Uttarakhand National