House panel directs govt to implement clean feed policy by October 23

KATHMANDU: The Development and Technology Committee under the Federal Parliament has directed the government to make television channels that are broadcast in Nepal clean feed (advertisement-free content) by October 23.

After holding discussions with officials including the secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on Monday, the committee has directed the government to implement the clean-feed policy by taking the down-link permission.

Implementation of the Advertising (Regulating) Act 2019 in Nepal will start from October 24. Therefore, the committee has said the channels must be advertisement-free one day before the act is implemented.

The committee has also sought a plan from the ministry to stop the broadcasting of foreign channels that are not advertisement-free in Nepal. The committee has also directed the ministry to send its feedback on the number of foreign channels in Nepal that will be suspended due to the implementation of this act and its positive/negative impact within 15 days from today.

Earlier, the cable operators had demanded that clean-feed policy be implemented for over-the-top (OTT) apps too that rake in billions of rupees without paying any tax to the government. However, the government has yet to decide on the matter.