OTT platforms in India

There are currently 40 OTT platforms operating in India.
The government as the first step towards regulation, amended the “allocation of Business Rules” in November last year bringing all online platforms under the mandate of the I&B Ministry and all platforms were told to register with the Ministry.
The central government’s move to bring the OTT platforms under the I&B Ministry could also mean that these platforms would have to apply for certification and approval of the content they wish to stream.

The laws regulating OTT platforms

In India, there are no laws or rules regulating OTT platforms as it is a relatively new medium of entertainment.
The regulation of such platforms has been widely debated and discussed therefore the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), a representative body of the OTT platforms has developed a self-regulatory model.
On examination, it was felt that the mechanism proposed by IAMAI did not give adequate cognizance to content prohibited under law and there were issues of conflict of interest, which were communicated to IAMAI in September 2020.
The Online Curated Content Providers or OCCPs had also proposed a Digital Curated Content Complaints Council along with the self-regulatory mechanism as a part of its proposed two-tier structure.
The proposal, however, was shot down by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which will now oversee these platforms.

Source :HT