KATHMANDU, Aug 30: The lower house of parliament endorsed the Advertisement Regulation Bill on Thursday amid concerns from media organizations over contentious provisions including jailing media owners for advertisement-related offenses and one-door policy on distributing government advertisements to the private media.
As the bill was first registered at the National Assembly, the upper house may demand a joint meeting of both houses of parliament if it finds the revision by the lower house unacceptable. The bill has provisioned up to one year jail and up to Rs 10,000 fines for media owners if their media is found publishing or broadcasting any advertisement defined as 'offensive' by the same legislation.
Advertisements containing false information, affecting fair competition in products and services, exposing information that is confidential by law, making comparisons between goods, products and services, or various other issues defined by Section 5 of the bill could land the media owners in jail.
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Likewise, the publication of advertisements that infringe a trademark, patent or design owned by another company, discourage domestic products, affect fair elections, defame labor, or incite gender or caste-based discrimination, among other things, have been defined as offenses under the law.
The same section has also stated that promoting the use of banned goods or services, goods and services not authorized for sale in Nepal and medicines to be sold only on doctor's prescription, or promoting vulgarity and taboos, gambling and unauthorized lotteries are offenses liable to a jail term for the media owner, as is posing a threat to peace and security.
According to the bill publishing and broadcasting advertisements without the identification or address of the advertisers, advertising via email or SMS without the prior consent of the receivers, publishing advertisements without keeping a record of advertisers including their authenticity, names and addresses could result in fines of Rs 100,000 for the media houses.
The bill has proposed an Advertisement Board with powers to regulate advertisements, make policy and distribute government advertising to state-owned and private media. Stakeholders have criticized the provision stating that the government may control the advertisement to private media those critical against the government. Currently, government agencies distribute their advertisement to the private or government media based on a competitive basis.
After revision of the bill by the lower house, the much-debated clean feed system will be implemented after a year. Although existing cable operators will get a year's time to implement clean feed, any cable operators starting their service after implementation of the new law will have to practice clean feed immediately.
