With a series of news reports in Indian media in recent days dwelling on draft guidelines for streaming platforms prepared by the government, an industry association has sought a public consultation on the proposed legislation.
“OTT streaming platform members of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) were dismayed reading some media reports stating that the government intends to notify guidelines for OTT streaming platforms shortly.
“The industry has been working collectively to formalize transparent and stringent guidelines for self-regulation, but has been completely perturbed by the lack of any consultative process administered with the stakeholders that usually proceeds such guidelines or regulations,” IAMAI said in a statement yesterday.
It said as a responsible industry body and an ardent supporter of all government policies and regulations, IAMAI was  “surprised to be not consulted” on the draft guidelines for online curated content platforms being quoted in the media. “We firmly believe that regulations arrived at through wide stakeholder consultations are much more effective and more easily implementable,” the association said.
On behalf of its members, especially OTT platforms and the 17 signatories to the self regulatory toolkit, IAMAI appealed to the ministry concerned — Ministry of Information & Broadcasting— to “consider initiating a public dialogue” by inviting comments on the draft guidelines for streaming platforms, as was done in the case of Personal Data Protection Bill, Non-personal Data Governance Framework and numerous other rules and regulations.
Interestingly, IAMAI’s statement comes on a day when the Capital was abuzz that the government would make some announcement related to OTT guidelines as part of a union cabinet media briefing that was held around 3 pm. Though nothing of that happened, but what could have fuelled the rumours was that the briefing was to be addressed by MIB minister Prakash Javadekar and Meity & Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Both their respective ministries are said to be drafting a slew of guidelines for voice and video OTT services and SM platforms.
IAMAI also pointed out that apart from the 17 OCC platforms that were signatories to IAMAI’s universal self-regulation code, there are producers, actors and other stakeholders who too should be consulted before the guidelines are published or implemented.
According to IAMAI, it has recently, in consultation with the MIB, agreed to a universal self-regulatory code that has been adopted by 17 of the leading online curated content platforms in India, and has committed to its speedy rollout through an `implementation toolkit’.
“The self-regulatory code, which is under implementation, effectively delivers on the goal of providing strong consumer protection, while delivering a solid foundation for content providers to build from,” the association emphasized. No formal government reaction to the IAMAI statement on initiating a public consultation was forthcoming till late yesterday evening.
The Internet and Mobile Association of India, established in 2004, has ambitions of representing the entire gamut of digital businesses in India. And in the last 16 years — in its own words — has come to effectively address the challenges facing the digital and online industry, including mobile content and services, online publishing, digital entertainment, online advertising, ecommerce, and mobile and digital payments among others.
IAMAI has a membership base of nearly 300 Indian and overseas companies.