November 2020: Online video streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, Netflix and others.
Had their regulatory body changed from Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to Ministry of I&B.
At the end of 2019, India had as many as 17 crore OTT platform users, with a market size of Rs 500 crore. Reports say this may become a Rs 4000-crore market by the end of 2025.
Unlike other medias, OTT platforms had little to no regulation on their content, subscription, or certifications.
In India, the regulation of such platforms has been a wide debate. Following the pressure, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), a representative body of the OTT platforms proposed a self-regulatory model.
These Online Curated Content Providers had proposed a Digital Curated Content Complaints Council with the self-regulatory mechanism as a part of its proposed two-tier structure which got rejected by the I&B Ministry who now oversees the platforms.
This move means that these platforms would have to apply for certification and approval for the content they wish to stream. This could prove to be a conflict as most OTT platforms have content that could otherwise be censored by the certification boards in India.
OTT platforms have often chosen to produce content on sensitive topics so it has to be seen what guidelines, the I&B ministry puts in place for regulating these OTT platforms.