A 24x7 control room has been set up in Bengaluru for monitoring and receiving complaints about programmes telecast on cable and satellite television channels in the State. Citizens can lodge complaints through an exclusive landline number, email and WhatsApp, the government informed the Karnataka High Court on Monday.
Customers can call the control room on 080-22028013, mail complaintsontelevision@gmail.com or sent through WhatsApp number 9480841212 to registering complaints or grievances on the contents of television channels under the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Act, 1995, it was stated in an affidavit filed before the court.
The affidavit was submitted before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur during the hearing on a PIL petition filed by Geetha Mishra, resident of Bengaluru, for enforcement provisions of the CTN Act to monitor contents of television channels as per the 2008 notification of the Union government.
The secretary of the Information and Public Relations Department, in the affidavit, said that the control room, situated in the department’s headquarters in the city, strictly adheres/supervises all complaints received and forwards them to the jurisdictional district magistrate for appropriate action and to get reports from the district-level Cable TV monitoring committees.
Meanwhile, the government has also created district monitoring committees (DMC), headed by the respective district magistrate, in all 30 districts to monitor TV content, and a State-level monitoring committee, headed the Secretary of the Department, had been set up as per provisions of the CTN Act, it was pointed in the affidavit.
Directions have been issued to DMCs to meet once in two months to examine complaints against television channels or by initiating suo motu process after issuing showcause notices to the channels and giving them an opportunity of hearing as per the CTN Rules, it has been stated in the affidavit.
