NEW DELHI: Even as it said it will not respond to applications of permissions for licences if an applicant has delayed in responding to queries by more than three months, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry today gave a final grace period of 15 days to 73 applications.

The Ministry said in a note today that a stock-taking had shown that in 20 per cent to 40 per cent cases, applicants took anything between three months to one year to reply to the information sought by the Ministry. So, the ministry has said that henceforth, it will close requests where clarification has been due for more than three months.

A final call has been given to all to send in their clarifications that are pending within 15 days.

At the same time, it said that it is committed to granting permissions and other regulatory approvals as soon as clearances and clarifications are obtained in a speedy and transparent manner. It said that no permissions can be “held up intentionally.”

However, the company's response sometimes becomes crucial to expeditious disposal of such requests.

Failure by the companies to reply, delays the whole process leading to an impression that the permissions are held up by the Ministry.

The Ministry also sent separate emails to the concerned companies.

Applicants include major players like Big RTL Broadcast, INX News, UTV Entertainment, Sarthak Entertainment, Focus group, News Express among others. Some of these have filed applications for more than one channel.