New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has taken a total of 144 regulatory actions against private satellite television channels between 2021 and 2025 for violations of programme and advertising norms, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Responding to a query raised by Raghav Chadha, the minister said that private satellite channels are required to strictly adhere to the Advertising Code and Programme Code framed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The provisions prohibit the telecast of programmes containing attacks on religions or communities, contemptuous visuals or words against religious groups, promotion of communal attitudes, or content that maligns individuals or segments of social and public life.
The Central Government has notified the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 to establish a statutory three-level grievance redressal mechanism. Under this framework, complaints are first handled by broadcasters at Level I, followed by self-regulating bodies of broadcasters at Level II, while Level III provides for oversight by the Central Government.
The minister said the government enforces compliance through measures such as advisories, warnings, apology scroll orders and off-air directives. The ministry also periodically issues advisories to channels to ensure adherence to the Programme Code.
According to official data shared in the House, the ministry issued 35 advisories to specific channels, 50 warnings, 54 orders for apology scrolls and three off-air orders during the 2021–2025 period. Additionally, one channel’s permission was cancelled and one order for a disclaimer was issued. The highest number of actions was recorded in 2022 with 52 measures, followed by 43 in 2021, 37 in 2023, four in 2024 and eight in 2025.
The minister noted that complaints at the first two levels are directly addressed by broadcasters and their self-regulating bodies, while the Central Government exercises oversight under the third tier of the mechanism.
