Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024

Status of India’s film industry

• The Indian film industry produces over 3,000 films annually in more than 40 languages, showcasing its vast reach and diversity.
• The largest film industry in India is the South Indian film industry that holds about 47% share of the total films produced.
• In 2020, the Indian film industry generated over 183 billion Indian rupees from over 1,800 movies
• The Hon’ble Prime Minister envisions India as a global content hub, leveraging its rich heritage and cultural diversity.
• Indian Cinema is recognized for promoting Indian culture, society, and values globally, contributing to India's soft power.

Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024

Key aspects

About

Aim

To streamline and modernise the film certification process for the digital age, keeping pace with the emerging technologies and advancement in the film sector

Comprehensive revision

Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 1983 have been comprehensively overhauled in order to improve and contemporize the entire process of certification of films for public exhibition.

Online certification process

It is adopted to enhance transparency, efficiency, and ease of doing business for the film industry.

Time-effective

Implementation of complete digital processes is to eliminate transactional time and reduce the time taken for film certification.

Accessibility features

Movies/feature films to have accessibility features for certification to make it inclusive for disabled persons, as stipulated in the guidelines issued in this regard from time to time.

Age- based certification

The UA category is classified into UA+, UA13+ and UA16+, these would serve as recommendations for parents or guardians to decide whether the content is suitable for their children.

Women representation

Ensuring greater representation of women in the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Board and Advisory Panels, with one-third of the members on the Board being women, and preferably half on the Panels.

Priority screening

It is provided to expedite the certification process in case of urgency felt by filmmakers due to prior commitments, this would enhance transparency and promote ease of doing business.

Perpetual validity of certificates

Removal of the restriction on the validity of certificates for only 10 years for perpetual validity of CBFC certificates

Recertification for TV broadcast

Recertification of the edited film for Television broadcast, as only Unrestricted Public Exhibition category films can be shown on television.

Central Board of Film Certification

• Statutory body- CBFC regulates the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952.
• Ministry- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• Launch year- 1951.
• Headquarters- Mumbai.
• Composition- The Board consists of a Chairman and non-official members .
• Appointment- All the members are appointed by the Central government.
• Regional offices- CBFC has 9 regional offices at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Cuttack and Guwahati.
• Advisory panel- The regional offices are assisted in the examination of films by advisory panel.
• Appointment of panels- The members of the panel are nominated by the Central government by drawing people from different walks of life for a period of 2 years.
• Public exhibition of movies- Films can be publicly exhibited in India only after they have been certified by the Central Board of Film Certification.