The Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has asked other ministries, state governments and union territories administrations not to enter into any broadcasting or distribution of broadcasting activities on their own.

In an advisory, the ministry asked those broadcasting their content to route it through Prasar Bharati, India’s public broadcaster.

The ministry asked entities distributing already broadcasting content to stop doing so by 31 December 2023.

Local newspaper reports say the advisory comes in view of some state governments launching educational channels which are available on DTH platforms

The advisory is likely to affect Kalvi TV, an educational channel launched by the Tamil Nadu government, which is available on some DTH platforms, and IPTV, launched by the Andhra Pradesh government.

The advisory says only the central government, as per Article 246 of the Constitution, can legislate on such subjects.