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New
Delhi: Did you feel a certain episode in a TV
serial was too hot to handle? Or did you feel disturbed by a
violent scene? The newly formed Broadcasting Content Complaints
Council (BCCC) is at your service.
The council has been set up to take corrective measures and issue
guidelines to Indian general entertainment channels. The body has
received 80-90 complaints since it was set up in June.
Once the organisation receives the viewers' suggestion or
complaint, it takes action, explains Naresh Chahal, director
(Finance), BCCC.
"We have got a scroll on channels saying if the viewers have any
complaints regarding the content of the show, then they can
contact us. Then the committee takes a call on whether the mistake
is genuine or not and accordingly we issue guidelines to the
channels," Chahal told IANS.
However, he feels "content is a very subjective issue and
self-regulation is the best that one can do".
"It is very difficult to define what is right, what is wrong. But
the council will keep a check so that nothing obscene is shown on
television," he added.
BCCC is an independent council formed by the Indian Broadcasting
Federation comprising a committee of 13 members, headed by
A.P.Shah, former chief justice of the high court.
BCCC examines feedback from not just viewers but also NGOs, RWAs
and the ministry of information and broadcasting to ensure that
the content of the programmes is in conformity with its Self
Regulatory Content Guidelines.
According to the council's website, ibfindia.com, a viewer can
complain against the breach of guidelines with respect to national
interest, racial and religious harmony, social values, kissing,
sex and nudity, violence and crime, drugs, smoking, tobacco,
solvents and alcohol, libel, slander and defamation.
Chahal hopes the viewers will realise the worth of this exercise
in time.
"It's been just a little while since the committee sprang into
action. So far we have received 80-90 complaints but most of them
are just suggestions where some people are asking to change the
time slot of a particular show. However, the board is examining a
few of them," said Chahal, carefully guarding the complaints.
It is important for viewers to take note that any complaint
pertaining to a programme should be filed within 15 days of the
day of broadcast for the BCCC to take immediate action.
"The complaint can be filed before the BCCC against any offending
programme broadcast
on any of the IBF member TV channels within 15 days of the date of
the broadcast of that particular episode," said Chahal.
"The committee will take a call and if it finds anything
offending, it can write to the channel and the channel has to
reply to us with an explanation or justification within a week,"
Chahal added.
To file a complaint, a person has to write to the standard and
practices department of the TV channel concerned with the
channel's name, the date and time of telecast of the offending
content, the title of the programme, details about the alleged
offence along with reasons as to why he/she feels that the
particular programme breached the code of conduct.
Chahal warns that the BCCC has teeth.
"We (BCCC) have a lot of power. If a channel doesn't adhere to the
directions issued by the committee, the board members can expel
the channel from the membership of IBF. In extreme cases, the
committee can even ask the information and broadcasting ministry
to take strict action against the channel," he added.
(Priyanka Sharma can be contacted at priyanka.s@ians.in)
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