KOLKATA: Amid talks of OTT regulation, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) announced the adoption of a comprehensive implementation toolkit last week. The association said the move is a step forward from the Universal Self-Regulation Code it had launched in September. Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) has welcomed the move by the Indian body.

“AVIA is heartened by the progress made in India on self-regulation practices by online curated content (OCC) services. IAMAI has added a comprehensive implementation toolkit to further the Universal Self-Regulation Code published last year. This is a useful and important addition to the Indian governance system for OCC, and we look forward to its speedy implementation. India remains in the forefront of countries seeking innovative and growth-promoting ways to govern the massively-growing online professional content industry,” it stated on a Linkedin post.

The association added that India is Asia’s largest free and open media market. The Indian efforts complements AVIA’s work to create a region-wide governance framework for OCC services, it noted. It also spoke for promoting responsible self-regulation, strong content advisory services, and consumer choice.

The code drafted by IAMAI has been adopted by 17 leading online curated content providers in India. The present set of signatories include Zee5, Voot, Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, SonyLiv, MX Player, Jio Cinema, Eros Now, Alt Balaji, Arre, HoiChoi, Hungama, Shemaroo, Discovery Plus, Aha and Lionsgate Play. The toolkit came into effect from 10 February 2021, even as the government assured that it would soon introduce guidelines to regulate content on OTT platforms.