No proposal to bring any law prohibiting vertical, horizontal cross-holdings in media: I&B min

Information & Broadcasting (I&B) minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the government has doesn’t have any proposal to bring any law to prohibit vertical and horizontal cross-holdings in the media space.

Javadekar said this in Lok Sabha while answering a question by former I&B minister and Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari whether the Government proposes to bring any law/policy/notification to proscribe vertical and horizontal cross-holdings in the media space.

Tewari also asked whether the government proposes to consider ownership of multiple content and content distribution platforms by a single entity or a group of companies going back to a single owner/entity as a threat to the plurality and diversity of the media space.

To both these questions, Javadekar said, “Presently no such proposal is under consideration.”

He further stated that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has furnished its recommendations on 12th August 2014 on ‘Issues Relating to Media Ownership’.

The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB), he added, has deliberated the said recommendations in the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) set up to examine TRAI recommendations.

“The acceptance of the recommendations has multi-dimensional implications which require consultation with various stakeholders,” he noted.

In response to another question about the status of TRAI recommendations on barring the companies that are controlled by the Union, State Governments and their Departments from the entering into the business of broadcasting and distributing television channels, Javadekar stated that the issue requires consultation with various stakeholders

“Ministry of Information and Broadcasting deliberated the said recommendations in the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) set up to examine TRAI recommendations. The acceptance of the recommendations and its translation into policy has multi-dimensional implications which require consultation with various stakeholders,” he added.

Javadekar also stated that a provisional Multi-System Operator (MSO) registration was granted to Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd. (TACTV), a State Government Undertaking, on 17th April 2017 to operate in Tamil Nadu to provide digital cable TV services in order to comply with the Order of High Court of Madras dated 20th December 2013.