The Parliament passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, on July 31. It aims to comprehensively curb the menace of piracy, which has reportedly caused losses of Rs 20,000 crore to the film industry.

The bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 20 and passed after discussion on July 27.

With this bill, the government has done away with the requirement to renew a film's licence every 10 years, making it valid for a lifetime. Additionally, the autonomous body of CBFC will have the full authority to look after the licence.

“There was a provision, which allowed the government to revise the CBFC’s decision, but that provision wasn’t utilised by the respective parties for years. Hence, the provision has been nullified,” explained a government source.

The age certifications of ‘UA 7+’, ‘UA13+’ and ‘UA16+’ are also a guideline for viewers and not a compulsion for theatre owners to keep a check on the age, the source shared.

Another important provision of this bill is that certification for the same film can be different for theatres and different for TV. This means if a film is rated under a specific category for theatre, it may be given a more linear or stricter rating for TV.

Talking about the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur said, “India is known as a country of storytellers which shows our rich culture, heritage, legacy and diversity. In the next three years, our film industry will grow to 100 billion dollars, providing employment to lakhs of people. Keeping the needs of the changing time, we have brought this bill to fight piracy and to further promote the film industry. These amendments will comprehensively curb the menace of ‘piracy’ causing losses of Rs 20,000 crore to the film industry.”

Ashwin Varde, film producer, said, “On behalf of the film fraternity, I thank the government for taking this futuristic approach. This was recommended by sections of the entertainment industry for a long time. The most important part of this act will be the curb on piracy because of the stringent laws that have been introduced, which were a menace for the industry. The age certifications will enable a wider audience to view the content and that itself will benefit the industry in a lot of ways.”

Luv Films also posted on Twitter: “We welcome the passing of the Cinematography Bill 2023. We are thankful to the Government of India for making a stricter law against piracy and securing the rights of the Indian film fraternity.”

Filmmaker Ashok Pandit said in a tweet, “This was a long pending recommendation of the film industry to fight against piracy. This illegal system was jeopardising the filmmakers, producers and their revenues heavily. Much thanks to Shri Anurag Thakur and Shri Narendra Modi for taking this concrete step, which should have been taken long ago.”