Film creators and producers are satisfied with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s (MIB) move to self-regulate OTT content. Speaking at the FICCI Frames 2023 on Thursday, Nitin Tej Ahuja, CEO of the Film Producers Guild of India, called it a “soft-touch regulation”.
Mudhu Bhojwani, Producer, Emmay Entertainment, also echoed Ahuja’s sentiments, saying that while the creative community was skeptical of MIB’s 2021 diktat, so far they have been satisfied with its implementation. The MIB set up a Digital Publisher Content Grievance Council under the Internet and Mobile Association of India, which could become the first point of contact for consumers regarding grievances with content aired on OTT platforms. The DPCGC was set up exactly two years ago in 2021.
Bhojwani added that before DPCGC, creators were inundated with a spate of court cases, initiated by consumers taking offence to the content aired. Now, with a formalised grievance redressal mechanism, cases against producers and directors have reduced.
Bhojawani further added that OTT companies have been pretty adept at dealing with these grievances — only 13 grievances have reached the second tier in two years, only one has been flagged with the MIB.
Almost all OTT platforms are a part of the DPCGC and this includes, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple.
Vikram Sahay, Joint Secretary at the MIB, also expressed satisfaction at the performance DPCGC.