Step by Step Guide to Register with RNI

Have you ever doubted the contents or the news written in the newspapers you read? If not, do you know who approves the papers you read every day? In this article, we are going to see how newspapers are registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India {RNI}.

About RNI

• The Office of the Registrar of Newspapers of India is popularly known as RNI.
• It is a statutory body operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India for the registration of publications, such as newspapers and magazines in India.
• It was established on 1 July 1956, and its headquarters is in New Delhi.
• According to the Press and Registration of Books Act (PRB Act) 1867 and the Registrations of Newspapers Rules 1956, the RNI regulates and monitors printing and publications of newspapers.
• Satyendra Prakash is the current Registrar and Head of Department.

Steps to Register with RNI

To register with RNI, you should follow these steps: –

Verification of Title

• Officially magazine or newspaper is known as a title, and the first step is to get the title verified.
• The publisher applies for the title verification of the publication to the jurisdictional District Magistrate. The DM will get the title verified from RNI.
• As per the procedure and guidelines for title verification, the publisher should get the required title verified after applying online.

Required documents for Registration

You would need the following documents to register;

• Adhaar card
• Pan card
• One photo
• Valid address for place of publication

The procedure for getting the title verified is given below;

AUTHENTICATION OF DECLARATION

• After downloading the title verification letter from RNI website, the same should be presented to the concerned forwarding authority (DM/DC/SDM/DCP etc.) along with the duly filled declaration Form-I for authentication.
• If the publisher and printer are two different persons, then separate declarations are required from both publisher and printer.
• If the place of publication and printing press are in different districts, then separate declarations are required from both the areas.
• The publisher should file the declaration from the district or place of publications, and the printer should file the declaration from the region of the printing press.

PUBLICATION OF VOLUME / YEAR-1 ISSUE-1

If the periodicity of publication is daily or weekly the volume / year-1 issue-1 should be brought within 42 days of authentication of declaration, under section 5 (5) of PRB Act 1867

If the periodicity of printing is fortnightly or above, volume / year-1 issue-1 should be brought out within 90 days from the date of authentication of declaration.

If the place of publication and printing press are in different regions, then the date of authentication of the area of publication declaration filed by the publisher will be considered for calculating 42/90 days for the beginning of volume-1 issue-1.

If volume-1 issue- 1 is not brought out within the required time period, a revised declaration should be filed, and volume-1 issue-1 should be brought out within the required period from the date of authentication of revised declaration.

The publication should be printed in the press mentioned in the declaration.

The publication should primarily contain news/ views/ articles etc. and in case of bilingual/ multilingual publications, news/ views/ articles etc. should be brought out in all the languages of the publication.

Hence owner declaration form, 1^st edition copy, printing press and owner agreement copy, affidavit of no foreign tie-up, all these are submitted to DM office. Then these are forwarded to RNI office, Delhi.

Then the application is processed by the RNI office, and if all things are found correct, then your RNI license will be approved.

After getting RNI license number, you can continue your commercial or general publication.

Then yearly you have to submit file Return in the RNI office, in which you give the information about how many copies are printed/ circulated? How many free copies are circulated? Total income received through circulation and advertisement, etc.

Enclosures to be sent along with Registration Application

Given below is the list of enclosures that need to be submitted with the application of registration;

1. Copy of Title Verification Letter issued by the RNI.

2. Declaration (Form-1) filed by the Publisher and duly authenticated by DM/DC/SDM/JCP/CMM

3. Written conformity between the owner of the periodical and the keeper of the printing press for printing the periodical, containing signatures & designation of both the parties. (In case the keeper of the printing press and the owner of the periodical is the same individual, no such agreement is required to be furnished).

 4. A copy of the first issue brought out after authentication of the declaration by DM/DC/SDM/JCP/CMM. The publisher should ensure the given details:

• The first issue is released within 42 days from the date of authentication of declaration,
• In case of a newspaper to be published once a week or oftener, the first issue has to be released within 90 days, in the case of any other newspaper/ periodical.
• The first issue containing Volume 1, and Issue 1 should be printed on its front cover.
• The issue carries a printed title, page numbers and date/month/year of its publication.
• The title/ masthead should be printed in uniform font/ letter size.
• The published newspaper/ periodical should contain public news, views or comments.
• The newspaper/ periodical should be published only in the language(s) verified by RNI.
• The Imprint line in every publication should have correct/ complete information in the prescribed format
• Only the term ‘Editor’ should be used, and other terms/ nomenclatures like Editor-in-Chief, Chief Editor, Sub Editor, Resident Editor, etc. should be avoided in the imprint line.

Note:-You can download the relevant forms from the official RNI website at www.rni.nic.in

Procedure for Title Verification

You need to pursue the given steps to get your title verified;

• Log onto the official website of RNI at www.rni.nic.in
• Click on the link ‘Title verification’ then ‘Apply for the title’ on the home page of the website.
• Carefully read the guidelines for title verification under “RNI Guidelines” and check the button then click on apply.
• Input the required data in all the mandatory fields (Functional mobile number and e-mail id, Adhar no.). Then send the application online.
• Then the RNI will send a confirmation message and an e-mail.
• Take a printout of the duly filled application, and submit it to the concerned forwarding authority (DM/DC/SDM/DCP/JCP/CMM, etc.). However, the DCP is the sole forwarding authority for the Delhi region.
• After authentication, the application is forwarded to the RNI by the concerned authority along with the name, signature and the seal of the forwarding authority. The applicant should keep a copy of the application duly signed and forwarded by the body to the RNI for future reference.
• Once the RNI receives the hard copy of the application forwarded by the concerned authority, then it takes up to two to three months or a minimum 30 days for the approval.
• After approval of the application, RNI intimates the applicant through the RNI reference number (or Application Number), sent to their e-mail address and mobile number. The RNI reference number should be saved for any future inquiry.
• In case, the application is rejected by RNI. Then you have to repeat all the above steps.
• You can check the position of your application either by providing the DM number given by the forwarding authority or by delivering the RNI reference number.
• You can download the Title Verification Letter / Title non-approval Letter / Discrepancy Letter from the RNI official website.

Summary of RNI Guidelines for Title Verification

1. The application for title verification for publication must be sent through the Executive Magistrate concerned in the District in the prescribed format. As per the provisions of  the PRB Act, 1867,
2. The same or similar title will not be verified in a State in any language,
3. No title, which is identical or related to the existing ones, should be used in the same language in the whole of India.
4. The titles same or similar to a Foreign Title (F.T) in any language might not be approved until a valid license agreement with the foreign title owner is produced.
5. The application must have up to 5 title options (Along with English meaning of titles as far as possible for and languages other than English and Hindi). These options should be in order of preference.
6. The below information about publication should be provided with the application:-
   1. It`s language,
   1. Periodicity,
   1. Owner’s name,
   1. Place of publication, and
   1. Address/contact number/E-mail address of the applicant.
7. The publication in multilingual or bilingual should contain news/ articles in all the languages in which the title has been verified.
8. If a new edition of the existing publication is to be released from some other district in the same state & in the same lingo, no prior title verification is needed. The publisher can directly file the declaration and then submit the necessary documents to the RNI for issuance of the Registration number & Certificate. However, in case the proposed new edition is from other state or different language (same or another state), prior title verification is required.
9. The application forwarded by the concerned  District Magistrate must contain:
   1. Seal, and
   1. Signature of concerned Magistrate with the date and reference number.
10. The applicant should not give his/ her name as the title option (in part or full). Since the RNI does not register books, the title options containing the word “Book” should not be applied. Similarly “Channel” or “Gazette” (except by Government Organizations) should not be applied.
11. The applicants are advised to evade abbreviations in titles. Also, Indian numerals between two complete words like B2B are to be avoided.
12. The titles would be allotted on the first-come-first-serve basis, except in the following cases where the title may be allotted on priority basis:
13. Where the applicant produces NOC from Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in case of a Foreign Title.
14. In cases where the applicant has applied for a title, and a Discrepancy Letter (D/L) is issued, the title would be blocked or held for a period of one month and the applicant would be asked to reply to the discrepancy within two weeks of issue of the letter.
15. The titles having words same or related to name of government scheme, foreign government organization, government organization, prominent titles, institutions, prominent trademarks, prominent brands, landmarks and prominent personalities shall not be verified as these may mislead public or exploit or misuse the name of the scheme/organization/institution/person and may also violate trademark and copyright Acts.
16. Combining two independent titles to make a new title and extracts from any existing title is not allowed.
17. Suffixing or prefixing the words relating to state city,  language, periodicities, prepositions/ adjectives, articles (A, an, the, etc.), to an existing title will not be taken as different. Some of the most commonly used words are: The, Times, Dainik, Daily, Weekly, V/Wartha, Aaj, Today, Express, Khabar, News, Samachar, Diary, Bulletin, National, India, Rashtriya, etc. such Suffix or prefix does not change the meaning of a title already verified or existing. Therefore, titles with such prefixes and suffixes will be considered as similar titles.
18. The List of registered titles can be checked onto the RNI website.

Conclusion:

Hence these steps should be followed by anyone to register with RNI. The detailed Title verification guidelines are available on RNI website. To help the applicants, the RNI has set up a public queries & response cell facility on the website itself. All publications of India as well as, the publication imported in India for sales require the mandatory registration with the RNI.