Registration of an in-house magazine

I want to start a magazine , but only for inner circulation. Do I need to register it? Also, what are the laws governing magazine registration in India?

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Hi

Detailed procedure for obtaining magazine license:

  1. Prepare the application form for title verification and approach to the Regional Magistrate Court; 
  2. Obtain a Diary Number allotted by the Magistrate Court and apply to the Office of Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), Delhi office for name availability through the magistrate court. It will take around three months time for the RNI, Delhi office to approve the title/name applied for; 
  3. Once the title/name is approved by the RNI, Delhi office, and then approach the magistrate court to get a date allotted for hearing (date can be allotted anytime between one to four months from the date of request); 
  4. Printer, Publisher & Editor are required to appear before the magistrate for taking oath with the following documents; a) Declaration copy which has to be filled by the Printer, Publisher & Editor; b) Address & ID Proof of the printer, Publisher & Editor; c) Printing Press License copy of the Printer; 
  5. Once this is done, there will be an approval to this effect from the Magistrate Court and the magazine can be published and copies of the magazines have to be submitted to the RNI, Regional Office for the final approval, so the office of RNI can evaluate whether the magazine meets the criteria specified in the declaration. 
  6. Once the office of RNI is satisfied, they will issue a RNI Certificate and both (the Diary Number issued by the Magistrate Court and RNI Number) will have to be mentioned on each copy of the magazine.

Documents required for registration

The following documents are required for registration –

  1. Copy of the Title Verification Letter.
  2. Attested copy of the Declaration duly authenticated by the District Magistrate/Additional District Magistrate etc.
  3. Affidavit for No Foreign Tie-up duly notarized.
  4. Copy of first issue of the publication brought out within 42 days in case of dailies and weeklies and 90 days for fortnightly and above.
  5. Copy of the latest issue of publication.

In case the applicant does not apply for registration within the stipulated period of two years, the title is unblocked and may be made available to any other applicant.

In addition to the above said documents, following KYC documents are also required –

  1. Certificate of Incorporation, Memorandum/Articles of the Company and in case of Proprietorship, registration certificate issued under Shops and Establishment Act and in case of Partnership, Partnership Deed.
  2. PAN of the organization.
  3. List of Promoters/Directors/Partners
  4. Board resolution in case of Company.
  5. ID and Address proof of Partners/Directors/Proprietor

RNI & Rules

The office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India, popularly known as RNI came into being on 1 July 1956, on the recommendation of the First Press Commission in 1953 and by amending the Press and Registration of Books Act 1867. The Office of the Registrar of Newspapers is responsible for implementation of the Press and Registration of Books Act. The Registrar of Newspapers for India has its Headquarters at New Delhi. The Regional offices of RNI are at Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Regards

Sandipan Mohanty

 

Answered on August 25, 2016.
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