Govt plans ‘non-skippable’ anti-tobacco ads on OTT

The draft notification of the Ministry also states that all films released on or after September 1, 2023 — whether or not certified by the Central Board of Film Certification, whether Indian or foreign — will have to display an anti-tobacco health spot of 30 seconds duration in the beginning and the middle of the film, have an audio-visual disclaimer of 20 seconds before the film and display a static message for the duration tobacco use is shown.

The draft allows the platforms to modify only the content released or published after the new rules came into effect last year. This was one of the major concerns of the OTT platforms.

With the rules formulated under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, legal action can be taken against OTT platforms for not complying.