How to apply for Newspaper Registration?

March 15, 2024

Registrationwala

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) is a statutory body which was established by the Government of India for the registration of print media such as newspapers, journals and magazines. After the recommendation of the First Press Commission in 1953, and the modification of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, the RNI finally became an operational authority on 1 July, 1956.

All the publications in India, such as the newspapers and magazines, are registered under the RNI in accordance with the provisions of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. All periodicals in the country are required to be registered under RNI before they can begin with the process of publishing. RNI’s headquarters is in Delhi and the regional branches of RNI are located in Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai. RNI maintains a register of newspapers which contains particulars of all the newspapers that are published in the country. RNI is responsible for issuing a certificate of RNI registration to these newspapers. It works with the District Magistrates in order to keep them informed about the availability of titles. Without RNI registration, a newspaper is not allowed to be published. However, it is important to note that RNI registration is not required for the online news portal.

Now let’s discuss the process for the newspaper registration.

Newspaper Registration Process

Newspaper owners must get the newspaper registration from RNI before they can legally publish a newspaper, magazine or any printed publication in India.

These are two types involved in getting your newspaper registered under RNI:

Verification of the Title
Registration of the Title

Verification of the Title

Getting the title verified and approved is the initial step for the newspaper registration. For this, you need to fill an application form for title verification which is available on the official website of RNI. The following details must be provided by the publisher to apply for a title:

Newspaper or Magazine’s name
Owner’s name
Language in which newspaper or magazine will be published
Periodicity of the newspaper or magazine (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)
Area of the newspaper or magazine’s publication

The application form is required to be submitted to the office of the District Magistrate (DM). The credentials of the applicant will be verified by the DM. A notification will be sent regarding the availability of the verified title after which it’ll become available for registration. You can check the official portal of RNI to see the list of all the titles that are already registered. After the title becomes verified, it is allotted to the applicant for 2 years max. If it doesn’t get registered in 2 years, it becomes blocked and the documentation will have to be submitted once again. For publication in many languages, a title can be double-checked.

Registration of the Title

In order to get the registration of the title, the publisher is required to fill up a declaration form and submit it to the office of the District Magistrate. While submitting the declaration form, the publishers must also submit the first printed copy of the first issue, bearing Volume 1 and Issue 1, and an agreement letter between the publisher and the printer. If the publisher wants to request a change in periodicity or add/drop any language of publication, the same must be done at the stage of title registration. After the submission of the declaration form, the publisher is mandated to publish the first issue of the paper within a period of 42 days in case of dailies and weeklies. In case of journals having higher periodicity, publishers get a period of 90 days for publishing the first issue. The ownership of the newspaper can be changed by submitting an affidavit regarding the same to the office of the District Magistrate.

Requirements for the Imprint Line

According to the Press and Registration of Books Act, the imprint line is the mandatory information required to be published by every newspaper. The information consists of the names of the editor, printer, and the publishers. It also includes the address of the press. Many newspapers also add registration number, volume, and the publication’s issue number in the imprint line. For all the content published in the publication, the responsibility lies with the editor whose name is mentioned in the imprint line as per the law.

Authentication Of the Declaration by the Concerned Authority

The letter for title verification must be provided to the concerned authority (DM, DC, DCP, SDM, JCP or CMM) alongside a Declaration Form i.e., Form-I for authentication after the owner has obtained it from RNI. Make sure the declaration form is filled correctly and has no errors as this might delay the process. In case of the publisher and printer being different persons, separate statements from both of them are necessary. In case the printing press and location of the publishing are in different jurisdictions, a separate declaration is mandatory. The publisher and the printer are required to file a declaration form from the districts where the printing press and publishing location are situated.

The Publication of the First Issue

As per the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, the first issue of the newspaper or journal must be filed within a period of 42 days from the receipt of declaration’s authentication if the periodicity is daily or weekly. In case of a periodicity of the newspaper being fortnightly or more, the time given for the publication of the first issue is 90 days max. after the receipt of the declaration's authentication. The publication must only be published in the press mentioned in the declaration. It is necessary that it contains only news, views, articles, etc. In case of news, opinions and writings, they should only get published in the language mentioned when a publication is bilingual or multilingual.

List of the documents & rules required for the final Newspaper Registration

Mentioned below are the necessary documents and rules which are required for the newspaper registration:

A copy of the title verification letter that was issued by the RNI.
Declaration (Form-1) submitted by the publisher with proper authentication from DM/DC/SDM/JCP/CMM.
A signed contract between the owner of the periodical and the owner of the printer in case they’re different individuals.
Copy of Volume 1, issue 1 (first issue) of the newspaper.
The title or masthead must be portrayed in a uniform font and letter size with no variation greater than 25 percent.
Only the RNI-verified languages are to be used for the newspaper or periodical’s publication.
Avoid symbols, pictures or emojis for a syllabus or a letter in the newspaper or journal’s title.
Every copy of the publication must include an imprinted line which mentions accurate information only.

Certificate of the Newspaper Registration

The Certificate of Registration is issued to the newspaper/journal/magazine owner by the Press Registrar after the first issue finally gets published and the declaration copy is issued by the magistrate.

Conclusion

Imagine all that can be published in your newspaper. You can help to spread awareness about so many things and update people on interesting news related to politics, bollywood movies, viral trends around the world, sports (cricket, football and tennis), etc. Obtaining a newspaper registration can be a bit of a complicated process if you plan to do it all on your own. If you’ve made up your mind about obtaining newspaper registration, connect with our team at Registrationwala. Our experts have a lot of experience when it comes to helping the clients in obtaining the RNI registration, and will definitely help you to increase your chances of getting your newspaper registered while making the entire process simple and easy for you!