The key statutory obligations for owners and publishers under the Press and Registration of Periodicals (PRP) Act, 2023 are as follows:
Registration of a Periodical (Section 7(1) of the PRP Act, 2023)
A periodical shall be printed or published only in accordance with the provisions of the PRP Act, 2023. That is, no periodical shall be printed or published in India without being registered with the Press Registrar General of India (PRGI).
Commencement of Publication of the Periodical (Section 7(6) of the PRP Act, 2023)
Upon receiving the certificate of registration, the publisher shall commence publication of the periodical. Provided that if the publisher fails to commence publication within twelve months from the end of the month in which the certificate was issued, the Press Registrar General may cancel the certificate of registration without prejudice.
Discontinuation of a Periodical (Section 10(1) of the PRP Act, 2023 and Rule 8 of the PRP Rules, 2024)
When an owner of a periodical, who has been granted a certificate of registration, decides to discontinue the publication of the periodical, they shall, within six months of such discontinuation, send an online intimation to the Press Registrar General and the specified authority on the Press Sewa Portal.
- E-filing of the Annual Statement (Section 12(1) of the PRP Act, 2023 and Rule 9(1) of the PRP Rules, 2024):A publisher who has been granted a certificate of registration by PRGI shall furnish an annual statement by the 31st May of a calendar year, in respect of the preceding financial year, on the Press Sewa Portal, containing the particulars and documents specified in that Portal.
Delivery of Physical Copies of Periodicals (Section 12(2) and Rule 10(2) of the PRP Act, 2024):Every publisher of a newspaper in India shall deliver the physical copy to the office of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) located in the respective State or Union Territory by the fifth day of every month, covering all issues published during the preceding month.
Note: Periodicals published within the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi shall submit the physical copy of each issue to the Office of the Press Registrar General of India (PRGI), New Delhi, by the fifth day of every month for all days on which the newspaper was published during the preceding month.
Periodicals published in the National Capital Region (NCR), excluding the NCT of Delhi—that is, those published from areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan falling within the NCR—shall submit the physical copy at the nearest Press Information Bureau (PIB) office.
- Upload of E-copies of Periodicals (Rule 10(1) of the PRP Rules, 2024):The publisher shall, within forty-eight hours of the publication of a periodical, upload the scanned copy of the printed periodical on the Press Sewa Portal.