Cable Operators Federation of India (COFI)

13/97, Subhash Nagar, New Delhi- 110027, Mobile :- 9810069272
 

October 1994 – The Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Ordinance was passed by the Parliament.

9^th February 1995 – SC judgment directing the government to create an autonomous public body to regulate the use of air waves.

March 1995 – Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Bill passed by the Parliament. Onus of adhering to the Programme Code and Advertising Code by all satellite channels lay on the cable operators.

May 1995 – Indian Services Broadcasting Bill mooted by the government that laid down the guidelines and rules about each aspect of the broadcasting industry in detail.

23^rd August  1995 - Delhi HC directed the government to stop the telecast of TV programmes which were full of sex, violence and indecent exposure of women.

13^th February 1997 - The then I&B Minister, Mr. CM Ibrahim assured that the Bill will be introduced in the Parliament in the Budget Session of the year 1997.

18^th February 1997 -  A Cabinet Subcommittee headed by the then Prime Minister Mr. HD Devegowda okayed the proposed bill with some modifications.

20^th March 1997 – The Cable Operators Action Committee presented a memorandum to Mr. Devegowda highlighting their views on the draft bill.

11^th April, 1997 - Government falls due to elections and the Broadcasting Bill gets delayed for the monsoon session.

29^th April 1997 – The Cabinet approved the Broadcasting Bill and denied any major changes in it stating that the bill would be introduced in the monsoon session of the parliament.

16^th May 1997 - I&B Minister, Jaipal Reddy tabled the Broadcasting Bill in the Lok Sabha for the first time.

17^th May 1997 – The Broadcasting Bill was presented to the Parliamentary Select Committee for its consideration.

1997’s Monsoon Session – At a seminar organized by ASSOCHAM, Sh. Jaipal Reddy said the that the introduction of Broadcasting Bill had been deferred to the Winter session.

November 1997 – Broadcasting Bill again delayed.

December 1997 – COFI President Mrs. Roop Sharma presented a memorandum that highlighted the major objections that the cable industry had in regard to the Broadcasting Bill.

2000 - The industry welcomed a similar announcement about the introduction of the Broadcasting Bill in the Budget session. But as usual nothing happened. 

31^st August 2001 - Convergence Bill introduced in the Parliament

October 2002 - The parliamentary standing committee headed by Sh. Somanth Chatterjee, which had entrusted a sub-committee with the task of undertaking clause by clause considerations of the Convergence Bill, deemed its introduction as premature at this stage, in view of low teledensity of 4.6% coupled with lack of telecom facilities in many villages.

2003 - Broadcasters come together to set up their own body called the Indian Broadcasting Standards Council (ISBC) to formulate its content regulatory code and guidelines for programmes.

August 2003 - Government constituted an inter-ministerial committee under the Cable Act to look into violations of the programme code by TV channels or on receipt of a specific complaint.

10^th August 2004 - The Indian Broadcasting Foundation announced the setting up of a sub-committee to look into matters related to broadcasting.

18^th March 2005 - Mr. Jaipal Reddy, the then I&B Minister informed the Lok Sabha that the government has proposed to set up a Quasi-judicial regulatory authority to check the growing obscenity on private TV channels.

9^th May 2005 – Reddy told the Rajya Sabha that a core group had been set up in the I&B Ministry to draft a bill that would propose to set up a regulator for monitoring contents on television.

30^th June 2005 – A meeting under the chairmanship of the then Secretary of I&B Ministry was held to discuss the issues pertaining to remix film songs and music videos broadcast on TV channels.

3^rd October 2005 - Government appointed a Committee to review Content Code. Since then I&B Ministry has held six meetings in three years for the same.

21^st December 2005 -  Bombay High Court passed an interim order in the case of Pratibha Naitthani v/s Union of India & anr. directing all cable operators in Maharashtra, Goa and Daman & Diu not to telecast ‘adult films’ in violation of existing Indian laws. This case once again gave a spark to the issue of Broadcasting Bill.

May 2006 - I&B Ministry announced that the Broadcast Bill would be tabled in the monsoon session.

6^th June 2006 – I&B Ministry finalized a draft of Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, 2006 with a proposal to introduce it in the Monsoon Session of 2006.

August 2006 – The Government informed the Lok Sabha about its decision to set up an electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) for content monitoring of private television channels.

8^th September 2006 -  ASSOCHAM organized a National Conference of all the stakeholders to discuss and understand better the proposed broadcast bill.

January 2007 – I&B Minister, PR Dasmunshi announced that the bill would be tabled in 2007’s Budget Session.

March 2007 -  Promises made about the tabling of the bill in 2007's Monsoon Session. But as always, the bill was deferred for further deliberations.

May 2007  - The I&B Ministry issued a draft that laid down the Self Regulation Guidelines to guide the broadcasters in offering their services in India.

June 2007 -  I&B Ministry issued guidelines regarding content treatment for news and current affairs channels.

20^th July 2007 - I&B Ministry's meeting held where the news broadcasters strongly opposed the Content Code chapter drafted separately for them by the Ministry.

23^rd July 2007 -  FICCI Seminar held, where only the broadcasters were invited.

3^rd August 2007 – COFI gave comments to the I&B Ministry on the draft Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill.

3^rd week of August  2007 -  Intervention by Prime Minister's Office on the draft Broadcast Bill signaling the I&B Ministry to go slow until all stakeholders agree on the need for any further regulation on TV and Radio.

18^th August 2007 - I&B Ministry calls for a meeting of stakeholders on 21st August to discuss the controversial bill.

1^st April 2008 : NBA submits ‘Code of ethics and Broadcasting Standards’ to the I&B Ministry to be followed as self regulatory code.

1^st Oct08 : News Broadcasting Standards Regulations Authority(NBSRA) constituted by NBA under the Chairmanship of Justice (Retd) J. S. Verma, former Chief Justice of India. The authority has eight other members from different fields.

10 February 2009 : At the meeting of the NBA Authority under the Chairmanship of Justice(Retd) J. S. Verma  former Chief Justice of India & former Chairperson, NHRC issued Specific Guidelines Covering Reportage of Emergencies.

14^th Sept 2009 : I&B minister Ms Ambika Soni met the representatives of Indian Broadcasters Federation (IBF) and News Broadcasters Association (NBA) over the content code issues in New Delhi.

18^th Sept 2009 : I&B Addl. Secretary Mr Uday Kumar Verma met the Cable Operators led by Mrs Roop Sharma, President, COFI over the proposed Broadcast Bill in New Delhi.

19^th Sept 2009 : I&B minister Ms Ambika Soni met the representatives of Broadcast Editors Association over the content code issues.