NEW DELHI: The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021, which seeks to expand the scope of film certification and strengthen the criminal penalties for film piracy, is said to have received approval from the government on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

The proposed bill suggests imprisonment ranging from 3 months to 3 years and a penalty of at least Rs 3,00,000 which may extend to a sum of up to 5 percent of the audited gross production cost of the film, to prevent film piracy.

The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021, under which the new film certification categories will include "U" or universal, U/A 7+, U/A 13+, and U/A 16+, in addition to a "A" rating for content intended for adults, is said to have received approval from the union cabinet, which met earlier in the day.

The Indian Cinematograph Act now recognises three types of film certification: "A" for adult films and "U/A" for films that require parental supervision for audiences under the age of 12.

The age-based restrictions recently put in place for over-the-top (OTT) content providers under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (Intermediary Rules) appear to be in line with the proposed amendments allowing sub-categorisation for film certification purposes.

The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill 2021, which would add two further amendments to the 2019-proposed two, was the subject of a government announcement requesting public views on June 18, 2021.

These included the introduction of age-based certification categories for films and the imposition of criminal penalties for film piracy.

Tocrack down on widespread movie piracy, the government earlier in February 2019 introduced the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in Rajya Sabha.

Without the explicit consent of the film's copyright owner, the proposed legislation for 2019 would outlaw using recording equipment to copy or transmit a film.

By incorporating the criminal penalties for unlawful camcording and film duplicating in an exhibition venue, it attempted to combat film piracy.

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