Union Health Ministry proposes mandatory, ‘non-skippable’ anti-tobacco spots on OTT platforms

Union Health Ministry proposes mandatory anti-tobacco health spots and disclaimers on OTT platforms to promote public health.

The Union Health Ministry has proposed mandatory display of “non-skippable” anti-tobacco health spots of at least 30 seconds and an audio-visual disclaimer on ill effects of tobacco use for 20 seconds on OTT platforms as soon as one starts streaming them.

The Ministry recently released draft amendments for anti-tobacco rules for over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

According to the draft norms, all films of Indian and foreign origin irrespective of their Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) status published and released on or after September 1, 2023 will have to display anti-tobacco health spots of minimum 30 seconds duration each at the beginning and middle of the movie.

It also proposed displaying anti-tobacco health warnings as prominent static messages at the bottom of the screen during the scenes that show use of tobacco products in all content.

"The Cigarette and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Amendment Rules 2024" amend the anti-tobacco rules that the ministry had issued in May last year.

The 2023 rules also stated that every publisher of online curated content displaying tobacco products would have to display anti-tobacco health spots of a minimum of 30 seconds duration each at the beginning and middle of the film, and display anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent static message at the bottom of the screen during the period of the display of tobacco products or their use.

But the 2023 rules did not explicitly use the term "films" and separately detail rules for them.