Ministry of Information & Broadcasting press release · 1 April 2026 · pibtracker filter

Over 140 TV Violations Acted Upon Under Programme and Advertising Codes in Past Five Years

PRID2247879 MinistryMinistry of Information & Broadcasting Released1 April 2026 Reading7 min

Posted On: 01 APR 2026 5:38PM by PIB Delhi The private television channels are required to adhere to the Programme Code and Advertising Code framed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The Programme Code provides that programme which contains any of the following should not be telecast on a private television channel: Obscenity Attack on religions or communities Visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups Content which promotes communal attitudes Content which criticizes, maligns or slanders any individual in person or certain groups, segments of social, public and moral life of the country Further, the Advertising Code, inter-alia, stipulates that indecent, vulgar, suggestive, repulsive or offensive themes or treatment shall be avoided in all advertisements. The Central Government has also established a statutory mechanism for redressal of grievances/ complaints of violation of Programme and Advertising Codes. As per the three-level grievance redressal mechanism, any complaints regarding the content broadcast by private satellite TV channels, are dealt as follows: Level-I: directly received and disposed of by the Broadcaster Level -II: Self-Regulating Bodies of the Broadcasters Level-III provides for Oversight mechanism by the Central Government. The Government acts against private satellite TV channels by issuance of advisories, warnings, apology scroll orders and off-air orders etc. The Ministry also issues Advisories from time to time to private satellite TV channels for adhering to the Programme Code and Advertising Code. The details of action taken by this Ministry in last 5 years in respect of all violations of the Programme Code and Advertising Code as under: S. No. Description 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Total 1 Advisories to specific channels 5 7 14 3 6 35 2 Warnings 25 6 17 1 1 50 3 Orders for Apology Scrolls 11 39 3 - 1 54 4 Off-air Orders - - 3 - - 3 5 Cancellation of permission 1 - - - - 1 6 Order for disclaimer 1 - - - - 1 TOTAL 43 52 37 4 8 144 Apart from above, the Government takes all possible steps to curb violations by other media platforms, which include: Print media: Newspapers have to adhere to “Norms of Journalistic Conduct” brought out by the Press Council of India (PCI). These norms, inter-alia, restrain publication of fake/ defamatory/ misleading news. The Council holds inquiry into alleged violations of the norms, as per section 14 of the PCI Act, and may warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, editors, journalists, etc. as the case may be. Digital media: For the publishers of news and current affairs on digital media and publishers of online curated content, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021) provides for a Code of Ethics along with a three-level institutional mechanism for redressal of grievance relating to violation of Code of Ethics by such publishers. This Information was submitted by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr. L. Murugan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today in response of questions asked by Shri. Kalyan Banerjee. ***** Mahesh Kumar/ Aparajita Priyadarshini (Release ID: 2247879) Visitor Counter : 553 Read this release in: Urdu , हिन्दी , Assamese , Punjabi , Gujarati , Telugu , Kannada , Malayalam Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Over 140 TV Violations Acted Upon Under Programme and Advertising Codes in Past Five Years Posted On: 01 APR 2026 5:38PM by PIB Delhi The private television channels are required to adhere to the Programme Code and Advertising Code framed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The Programme Code provides that programme which contains any of the following should not be telecast on a private television channel: Obscenity Attack on religions or communities Visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups Content which promotes communal attitudes Content which criticizes, maligns or slanders any individual in person or certain groups, segments of social, public and moral life of the country Further, the Advertising Code, inter-alia, stipulates that indecent, vulgar, suggestive, repulsive or offensive themes or treatment shall be avoided in all advertisements. The Central Government has also established a statutory mechanism for redressal of grievances/ complaints of violation of Programme and Advertising Codes. As per the three-level grievance redressal mechanism, any complaints regarding the content broadcast by private satellite TV channels, are dealt as follows: Level-I: directly received and disposed of by the Broadcaster Level -II: Self-Regulating Bodies of the Broadcasters Level-III provides for Oversight mechanism by the Central Government. The Government acts against private satellite TV channels by issuance of advisories, warnings, apology scroll orders and off-air orders etc. The Ministry also issues Advisories from time to time to private satellite TV channels for adhering to the Programme Code and Advertising Code. The details of action taken by this Ministry in last 5 years in respect of all violations of the Programme Code and Advertising Code as under: S. No. Description 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Total 1 Advisories to specific channels 5 7 14 3 6 35 2 Warnings 25 6 17 1 1 50 3 Orders for Apology Scrolls 11 39 3 - 1 54 4 Off-air Orders - - 3 - - 3 5 Cancellation of permission 1 - - - - 1 6 Order for disclaimer 1 - - - - 1 TOTAL 43 52 37 4 8 144 Apart from above, the Government takes all possible steps to curb violations by other media platforms, which include: Print media: Newspapers have to adhere to “Norms of Journalistic Conduct” brought out by the Press Council of India (PCI). These norms, inter-alia, restrain publication of fake/ defamatory/ misleading news. The Council holds inquiry into alleged violations of the norms, as per section 14 of the PCI Act, and may warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, editors, journalists, etc. as the case may be. Digital media: For the publishers of news and current affairs on digital media and publishers of online curated content, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021) provides for a Code of Ethics along with a three-level institutional mechanism for redressal of grievance relating to violation of Code of Ethics by such publishers. This Information was submitted by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr. L. Murugan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today in response of questions asked by Shri. Kalyan Banerjee. ***** Mahesh Kumar/ Aparajita Priyadarshini (Release ID: 2247879) The private television channels are required to adhere to the Programme Code and Advertising Code framed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The Programme Code provides that programme which contains any of the following should not be telecast on a private television channel:   <ul> <li style="list-style-type:none"> <ul> <li style="list-style-type:none"> <ul style="list-style-type:disc"> <li>Obscenity</li> <li>Attack on religions or communities</li> <li>Visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups</li> <li>Content which promotes communal attitudes</li> <li>Content which criticizes, maligns or slanders any individual in person or certain groups, segments of social, public and moral life of the country</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul>   Further, the Advertising Code, inter-alia, stipulates that indecent, vulgar, suggestive, repulsive or offensive themes or treatment shall be avoided in all advertisements. The Central Government has also established a statutory mechanism for redressal of grievances/ complaints of violation of Programme and Advertising Codes. As per the three-level grievance redressal mechanism, any complaints regarding the content broadcast by private satellite TV channels, are dealt as follows:   <ul> <li style="list-style-type:none"> <ul> <li style="list-style-type:none"> <ul> <li style="list-style-type:none"> <ul style="list-style-type:disc"> <li>Level-I: directly received and disposed of by the Broadcaster</li> <li>Level -II: Self-Regulating Bodies of the Broadcasters</li> <li>Level-III provides for Oversight mechanism by the Central Government.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul>   The Government acts against private satellite TV channels by issuance of advisories, warnings, apology scroll orders and off-air orders etc. The Ministry also issues Advisories from time to time to private satellite TV channels for adhering to the Programme Code and Advertising Code. The details of action taken by this Ministry in last 5 years in respect of all violations of the Programme Code and Advertising Code as under:       <table align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#ccc" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="Table" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width:42.15pt"> S. No. </td> <td style="width:149.15pt"> Description </td> <td style="width:42.5pt"> 2021 </td> <td style="width:42.5pt"> 2022 </td> <td style="width:49.7pt"> 2023 </td> <td style="width:42.5pt"> 2024 </td> <td style="width:35.3pt"> 2025 </td> <td style="width:49.7pt"> Total </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:42.15pt"> 1 </td> <td style="width:149.15pt"> Advisories to specific channels </td> <td style="width:42.5pt"> 5 </td> <td style="width:42.5pt"> 7 </td> <td style="width:49.7pt"> 14</spa

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Over 140 TV Violations Acted Upon Under Programme and Advertising Codes in Past Five Years

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