Most compliance work on the IT Rules 2021 stops at Part II — intermediary due diligence, safe harbour, grievance officers. Part III is a different regime with a different regulator. Notified vide G.S.R. 139(E) dated 25 February 2021, it binds publishers of news and current affairs content and publishers of online curated content, is administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting rather than MeitY, and runs on a three-tier structure ending in a seven-ministry committee.
TL;DR for founders
If you run a news portal, a news aggregator or an OTT catalogue reaching Indian users, Part III applies to you and Part II largely does not. Three numbers run the regime: acknowledge every content grievance in 24 hours, decide it in 15 days, and expect a further 15-day appeal to a self-regulating body headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge. You do not need a physical office in India to be caught — systematic business activity aimed at India is enough. And the ministry you deal with is MIB, not MeitY.
The Part II / Part III split
Rule 2(1)(l) does the division of labour that most compliance charts get wrong: for Part II of the Rules, "Ministry" means the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; for Part III, it means the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ('MIB'). Part II is about intermediaries and safe harbour under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Part III is about publishers — entities that exercise editorial control over what they put out.
Rule 8(1) applies Part III to two classes only: publishers of news and current affairs content, and publishers of online curated content. Intermediaries fall inside Part III solely "for the purposes of rules 15 and 16" — the direction and emergency-blocking procedure. Rule 8(3) then makes clear that Part III is in addition to and not in derogation of other law, naming the Blocking Rules 2009 expressly: the same content can attract a Part III proceeding and a separate Section 69A direction.
Who counts as a publisher
The definitions are narrower than they first appear, and the carve-outs matter commercially.
- Publisher of news and current affairs content (Rule 2(1)(t)) — an online paper, news portal, news aggregator, news agency or functionally similar entity. Excluded: newspapers, replica e-papers of a newspaper, and any individual or user not transmitting content in the course of systematic business, professional or commercial activity.
- Publisher of online curated content (Rule 2(1)(u)) — a publisher performing a significant role in determining the curated content made available, who gives users a computer resource to access it. Same exclusion for non-commercial individuals.
- Online curated content (Rule 2(1)(q)) — a curated catalogue of audio-visual content other than news and current affairs, made available on demand, including films, audio-visual programmes, documentaries, television programmes, serials and podcasts.
Rule 8(2) fixes the territorial reach: a publisher is caught where it operates in the territory of India — deemed to arise from physical presence — or where it conducts systematic business activity of making its content available in India. The Explanation defines systematic activity as structured or organised activity involving "an element of planning, method, continuity or persistence." A foreign-incorporated OTT service with an India-targeted catalogue and subscription funnel is inside the Rules without an Indian entity.
The three tiers and the clocks
Rule 9(1) requires adherence to the Code of Ethics in the Appendix to the Rules. Rule 9(3) builds the enforcement pyramid.
| Tier | Who | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Level I | The publisher itself (Rule 11) | Acknowledge in 24 hours (Rule 10(2)); decide in 15 days (Rule 10(3)(a)) |
| Level II | Registered self-regulating body (Rule 12) | Complainant appeals within 15 days; body decides within 15 days |
| Level III | MIB oversight mechanism (Rule 13) + Inter-Departmental Committee (Rule 14) | Further appeal within 15 days |
At Level I, Rule 11 requires the publisher to appoint a Grievance Officer based in India who is the contact point for Code of Ethics grievances and the nodal point for interaction with the complainant, the self-regulating body and the Ministry. Rule 11 also requires the publisher to be a member of a self-regulating body and abide by its terms.
At Level II, Rule 12(2) requires the body to be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court, or an independent eminent person from media, broadcasting, entertainment, child rights, human rights or a related field, with not more than six other members. Rule 12(3) requires registration with MIB within thirty days of constitution, and MIB must satisfy itself on constitution and function-acceptance before registering. Under Rule 12(7), where a publisher fails to comply with the body's guidance within the specified time, the body must refer the matter up to the oversight mechanism within fifteen days of expiry.
💡 Not sure whether you are an intermediary under Part II or a publisher under Part III — or both? The Veritect Legal AI platform holds the IT Rules 2021 as amended, rule by rule, with the Part II / Part III boundary and the MeitY / MIB administrative split mapped against each obligation. Explore Veritect Legal AI →
Classification: the OTT-specific layer
Rule 11(4) requires a publisher of online curated content to classify each title into the categories in the Schedule to the Rules, judged on context, theme, tone, impact and target audience, and rated by reference to the relevant content descriptors. Rule 11(5) requires the rating and an explanation of the descriptors to be displayed prominently before the user accesses the content. Rule 2(1)(h) lists the descriptor concerns: discrimination, depiction of illegal or harmful substances, imitable behaviour, nudity, language, sex, violence, fear, threat and horror.
Rule 2(1)(a) and 2(1)(b) add two further mechanisms — an access control mechanism restricting access based on verification of identity or age, and access services such as closed captioning, subtitles and audio descriptions to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities.
Level III: the committee and what it can order
Rule 13 puts the oversight mechanism with MIB and provides for an Authorised Officer. Rule 14(1) constitutes the Inter-Departmental Committee, chaired by that Authorised Officer, with representatives from seven ministries — Information and Broadcasting, Women and Child Development, Law and Justice, Home Affairs, Electronics and Information Technology, External Affairs, and Defence — plus such other ministries, organisations and domain experts as MIB decides to include.
Under Rule 14(4) the Ministry must make reasonable efforts to identify the entity that created, published or hosted the content and, where identified, issue a signed notice to appear and file a reply. Rule 14(5) sets the menu of recommendations: warning, censure, admonition or reprimand; an apology; a warning card or disclaimer; for online curated content, reclassification of ratings, editing of the synopsis, or modification of the content descriptor, age classification and parental or access control; deletion or modification of content to prevent incitement to a cognizable offence relating to public order; and action on Section 69A(1) grounds. Rule 14(6) requires the approval of the Secretary, MIB before any order issues. Rule 16 provides a separate emergency route where the Authorised Officer may act without delay, again routed to the Secretary.
Two administrative duties sit alongside. Rule 18 requires publishers operating in India to furnish their entity details to MIB for communication and coordination — and Rule 5 requires intermediaries to publish a statement telling publishers of news and current affairs content that they must do so. Rule 19 requires publishers and self-regulating bodies to make true and full disclosure of grievances received, how they were disposed of, action taken, replies sent, and orders or directions received.
Litigation status. Part III has been the subject of constitutional challenge before several High Courts since 2021, and elements of the Code of Ethics and oversight machinery have been the subject of interim orders. Because the position has moved more than once, verify the current status of any specific rule against the relevant court's own record before relying on it in advice.
Founder checklist
- Work out which Part binds you. Editorial control over a catalogue or a news feed points to Part III and MIB; hosting third-party content points to Part II and MeitY. Many businesses are both, on different products.
- Stand up the 24-hour acknowledgement. It is the first thing a Level II or Level III proceeding will test, and it is the easiest obligation to fail on a weekend.
- Join a registered self-regulating body. Rule 11 makes membership a compliance obligation, not a trade-association choice.
- Do not assume a foreign entity is out of scope. Systematic, planned, continuous targeting of Indian users is enough under Rule 8(2) without any Indian presence.
- File your Rule 18 details with MIB and keep the Rule 19 grievance disclosure current — these are the records the Ministry pulls first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: We are an OTT platform with no Indian subsidiary. Are we caught?
Very likely. Rule 8(2)(b) reaches any publisher conducting systematic business activity of making content available in India, and the Explanation defines that as structured or organised activity involving planning, method, continuity or persistence. A localised catalogue, India-specific pricing or sustained India marketing all point that way; physical presence is a sufficient but not a necessary condition.
Q2: Does Part III give us safe harbour like Section 79?
No. Section 79 of the IT Act and the Part II due-diligence regime protect intermediaries from liability for third-party content. A publisher exercises editorial control over its own content and has no equivalent immunity. Rule 9(2) makes the point expressly: a publisher contravening any other law in force remains liable to consequential action under that law.
Q3: Is a podcast within online curated content?
Yes. Rule 2(1)(q) expressly includes podcasts within online curated content, alongside films, audio-visual programmes, documentaries, television programmes and serials — provided the catalogue is curated and made available on demand, and the content is not news and current affairs content.
Q4: Who classifies our content — us or a regulator?
The publisher classifies, under Rule 11(4). The oversight machinery reviews after the fact: Rule 14(5)(d) lets the Inter-Departmental Committee recommend that a publisher reclassify ratings, edit a synopsis, or modify the content descriptor, age classification and parental or access controls. Self-classification with a documented, criteria-based process is therefore the defensible posture.
Q5: Can a grievance jump straight to the ministry?
Not through the Rule 10 route, which is sequential — publisher, then self-regulating body, then oversight mechanism, each with a fifteen-day window. But Rule 14(2)(b) allows the Ministry itself to refer complaints to the Committee, and Rule 12(5)(e) allows a self-regulating body to refer content directly to the Ministry where it is satisfied that action is needed to prevent incitement to a cognizable offence relating to public order or on Section 69A(1) grounds.
Q6: What is the penalty for non-compliance under Part III?
Part III carries no monetary penalty of its own. The consequences are the Rule 14(5) directions issued with the Secretary, MIB's approval, plus whatever liability arises under other law — including a Section 69A blocking direction under the Blocking Rules 2009, non-compliance with which exposes an intermediary to imprisonment which may extend to seven years and a fine under Section 69A(3) of the IT Act.
Beyond this brief Preview
Veritect Legal AI holds the IT Rules 2021 in full — Part II due diligence including the Rule 3(1)(d) amendment of November 2025 and the February 2026 synthetic-media amendment, the Rule 3A Grievance Appellate Committee route, and Part III with the Code of Ethics Appendix and the classification Schedule — alongside Sections 69A and 79 of the IT Act, 2000 and the Blocking Rules 2009.
Practitioner-level content available on Veritect Legal AI:
- Part II / Part III applicability decision tree for hybrid platform-and-publisher businesses
- Level I grievance SOP with the 24-hour and 15-day clocks and escalation triggers
- Self-regulating body membership and Rule 12(3) registration checklist
- Content-classification methodology mapped to the Schedule categories and content descriptors
- Rule 18 entity-furnishing and Rule 19 disclosure templates for MIB filings
Primary Sources
- Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 — G.S.R. 139(E), 25 February 2021: https://www.meity.gov.in/
- Information Technology Act, 2000 (Sections 69A, 79, 87) — India Code: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/1999
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting: https://mib.gov.in/
- Gazette of India (eGazette): https://egazette.gov.in/
- Supreme Court of India — judgment portal: https://www.sci.gov.in/