RTI: Prasar Bharati says it has no grievance reports for Waves OTT

Media Nama: New Delhi: Friday, September 18, 2026.

Prasar Bharati has no monthly grievance compliance reports for its Waves OTT platform. It also has no record of any communication from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or any other ministry regarding this requirement, and no correspondence or action taken over its non-compliance, according to two separate RTI replies from the broadcaster’s WAVES OTT Division.
MediaNama had filed these RTIs in August 2026 after failing to find any published grievance compliance reports for Waves OTT, as required under Rule 18(3) of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. One application was filed with Prasar Bharati and the other with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). Both were answered by the WAVES OTT Division itself, suggesting that the MIB application was passed on internally, in line with our request to transfer it under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act if the information was held by another authority.
What the replies reveal
Whether the grievance reports exist at all: “No such monthly grievance redressal/compliance reports under Rule 18(3) of the IT Rules, 2021 are available on record with the WAVES OTT Division.”
On any Ministry circular, guideline, or communication instructing Prasar Bharati to publish these reports: We asked this question in both RTIs, and Prasar Bharati’s WAVES OTT Division gave the identical response each time: “No such communication specifically regarding publication of monthly grievance reports for WAVES OTT is available on record with the WAVES OTT Division.”
On any correspondence, show-cause notices, or action reports over non-submission or non-publication of these reports: “No such correspondence, show-cause notice, reply, or action report is available on record with the WAVES OTT Division.”
Why this matters
Rule 18(3) of the IT Rules applies to all publishers of online curated content, and platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, JioHotstar, SonyLIV, and Aha Video already publish their monthly grievance reports. By Prasar Bharati’s own account, Waves OTT has none. This highlights a gap in internal compliance monitoring and the lack of action on grievance reports, suggesting that the requirement under the IT Rules has gone unmonitored and unenforced since the launch of Waves OTT.
We have written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting seeking a response to the following questions:

1. Is the Ministry aware that Waves OTT has not published any monthly grievance compliance reports under Rule 18(3) since the obligation became applicable to it?
2. What action, if any, will the Ministry take to bring Waves OTT into compliance, and by when?
3. Will the Ministry direct Prasar Bharati to publish the backlog of monthly reports it has not filed so far?
4. Would the Ministry like to offer any further comment on record for this story?

Another RTI to the MIB seeking information on which OTT platforms it considers compliant with Rule 18(3), and what records it uses to track this, remains unanswered at the time of writing. We will publish an update if we hear back.