Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Council

The Broadcasting Council is a statutory complaints body envisaged under the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990. Its central role is to examine complaints that programmes broadcast by Prasar Bharati do not conform to the public-service objectives laid down in the Act.

Statutory basis and purpose

Section 14 provides for the Central Government to establish the Broadcasting Council by notification. The Council is intended to provide a channel of accountability for Prasar Bharati’s broadcasting services.

• The Council’s scrutiny is linked to the Corporation’s statutory objectives under Section 12, rather than merely to whether a programme is popular or commercially successful.
• The Act’s provision for a Council should be distinguished from the separate factual question of whether it has been constituted and is functioning.

Complaints and corrective advice

The Council’s principal programme-related function is to receive and consider complaints from any person or group alleging that a programme broadcast by the Corporation is inconsistent with its statutory objectives.

• Section 12 makes the provision of public broadcasting services to inform, educate and entertain, together with balanced development of radio and television broadcasting, central responsibilities of the Corporation.
• Relevant objectives include objective information, a fair and balanced presentation of views, and attention to education, national integration and the needs of different sections of society.
• Where the Council considers a complaint justified, it may advise the Corporation to take appropriate action; its role is therefore corrective and accountability-oriented.

Distinction from the Prasar Bharati Board

The Prasar Bharati Board and the Broadcasting Council perform different statutory roles. The Board exercises the Corporation’s general superintendence, direction and management, whereas the Council examines complaints within its statutory remit.

• The Council should not be described as the body responsible for the Corporation’s day-to-day administration.
• Its programme-complaint jurisdiction concerns Prasar Bharati’s broadcasts; it is not a general regulator for every public and private broadcaster.