Prasar Bharati lacks grievance reports for Waves OTT

India's public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has revealed it possesses no monthly grievance compliance reports for its Waves OTT platform. The broadcaster also stated it has no record of any communication from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or other ministries regarding this requirement, nor any correspondence or action taken over non-compliance. These findings emerged from two separate Right to Information (RTI) replies from Prasar Bharati's WAVES OTT Division.

MediaNama filed these RTIs after noticing the absence of any published grievance compliance reports for Waves OTT. Rule 18(3) of the IT Rules, 2021, mandates that publishers of online curated content must submit such monthly reports. Prasar Bharati's WAVES OTT Division confirmed that no such reports are available on record. The division also stated that no communication specifically instructing the publication of these reports for Waves OTT exists in their records.

Furthermore, the broadcaster reported no existing correspondence, show-cause notices, or action reports related to the non-submission or non-publication of these required reports. This indicates a lack of monitoring and enforcement concerning the grievance reporting obligation for the Waves OTT platform since its inception.

The lack of reports from Waves OTT contrasts with other major platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which regularly publish their grievance reports as required by the IT Rules. This situation highlights a potential gap in regulatory oversight and compliance within Prasar Bharati's digital media operations.