Chapter IV REGISTRATION OF PERIODICAL

1. (1) A periodical shall be printed or published in India only in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
2. (2) Every publisher of a periodical shall, with the authorisation of the owner of such periodical, obtain a certificate of registration from the Press Registrar General by making an online application to the Press Registrar General and the specified authority within whose local jurisdiction such periodical is proposed to be published, in such manner and on payment of such fee, with such documents and particulars, as may be prescribed.
3. (3) The application referred to in sub-section (2) shall contain the title, which the publisher intends to assign to the periodical, and for that purpose the publisher may suggest one or more names for the title, in an order of preference, which is not the same or similar to a title already held by any other owner of a periodical either in the same language anywhere in India or in any other language in the same State, and which conforms to the guidelines made by the Press Registrar General for this purpose.
4. (4) The specified authority referred to in sub-section (2) shall, either furnish its no-objection or comments on the application to the Press Registrar General within a period of sixty days: Provided that no-objection of the specified authority shall not be required, where the application referred to in sub-section (2) is for registration of a periodical proposed to be published by the Central Government or a State Government or any authority under such Government.
5. (5) On receipt of an application referred to in sub-section (2), if the Press Registrar General is satisfied with its correctness and completeness and after taking into account the comments, if any, received from the specified authority within the period referred to in sub-section (4) and the guidelines relating to admissibility of titles, he shall issue a certificate of registration containing particulars of its periodicity, language, place of publication, details of the owner and the title of the periodical, in such form as may be prescribed: Provided that the Press Registrar General may, after giving an opportunity of being heard and for reasons to be recorded in writing, refuse to issue the certificate of registration.
6. (6) The publisher of the periodical shall, on receipt of the certificate of registration, commence publication of the periodical: Provided that if the publisher of the periodical fails to publish the periodical within twelve months from the end of the month in which the certificate of registration was issued, the Press Registrar General may cancel the certificate of registration and withdraw the title.

1. (1) A publisher of a periodical may make an application to the Press Registrar General for revision of particulars of the certificate of registration, or for revision of title, in such manner and with such particulars as may be prescribed.
2. (2) The Press Registrar General may, on being satisfied with the particulars of the revision applied for under sub-section (1), issue a revised certificate of registration or a revised title, to the publisher and intimate the same to the specified authority.

1. (1) The transfer of ownership of every periodical registered under section 7 shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this section.
2. (2) The owner of a periodical referred to in sub-section (1) shall apply for transfer of its ownership to the Press Registrar General by furnishing such documents, setting forth such particulars and on payment of such fee, as may be prescribed.
3. (3) On receipt of an application from the owner of a periodical for transfer of ownership of such periodical, if the Press Registrar General is satisfied with its correctness and completeness, and after taking into account the comments, if any, received from the specified authority, he shall permit the transfer of ownership of that periodical: Provided that the Press Registrar General may, after giving an opportunity of being heard and for reasons to be recorded in writing, refuse to permit such transfer of ownership of a periodical.
4. (4) The owner of the periodical shall, on receipt of the permission from the Press Registrar General under sub-section (3), forward a copy of the same to the publisher, and the publisher shall apply and obtain a revised certificate of registration in accordance with the provisions of section 7.
5. (5) The owner of a periodical shall intimate any change in the shareholding pattern of his company within fifteen days of such change being informed by him to the Registrar of Companies.

1. (1) The owner of a periodical may discontinue a periodical registered under this Act and shall, within six months of such discontinuation, intimate to the Press Registrar General and the specified authority, within whose local jurisdiction such periodical is published, about such discontinuation.
2. (2) The Press Registrar General shall, on receipt of intimation from the publisher under sub-section (1), cancel the certificate of registration of the discontinued periodical and remove the periodical along with its title from the register maintained under clause (b) of sub-section (3) of section 5.

1. (1) The Press Registrar General may, by order, for a period not less than thirty days but not exceeding one hundred and eighty days, suspend the certificate of registration of a periodical, if---
   • (a) the registration was obtained on false representation or on concealment of any material fact; or
   • (b) the publisher has failed to publish the periodical continuously. Explanation.---For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that if a periodical publishes less than half of its issues, as are required to be published in a calendar year in accordance with the application made under sub-section (2) of section 7, such periodical shall be deemed to have failed to publish continuously; or
   • (c) the publisher has given false particulars in the annual statement; or
   • (d) the publisher has failed to furnish the annual statement within two years from the end of the financial year for which the annual statement was to be furnished.
2. (2) The Press Registrar General may cancel the certificate of registration of a periodical, where the publisher fails to remove the defects of the grounds on which the said certificate was suspended under sub-section (1) before the expiry of the period of such suspension.
3. (3) The Press Registrar General may, by order, cancel the certificate of registration of a periodical which---
   • (a) bears the same or similar title already held by any other owner of a periodical, either in the same language anywhere in India or in any other language in the same State or Union territory; or
   • (b) violates the guidelines made under sub-section (3) of section 7.
4. (4) The Press Registrar General may, by order, cancel the certificate of Registration of a periodical where the owner or publisher of such periodical has been convicted by any court for an offence---
   • (a) involving terrorist act or unlawful activity; or
   • (b) for having done anything against the security of the State. Explanation.---For the purposes of this section, the expressions "terrorist act" and "unlawful activity" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (k) and (o) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967).
5. (5) No order for suspension or cancellation of certificate of registration shall be passed under this section, without giving an opportunity of being heard to the publisher or owner of the periodical, as the case may be.
6. (6) A copy of order of suspension or cancellation passed under this section shall be made available to the Central Government or State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, and to the specified authority.
7. (7) The Press Registrar General may, after the cancellation of certificate of registration of a periodical under this section, issue a new certificate of registration to such periodical bearing another title, if the publisher of that periodical makes an application to that effect in conformity with the guidelines made under sub-section (3) of section 7.
8. (8) The Press Registrar General may, in such circumstances and manner, as may be prescribed, authorise the specified authority to suspend or cancel the certificate of registration granted under section 7.

The publisher of a periodical shall furnish to the Press Registrar General an annual statement in respect of the periodical, at such time, in such form and giving such particulars, as may be prescribed.

1. (2) The publisher of every newspaper in India shall, subject to any rules made under this Act, deliver free of cost to the Press Registrar General and to the State Government one copy of each issue of such newspaper within forty-eight hours.

The Press Registrar General shall prepare and publish an annual report containing information in respect of the periodicals in India.