The government’s 2019 decision to limit foreign direct investment (FDI) in digital media to 26% doesn’t apply to OTT platforms that host the digital feed of a TV news channel, the ministry of information and broadcasting said in a statement on Friday.
“TV news channels granted permission under the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines, 2022 (and earlier Guidelines of 2005 of and 2011) of the ministry of information and broadcasting and their entities operating the digital news content are already covered by FDI policy of the central government,” the ministry added.
“Accordingly, when an OTT platform hosts digital feed of a TV news channel (granted permission under the extant guidelines), stipulation of FDI limit of 26% with government approval route will not apply to the OTT platform for the mere activity of hosting such feed,” it added.
The ministry was informed that OTT sites only provide a platform for carrying third-party news and current affairs content of news channels on an “as-is basis”, without editorial intervention, and OTTs are not involved in any aggregation or curation of news and current affairs content given by such channels.
OTTs only host news feed provided by the entities, similar to a DTH (direct-to-home) or cable service provider.
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