MUMBAI: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on Wednesday directed broadcasters to adhere to its Policy Guidelines for Uplinking of Television Channels From lndia, 2011 and ensure that there is no violation of the same.

The Ministry intervened after certain media networks ran campaigns on social media announcing coverage of election results on some of their non-news channels.

Under the rules, the Ministry grants permission for uplinking of TV channels under two categories - Non-News & Current Affairs and News & Current Affairs.

Non-News & Current Affairs channel does not have the permission to carry any element of news and current affairs in its programme content.

Similarly, a News & Current Affairs TV channel is not mandated to air news and current affairs in its programme content.

The campaign by certain media networks is an obvious attempt at mislead consumers and lure advertisers promising greater reach and wider audience.

The Ministry added that at the time of applying for a Non-News TV channel, broadcasters give an undertaking that the proposed channel is purely an entertainment channel and does not have any news or current affairs based programme.