CBFC issues new film certification guidelines after nearly 35 years
The Central Board of Film Certification has issued new certification guidelines for the first time in nearly 35 years, replacing those of December 1991. Released by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on September 16, they retain most existing provisions and add a mandatory warning for scenes showing consumption, use or trafficking of narcotic drugs. They also reiterate UA 7+, 13+ and 16+ age markers, introduced in the 2024 rules. The move follows reconstitution of an 18-member CBFC board after nine years.
Source
Hindustan Times — India · read the original report ↗
Desk check · compared with the source
What the desk checked (5)
- CBFC issued new film certification guidelines on September 16, via the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the first in nearly 35 years after December 1991. — Dates and issuing ministry appear in source; attributed to the guidelines document.
- Scenes depicting consumption, use or trafficking of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances must carry the warning 'Illicit Narcotics Destroy Health and Guarantees Imprisonment. Say No to Drugs.' — Quoted warning text appears verbatim in source.
- Three UA markers — UA 7+, UA 13+, UA 16+ — are not new; introduced in Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024 and added to guidelines by a May 2025 amendment. — Source states this explicitly and is internally consistent.
- CBFC chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati said filmmakers must highlight markers in promotional material. — Attributed to his post on X and to remarks to Hindustan Times.
- Government reconstituted an 18-member CBFC board including Suniel Shetty, Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Priyadarshan, Ricky Kej and Rupali Ganguly. — Names and board size appear in source; no order number cited.
Analysts’ view opinion
The first new CBFC guidelines in nearly 35 years are less a rewrite than a reaffirmation: the 1991 framework is carried forward almost intact, with a mandatory anti-drug warning as the one genuinely new substantive addition. Politically, that lets the government claim modernisation while retaining the same broad discretion over content touching national security, communal sensitivities and public order. The timing — days after the board was reconstituted — suggests an intent to hand the new leadership a clearly stated rulebook.
- Continuity outweighs change, which gives the government reform credit without surrendering any existing discretionary ground for refusal.
- The anti-narcotics warning is politically low-risk and broadly popular messaging aimed at young and parent voters, difficult for any party to oppose.
- The UA 7+/13+/16+ markers already existed in the 2024 rules, so highlighting them is an awareness and signalling exercise rather than a policy shift, as the chairperson's own emphasis indicates.
- Retaining phrasing such as "anti-national", "communal" and "anti-scientific" has drawn fresh online criticism and will likely revive the free-expression-versus-regulation debate.
- An 18-member board after nine years, featuring well-known industry names, reads as an attempt to build both credibility and industry buy-in for the regulator.
What to watch — Watch the new board's first ruling on a contentious film, and whether filmmakers and opposition voices formally press the case that the retained 1991-era provisions need reform.
The story does not establish how these guidelines will change certification decisions in practice, nor what political calculation, if any, lay behind the timing.
Deep dive
Research brief · 8 facts · 6 dates · exam-readyThe brief
Context
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the statutory body that certifies films for public exhibition in India, has issued fresh certification guidelines for the first time in nearly 35 years, superseding those of December 1991. Issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on September 16, the guidelines largely carry forward the 1991 framework on violence, obscenity, communal content, national security and public order. The only technically new substantive provision concerns scenes depicting narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, which must now carry a specified warning. The guidelines also restate the UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+ age markers already created by the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024.
Key facts
- New CBFC certification guidelines were issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on September 16, the first in nearly 35 years.
- The previous guidelines dated from December 1991.
- Scenes depicting consumption, use or trafficking of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances must carry the warning: "Illicit Narcotics Destroy Health and Guarantees Imprisonment. Say No to Drugs."
- The 1991 guidelines had only said scenes encouraging, justifying or glamorising drug addiction should not be shown.
- Three UA age markers - UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+ - advise parental guidance for children below the respective age.
- The markers were introduced in the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024, and the 1991 guidelines were amended in May 2025 to incorporate them.
- The government reconstituted the CBFC with an 18-member board after nine years; the previous full board reconstitution was in 2017.
- Shashi Shekhar Vempati was appointed CBFC chairperson in May this year after Prasoon Joshi stepped down on becoming Prasar Bharati chairperson.
Timeline
- December 1991CBFC issues the film certification guidelines that remained in force for nearly 35 years.
- 2017Previous full reconstitution of the CBFC board takes place.
- 2024Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024 introduce the UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+ age markers.
- May 2025The 1991 guidelines are amended to incorporate the three UA age markers; Shashi Shekhar Vempati is appointed CBFC chairperson after Prasoon Joshi steps down.
- Days before the new guidelinesGovernment reconstitutes the CBFC after nine years with an 18-member board.
- September 16Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issues the new certification guidelines.
Who has a stake
- Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) — Applies the new guidelines while certifying films; its newly reconstituted 18-member board will implement them.
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting — Issued the guidelines on September 16 and reconstituted the board; owns the certification policy framework.
- Filmmakers and the film industry — Must carry the anti-narcotics warning and highlight UA age markers in promotional material; face continuing 1991-era restrictions.
- Parents and child audiences — UA 7+, 13+ and 16+ markers are meant to guide decisions on children's exposure to films.
- Shashi Shekhar Vempati, CBFC chairperson — Publicly pushed awareness of age markers, saying the aim is "reinforcing their importance and creating awareness".
- Critics on social media — Have renewed criticism of carried-forward provisions on criminals' modus operandi and "anti-national" content.
Why it matters
Film certification shapes what Indian audiences can watch and how creative expression is regulated, and the 1991 framework had gone unrevised for nearly 35 years despite vast changes in cinema and viewing habits. The refresh signals continuity rather than liberalisation: only the narcotics warning is substantively new, while contested clauses on "anti-national" and "obscurantist" content remain. The simultaneous reconstitution of the board after nine years determines who will interpret these rules in practice.
UPSC angle
Prelims pointers
- New CBFC certification guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on September 16; previous guidelines were of December 1991.
- UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+ markers were introduced by the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024 and are defined in the Cinematograph Act.
- Mandatory drug warning: "Illicit Narcotics Destroy Health and Guarantees Imprisonment. Say No to Drugs."
- CBFC reconstituted with an 18-member board; earlier full reconstitution was in 2017.
- Shashi Shekhar Vempati is CBFC chairperson (appointed May this year); predecessor Prasoon Joshi moved to Prasar Bharati as chairperson.
- Board members include Suniel Shetty, Preity Zinta, Pankaj Tripathi, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Priyadarshan, Ricky Kej and Rupali Ganguly.
Mains framing
India's film certification regime rests on the Cinematograph Act and rules, with the CBFC applying executive guidelines that had remained essentially unchanged since December 1991. The September 16 guidelines mark a rare revision, but their substance is largely restatement: the sole new provision mandates an anti-drug warning for scenes depicting the consumption, use or trafficking of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, while the UA 7+, 13+ and 16+ markers merely reiterate what the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024 already created and a May 2025 amendment had inserted. Continuity also preserves contested clauses - the bar on depicting criminals' modus operandi and on content promoting "communal, obscurantist, anti-scientific and anti-national" attitudes, or straining relations with foreign States - which have drawn renewed criticism, raising the familiar tension between certification as audience guidance and certification as content control. The chairperson's emphasis that filmmakers advertise age markers in promotional material points to a graded, information-based approach that empowers parental choice rather than prohibition. A way forward lies in making the markers genuinely visible and understood, clarifying vague grounds so decisions are predictable, and ensuring the newly reconstituted 18-member board applies the guidelines transparently and consistently.
Key terms
- CBFC
- Central Board of Film Certification, the body that certifies films for public exhibition in India.
- Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024
- Rules that introduced the UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+ age-based certification markers.
- UA age markers
- UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+ categories advising parental guidance for children below the respective age.
- Psychotropic substances
- Mind-altering substances whose depiction, along with narcotic drugs, now triggers the mandatory anti-drug warning.
- Prasar Bharati
- Public broadcaster whose chairpersonship Prasoon Joshi took up after stepping down from the CBFC.
Practice questions
- The CBFC's new guidelines are more continuity than change. Critically examine, with reference to the December 1991 framework and the September 16 revisions.
- Do age-based certification markers such as UA 7+, 13+ and 16+ serve audience guidance better than outright content restrictions? Discuss.
- Discuss the implications of retaining provisions barring depiction of criminals' modus operandi and content deemed "anti-national" for creative freedom in Indian cinema.
Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.