The board issued a notice on Tuesday, stating that it has also sent letters to some foreign channels broadcasting in Nepal with downlink permission as they were found to be broadcasting with illegal advertisements.
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The regulatory Nepal Advertising Board has directed foreign television channels to implement the clean feed (advertisement-free) broadcasting system in Nepal. The board issued a notification on Tuesday stating that some foreign channels broadcasting in Nepal with downlink permission were found to be broadcasting with advertisements in violation of the law and had also been sent letters to such channels.
The government had implemented the clean feed broadcasting system since November 2077 with the aim of regulating advertising in Nepal and protecting the domestic advertising market. Clean feed is the act of removing foreign advertisements included in foreign television channels when they are broadcast in Nepal and broadcasting ad-free content. Recently, some foreign sports channels, especially, have been found to be showing advertisements in violation of this provision.
‘Some foreign channels broadcasting in Nepal with downlink permission are broadcasting with advertisements and the board has received complaints against such channels and has also sent letters to the concerned,’ the board’s notification said.
Sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Advertisement (Regulation) Act, 2076 BS has made it mandatory for foreign television channels broadcasting in Nepal to broadcast without advertisements. In addition, the Advertisement (Regulation) Act, 2082 BS has been amended to monitor and take action against foreign channels for advertising-free broadcasting. There is a legal provision under Section 25(3)(b) of the Act that a person or organization that commits or causes to commit an offense under Section 6 of the Act will be fined up to Rs 500,000.
The Advertisement Board has directed all distributors, multi-system operators, local cable operators and other stakeholders to make advertising-free broadcasting mandatory. If channels with downlink permission are found to be broadcasting with advertisements, fines and other action will be taken as per the prevailing law, the notice signed by the Board's Chief Administrative Officer Devi Pandey (Khatri) states.
