Panel suggests labour law changes for OTT platforms
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT A PARLIAMENTARY PANEL HAS ASKED FOR CHANGES SPECIFIC TO ONLINE STREAMING SERVICES IN LABOUR LAWS, KEEPING IN VIEW THE FAST-CHANGING ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
NEWDELHI: Actors and crew working for Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, and other over-the-top platforms and television production houses should be covered under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s proposed Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, a Parliamentary panel said on Tuesday.
This is the first time that a parliamentary panel has asked for changes specific to online streaming services in labour laws, keeping in view the fast-changing entertainment industry.
The standing committee on labour, which reviewed the OSH bill, wants the definition of “audio-visual production” to clearly mention “feature films, non-feature films, television, web-based serials, talk shows, reality shows and sport shows”. The panel has asked for inclusion of the dubbing artists and stunt doubles working in films and serials to be brought under the purview of the law.
The report said the information and broadcasting ministry has no objection to modifying the relevant clauses to take into account these demands from different film organizations.
The OSH Code is one of the four labour codes that aim to reform a plethora of archaic and complex labour laws in order to inject flexibility and attract investors.
The OSH Code aims to improve working conditions to take care of the health of workers.
It stipulates various welfare measures including hours of work, overtime hours, leave and holidays.
Parliament has cleared the Wages Code but the remaining three Code bills-- on industrial relations, social security and OSH, are pending before Parliament
for approval. These Codes aim to replace 44 archaic labour laws of India.
“Eighteen out of 29 Central Labour Acts are more than 50 years old. Some of these legislations are even 70 years old. There’s a need to reduce the complexity, provide uniform definitions, minimise multiple authorities and bring transparency and accountability in the enforcement of labour laws,” said Bhartruhari Mahtab, chairman of the panel.
The report said that both the Producers Guild of India and the Film & TV Producers Association had demanded that the definition of “audio-visual production” as regards Clause 2(1)(e) of the Act should include emerging mediums such as web-based serials, talk shows, reality shows and sports shows.
The panel, however, expressed concern as the entire unorganized sector, which comprises nearly 82% of India’s workforce, is effectively out of the purview of the landmark law which is only applicable if the establishment or factory has 10 or more workers. The report maintains that “the employers suggested an increase in the threshold whereas the workers demanded removal of any threshold”.
While the panel found the threshold limit of workers as “reasonable and desirable for effective implementation” of the labour laws, it was also “deeply concerned with the state of affairs relating to the safety of workers in the unorganised sector as successive labour laws have not recognised their plight”.