Industry stakeholders will be meeting Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on July 19. The court had directed MIB to conduct brainstorming sessions with stakeholders to develop an implementable mechanism around Self Declaration Certificate (SDC) and submit their recommendations in three weeks. The Supreme Court has listed the matter for further hearing on July 30.
A source privy to the development said, “Industry stakeholders will be meeting MIB on July 19 to discuss regarding the issue around SDC. Multiple suggestions and recommendations are expected during the meeting. We expect that MIB will consider the same while filing the affidavit in the court.”
“We are very clear about our suggestions from which the one of the major issue revolves around the SDC portal which needs to revamped and made more efficient.”
Following the SC’s directive, the Ministry last month had introduced features on the Broadcast Seva Portal (BSP) for TV and radio advertisements and on the Press Council of India’s (PCI) portal for print and digital/internet ads. PCI has over 76,000 SDCs on its portal and BSP has over 9,000 SDCs.
The Supreme Court had directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to submit an affidavit within three weeks, detailing recommendations on the ‘self-declaration certificate’ (SDC) mechanism for advertisements. The directive came from a bench comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Sandeep Mehta on July 9, 2024.
The court was hearing intervention applications filed by various industry associations, including the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and the Association of Radio Operators.