Film certification: CBFC and the Cinematograph Act

In short

Film certification is the statutory pre-release examination of every cinematograph film meant for public exhibition in India, done by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) under the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. The Board can certify a film unrestricted, restrict it by age, order cuts and modifications, or refuse a certificate altogether — and exhibiting an uncertified or altered film is a criminal offence. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023 reshaped the system: age-based sub-categories (UA 7+, UA 13+, UA 16+), perpetual validity of certificates, a separate certificate for television and other media, removal of the Central Government's revisional power, and jail terms for camcord piracy. It is examined in "Film industry, law and regulation" papers of BA/B.Sc Film and Television Production and in Mass Communication law papers, and is asked in interviews for production-manager, line-producer, post-production supervisor, distribution and compliance roles at studios, OTT platforms and broadcasters.

Explained

Constitutional and statutory basis

• Entry 60, Union List — "sanctioning of cinematograph films for exhibition" is a Union subject; Entry 33, State List — "cinemas, subject to the provisions of Entry 60" — so *certification* is central and *licensing of theatres* is state.
• Censorship of films is a restriction on free speech under Article 19(1)(a), saved only if it falls within the grounds of Article 19(2) — sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation, incitement to an offence.
• Cinematograph Act, 1952 — Part I definitions; Part II (ss. 3-9) certification, administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Part III regulation of exhibition (applies to Union Territories; States have their own Cinemas Regulation Acts and licensing rules).
• Subordinate law: Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024 (notified 15 March 2024), which superseded the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 1983.
• Section 5B(2) guidelines issued by the Central Government (the operative set dates from 1991) tell the Board what to look for; the Board cannot invent grounds outside them.

CBFC: constitution and machinery

• Section 3 — the Board consists of a Chairperson and non-official members appointed by the Central Government (the Act provides for not fewer than 12 and not more than 25 members); members other than the Chairperson are part-time.
• Headquarters: Mumbai. Nine regional offices — Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Cuttack, Guwahati — each under a Regional Officer.
• Section 5 — Advisory panels at each regional centre: persons drawn from the public to assist in examining films; panel members sit on Examining and Revising Committees.
• The Board is the statutory certifying authority; the Regional Officer is the administrative channel, and committees do the actual viewing.

Categories of certificate (Section 5A)

• U — Unrestricted public exhibition: suitable for all ages.
• UA — Unrestricted, with parental guidance for children below 12, now split by the 2023 Amendment into three sub-categories: UA 7+, UA 13+, UA 16+, meaning parental guidance is advised for children below 7, 13 and 16 respectively.
• A — Adults only: admission restricted to persons aged 18 and above; the restriction is legally enforceable by the exhibitor.
• S — restricted to a specialised class of persons, such as doctors, scientists or engineers (surgical or scientific films).
• The UA sub-categories are advisory, not a bar on admission: a parent may take a younger child. A/S are restrictive.
• Separate certificate for television or other media (2023 Amendment): the Board may grant a distinct certificate for the same film for non-theatrical exhibition; only a U-category film may be shown on television under the broadcast law.
• Validity: certificates were valid for ten years under the original s.5A(3); since the 2023 Amendment a certificate is valid in perpetuity.
• Each language version and each dubbed version is a separate film for certification and needs its own application and certificate.

Step-by-step certification process

1. Application by the producer/applicant, now filed online on the CBFC e-cinepramaan system, with the prescribed fee, the film file, a synopsis, the dialogue/script list, song lyrics, title-registration proof and the required no-objection documents.
2. Scrutiny and categorisation by the Regional Officer — feature film ("long film") or short film; constitution of the Examining Committee from the advisory panel with the Regional Officer, with a mandated minimum number of women members. (The exact composition and the fee slabs are set out in the 2024 Rules and the Schedule and have been revised; quote the Rules, not an old figure.)
3. Examination — the committee views the film in one sitting and each member records an individual written opinion: U / UA sub-category / A / S, with or without cuts, or refusal.
4. Report and order — the Chairperson, acting on the committee's recommendation, passes one of the five orders in s.4(1): s.4(1)(i) sanction for unrestricted public exhibition (U, or with the UA parental-guidance endorsement), s.4(1)(ii) sanction restricted to adults (A), s.4(1)(iii) sanction restricted to members of a profession or class of persons (S), s.4(1)(iv) direct excisions or modifications (deletions, muting, visual blurring, insertion of disclaimers) before sanctioning under any of the foregoing clauses, or s.4(1)(v) refusal.
5. Revising Committee — if the applicant is dissatisfied, or if the Chairperson does not agree with the Examining Committee, the film goes to a Revising Committee presided over by the Chairperson or a Board member, with panel members who did not sit on the Examining Committee; the film is seen afresh.
6. Carrying out cuts and issue of certificate — the applicant submits the modified film and the cut list; the digitally signed e-certificate with the certificate number, length and list of modifications is issued and must be shown at the head of every print.
7. Appeal (s.5C) — against refusal or an adverse category, to the High Court. The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) was abolished by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, so there is no longer an intermediate tribunal.
8. Priority / expedited screening on payment of the higher fee prescribed in the Rules; the 2024 Rules also require accessibility features (captioning, audio description) for persons with disabilities in the certification workflow.

The Section 5B guiding principles (what the committee actually checks)

• No certificate if the film or any part is against the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or involves defamation or contempt of court.
• Under the 1991 guidelines, the Board must ensure that: anti-social activity and crime are not glorified or made to look attractive; violence, cruelty and horror are not needlessly detailed; abuse or humiliation of children and cruelty to animals are not shown; scenes degrading women or depicting sexual violence are avoided or kept to the minimum necessary to the theme; drug and substance abuse is not encouraged; vulgarity, obscenity and double-meaning words are avoided; national symbols and emblems are respected; communal, religious or regional sensibilities are not inflamed; and the film is judged as a whole, in the light of the medium's reach and the period and class of audience.
• Allied compliances the certification file depends on: COTPA, 2003 and the tobacco advertisement Rules — static anti-tobacco warnings, scrolling disclaimers and audio-visual health spots where tobacco use is shown; Animal Welfare Board of India permission under the Performing Animals (Registration) Rules for any animal in the film; clearances for armed-forces, court-room or real-person depictions as required.

The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023 — what changed

• Age-based UA sub-categories UA 7+, UA 13+, UA 16+, acting on the Shyam Benegal Committee (2016) recommendation for finer categorisation.
• Perpetual validity of certificates in place of the ten-year limit.
• Separate certificate for television/other media, recognising multi-platform release.
• Omission of the Central Government's revisional power over a certificate already granted (former s.6(1)) — giving effect to Union of India v. K.M. Shankarappa, where the Supreme Court held the executive cannot sit in revision over a quasi-judicial certification decision.
• Anti-piracy: new s.6AA prohibits unauthorised recording (camcording) of a film, and s.6AB prohibits unauthorised exhibition of an infringing copy; punishment is imprisonment of not less than three months and up to three years with a fine of not less than ₹3 lakh and up to 5% of the audited gross production cost. Fair-dealing uses permitted by s.52 of the Copyright Act, 1957 are excepted.
• Consequential alignment with the abolition of FCAT (appeals to the High Court).

Offences, and the limits of the Board's power

• Section 7 — exhibiting an uncertified film, a film in violation of its certificate or category, or a film whose certificate has been suspended, is punishable with imprisonment up to three years or fine up to ₹1 lakh or both, with a further fine for each day the offence continues (the Act prescribes a per-day amount; the figure is in s.7 as amended and should be quoted from the current text).
• The police and the State Government may suspend exhibition of a certified film for a limited period under the Act/State law in the interest of public order — but a certified film cannot simply be banned: in Viacom 18 v. Union of India (Padmaavat, 2018) the Supreme Court held State governments cannot prohibit the screening of a film the CBFC has certified.
• Advantages of the system: a single national clearance; a uniform audience-advisory signal for parents and exhibitors; pre-release certainty for distributors; a statutory record of the approved cut.
• Limitations and criticisms: pre-censorship of a certified-and-cut film is a prior restraint; subjective and inconsistent decisions between committees; delays in listing and in Revising Committee stages hitting release dates; no graded adult category (an "A-C" / adults-with-caution class was recommended but not adopted); OTT content is not CBFC-certified, creating a two-track regime for the same content; theatrical trailers and posters are certified/regulated differently from the film.

Leading cases to quote

• K.A. Abbas v. Union of India (1970) — pre-censorship of films is constitutionally valid; film is a uniquely powerful medium and may be treated separately, but guidelines must not be vague.
• S. Rangarajan v. P. Jagjivan Ram (1989) — a certified film cannot be suppressed because a section of the audience threatens trouble; the State must maintain order, not surrender to it.
• Bobby Art International v. Om Pal Singh Hoon (1996, Bandit Queen) — a scene of nudity or rape must be judged in the context of the film's theme and message, not in isolation.
• Union of India v. K.M. Shankarappa (2001) — the executive cannot override a quasi-judicial certification; basis of the 2023 deletion of the revisional power.
• Prakash Jha Productions v. Union of India (Aarakshan, 2011) and Viacom 18 (Padmaavat, 2018) — State bans on certified films struck down.

Key points

• Cinematograph Act, 1952 - the parent Act; Part II (ss. 3-9) governs certification, Part III exhibition.
• Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024 - current procedural rules; superseded the 1983 Rules from 15 March 2024.
• CBFC - statutory body under s.3, Chairperson plus 12-25 non-official members, headquarters Mumbai, nine regional offices.
• Advisory panels (s.5) - public members who staff Examining and Revising Committees.
• Section 4 - the five possible orders under s.4(1): sanction for unrestricted exhibition (i), restricted to adults (ii), restricted to a class of persons (iii), direct excisions/modifications before sanction (iv), or refuse (v).
• Section 5A - categories U, UA (UA 7+ / UA 13+ / UA 16+), A, S; certificate now valid in perpetuity.
• Section 5B - grounds for refusal, mirroring Article 19(2), plus the Central Government's 1991 guidelines.
• Section 5C - appeal lies to the High Court; FCAT was abolished by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021.
• Former s.6(1) - Central Government revisional power, omitted by the 2023 Amendment after K.M. Shankarappa.
• Sections 6AA and 6AB - 2023 anti-piracy provisions: camcording and exhibition of infringing copies made offences.
• Piracy punishment - 3 months to 3 years' imprisonment and fine of ₹3 lakh up to 5% of audited gross production cost.
• Section 7 - exhibiting an uncertified film: imprisonment up to 3 years and/or fine up to ₹1 lakh, plus a daily fine for continuing offences.
• UA is advisory, A is restrictive - UA sub-categories guide parents; A bars under-18s and must be enforced at the box office.
• One film, one certificate per version - each language and each dubbed version is certified separately.
• Only U films on television under the broadcast regime; the 2023 Amendment allows a separate certificate for TV and other media.
• Entry 60 Union List vs Entry 33 State List - certification is central, theatre licensing is state.
• Shyam Benegal Committee (2016) - recommended age-graded categories and a narrower certification role; source of UA 7+/13+/16+.
• Judge the film as a whole - the standard laid down in Bandit Queen, not scene-by-scene.

Formulas and examples

Example 1 - footage of a feature film. A film runs 148 minutes on 35 mm at 24 fps.

• Frames = 148 × 60 × 24 = 213,120.
• Length = 213,120 / 16 = 13,320 ft (also 148 × 90 = 13,320 ft).
• Answer: the certification application declares a length of 13,320 ft, i.e. 2 h 28 min.

Example 2 - effect of ordered cuts. The Examining Committee recommends UA 16+ subject to deletion of a 42-second violent sequence and muting of 8 seconds of dialogue (muting does not shorten the film).

• Footage deleted = 1.5 × 42 = 63 ft; frames = 42 × 24 = 1,008 frames (1,008/16 = 63 ft, consistent).
• New length = 13,320 − 63 = 13,257 ft = 13,257 / 90 = 147.3 minutes (147 min 18 s).
• The certificate records the final length 13,257 ft, the category UA 16+, and both modifications in the cut list.

Example 3 - short film on 16 mm. A 22-minute documentary shot on 16 mm at 24 fps.

• Frames = 22 × 60 × 24 = 31,680; length = 31,680 / 40 = 792 ft (22 × 36 = 792 ft).
• It is a "short film" for certification and goes to the smaller Examining Committee prescribed by the Rules.

Example 4 - piracy fine ceiling. A film's audited gross production cost is ₹120 crore; a person is convicted under s.6AA for camcording it.

• Maximum fine = 5% × ₹120,00,00,000 = ₹6,00,00,000 (₹6 crore); minimum fine = ₹3,00,000.
• Imprisonment: not less than 3 months, up to 3 years.

Example 5 - continuing s.7 offence. A single-screen exhibitor screens an uncertified film for 12 days.

• Liability: imprisonment up to 3 years and/or fine up to ₹1,00,000, plus a further fine for each of the 12 days at the per-day rate in s.7 — at a ₹20,000 per-day rate that is 12 × ₹20,000 = ₹2,40,000, giving a maximum monetary exposure of about ₹3,40,000. Quote the per-day figure from the current text of s.7, which has been amended.

Where it is used

• Production and line production: building certification into the release calendar, budgeting the fee, maintaining the dialogue list, song lyrics, title registration, AWBI animal permission and tobacco-warning assets.
• Post-production and DI: preparing the censor cut, executing ordered deletions, mutes and blurs, inserting statutory disclaimers and the certificate card at the head of the DCP.
• Distribution and exhibition: PVR INOX, Cinepolis, Miraj and single screens rely on the category for ticketing and age checks; an A certificate changes the audience, the show timings and the revenue projection.
• Broadcast and OTT compliance teams: Star, Sony, Zee and Viacom18 need a U certificate (or a television-specific certificate) to air a film; platforms map CBFC categories onto their own U/UA 7+/13+/16+/A age ratings.
• Legal and regulatory roles: media law practices and studio legal cells handle Revising Committee representations, High Court writ petitions against refusal, and anti-piracy complaints under ss. 6AA/6AB.
• Film festivals and non-theatrical screening: festival exemptions are granted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting under the Act/Rules, which is why festival premieres can precede certification.

Interview questions

• Q: Which statute and which rules govern film certification in India today? A: The Cinematograph Act, 1952, as amended by the Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023, read with the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024, which replaced the 1983 Rules.
• Q: What are the certificate categories now? A: U, UA with the sub-categories UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+, A for adults only, and S for a specialised class of persons.
• Q: Is a UA 16+ film barred to a 14-year-old? A: No. UA sub-categories are parental-guidance advisories, so admission is not restricted; only A and S certificates restrict admission.
• Q: Where does an appeal against refusal of a certificate go? A: To the High Court. The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal was abolished by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021.
• Q: Can the Central Government now revise a certificate the Board has granted? A: No - the revisional power was omitted by the 2023 Amendment, following the Supreme Court's ruling in Union of India v. K.M. Shankarappa.
• Q: How long is a certificate valid? A: In perpetuity since the 2023 Amendment; earlier it lapsed after ten years and had to be revalidated.
• Q: What orders can the Board pass under Section 4? A: Five, under s.4(1): sanction for unrestricted public exhibition (with the UA endorsement where needed), sanction restricted to adults, sanction restricted to members of a profession or class of persons, direct excisions or modifications before sanctioning under any of those clauses, or refuse to sanction the film.
• Q: What did the 2023 Amendment do about piracy? A: Inserted ss. 6AA and 6AB prohibiting unauthorised recording and exhibition of infringing copies, punishable with 3 months to 3 years' imprisonment and a fine of ₹3 lakh up to 5% of the audited gross production cost, subject to Copyright Act fair-dealing exceptions.
• Q: Does the CBFC certify web series on an OTT platform? A: No - OTT curated content is self-classified by the publisher under the IT Rules, 2021; CBFC certification is for cinematograph films exhibited publicly.
• Q: Can a State Government ban a CBFC-certified film? A: No; in the Padmaavat case the Supreme Court held States cannot prohibit exhibition of a certified film, though a limited suspension in a genuine public-order situation is provided for by law.
• Q: Difference between an Examining Committee and a Revising Committee? A: The Examining Committee is the first panel, chaired by the Regional Officer, that views and recommends; the Revising Committee, presided over by the Chairperson or a Board member with fresh panel members, re-examines the film on the applicant's request or when the Chairperson disagrees.
• Q: If a Hindi film is dubbed into Tamil and Telugu, how many certificates are needed? A: Three - each language version is certified separately, each with its own application, fee and certificate number.

Common mistakes

• Saying UA bars children from the theatre - it is advisory; only A and S restrict admission.
• Still writing that appeals go to the FCAT, or that a certificate lapses after ten years - both are outdated.
• Claiming the Central Government can revise or overturn a CBFC decision - that power was deleted in 2023.
• Treating CBFC categories as applying to OTT or television content; television needs a U film or a television-specific certificate, and OTT uses self-classification.
• Confusing certification (Union, Entry 60) with cinema-hall licensing and the entertainment-related levies (State).
• Writing "censor board" and "banned" loosely in an exam answer - the Board certifies or refuses a certificate; a refusal is not a ban under a separate power.
• Quoting old 1983-Rules fee tables, committee sizes or timelines; cite the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024, noting that fee slabs and committee composition are in the Rules and Schedule and are revised from time to time.

Related topics

Media ethics and laws in India · OTT, web series and content distribution · Media industry in India · Copyright and intellectual property in film · Film and TV careers: FTII and SRFTI entrance and crew roles · Post-production workflow and DCP mastering