1. Short title, Extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Press and Registration of
Periodicals Act, 2023.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It shall come into force on such date1
as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “facsimile edition” of a publication means an exact reproduction of the original edition of a
foreign publication in English or an Indian language included in the Eighth Schedule to the
Constitution;
(b) “journal” means a periodical publication, other than a magazine, which primarily carries
academic, scientific or technical content related to a particular discipline or profession;
(c) “keeper” means a person who manages the day-to-day operations of a printing press, the owner
of which is a non-individual entity;
(d) “newspaper” means a periodical of loose-folded sheets usually printed on newsprint and brought
out daily or at least once in a week, containing information on current events, public news or comments
on public news;
(e) “notification” means a notification published in the Gazette of India or the Official Gazette of
a State, as the case may be, and the expression “notify” with its grammatical variation and cognate
expressions shall be construed accordingly;
(f) “owner” means an individual, firm or any such legal entity owning a periodical;
(g) “periodical” means any publication, including a newspaper, which is published and printed at
regular intervals containing public news or comments on public news, but does not include a book, or
a journal including a book or journal of scientific, technical and academic nature;
(h) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(i) “Press Registrar General” means the Press Registrar General of India, appointed by the Central
Government under sub-section (1) of section 5;
(j) “printer” means the owner or keeper of a printing press;
(k) “printing” means reproduction of a periodical through any technology involving mass
production of copies, but does not include photocopying;
1. 1
st March, 2024, vide notification No. S.O. 989(E), dated, 1st day of March, 2024, see Gazette of India, Extraordinary,
Part II, sec. 3(ii)
4
(l) “publication” means newspapers, magazines, journals or newsletters printed periodically and
published in India, and shall include its reproduction in electronic form or any syndication, facsimile
edition, for public distribution or access;
(m) “publish” means the process of making a work available to the public by issuing or causing to
be issued the copies thereof or in any other manner, whether for a price or free of charge, and the word
“publishing” shall be construed accordingly;
(n) “publisher” means a person responsible to publish any periodical;
(o) “register” means the register of periodicals maintained under clause (b) of sub-section (3) of
section 5;
(p) “specified authority” means a District Magistrate or Collector or such other officer as the State
Government or, as the case may be, Union territory Administration may, by notification, specify;
(q) “title”, in relation to a periodical, means the name of such periodical as may be verified by the
Press Registrar General, printed prominently and legibly as the masthead on the front page of that periodical by which it shall be known or be identified.