OTT Platforms Must Carry Anti-Tobacco Disclaimers: Govt

On World No-Tobacco Day, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued fresh guidelines for anti-tobacco warnings on OTT platforms and a failure to comply with the new rules will lead to strict action against them.

As per the new notification, all web series and films with smoking scenes will not only need to show disclaimers and health warnings right in the beginning, but also during relevant scenes.

"Every publisher of online curated content displaying tobacco products or their use shall display anti-tobacco health spots for a minimum of thirty seconds each at the beginning and middle of the programme," read the notification by the Health Ministry.

"They shall come into force on and after the expiration of three months from the date of their publication in the official gazette," it added.

The OTT platforms will also have to display anti-tobacco health warnings as a prominent static message at the bottom of the screen during the period of display of the tobacco products or their use in the programme.

The display of an audio-visual disclaimer on the ill effects of tobacco use, of a minimum of twenty seconds duration each, in the beginning, and middle of the programme will be mandatory for the OTT platforms, according to the notification.

The health spots, message, and disclaimer shall be made available to the publishers of the online curated content from the health ministry's official website, it said.

''The anti-tobacco health warning message as specified in clause(b) of sub-rule (1) shall be legible and readable, with font in black colour on white background and with the warnings 'Tobacco causes cancer' or 'Tobacco kills','' the notification stated.

"If the publisher of online curated content fails to comply with the provisions of sub-rules an inter-ministerial committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, shall take action suo motu or on a complaint, and after identifying the publisher of online curated content, issue notice giving reasonable opportunity to explain such failure and make appropriate modification in the content," the notification read.

According to recent data, India is the second-largest consumer and producer of tobacco. Out of 80 lakh deaths across the globe every year, 13.5 lakhs are Indians.