Procedures/Guidelines by Registrar of Newspapers of India

Guidelines/Procedure for allotment of titles
Application Procedure –
1. Application for title verification must be routed through the Magistrate concerned
in the prescribed format.
2. The application for title verification must bear the seal and signature with date of
Magistrate concerned.
3. The application must contain the names of proposed title/titles, its language,
periodicity, owner’s name and address and place of publication.
4. The applicant shall have to give an undertaking that the title/titles proposed is/are
not owned by any Govt. agency.
5. Applications for title verification, incomplete in any respect would be liable for
rejection.
6. Titles would be allotted on first-come-first-serve basis, except in conditions laid
down under these guidelines.
7. In following cases title may be allotted on priority basis:
a. Where applicant produces NOC from Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting in case of a Foreign Title.
b. Where existing title owner applies for a title which is same as the title
owned by him and can not be allotted to any other.
c. In case of a direction from the court or any statutory authority, which is
binding and it is decided not to appeal against the direction/order.
d. Where a title is rejected by RNI inadvertently and on reconsideration it is
found that the same could have been allotted to the applicant.
e. In all other cases as decided by Press Registrar for reasons to be
recorded in writing.
Procedure to be followed for Title Verification –
1. Titles same or similar to a Foreign Title (F.T) in any language may not be
allotted until a valid license agreement with the foreign title owner is
produced.
2. As per PRB Act, 1867, same or similar title shall not be allotted in a State in
any language and in the same language no title same or similar to the
existing ones shall be allotted in the whole of India.
3. In cases where an applicant has applied for a title and a Discrepancy Letter
(D/L) is issued, the title would be blocked/held for a period of one month and
the applicant would be asked to furnish reply to the discrepancy within two
weeks of issue of the letter.
4. Titles having words same or similar to a government organisation, foreign
government organisation, institutions, prominent titles, trade marks or
prominent brands shall not be verified as these may mislead public or
exploit/misuse the name of the organisation/institution and may also violate
trade mark and copy right Acts.
5. In case of a periodical pertaining to a government department/institution or
any association/organisation, the ownership will be allotted in the name of
the organisation and the applicant would be advised accordingly.
6. Titles making use of any kind of symbol other than alphabets/numerals and
words sounding absurd or meaningless may not be allotted.
7. Titles which are Obscene or offending to public sense or titles having
symbols or any other object which may not be in public interest should not
be allowed.
8. Combining two independent titles to make one new title and extracts from
any existing title/s which does not make the new title substantially dissimilar
would not be verified.
9. Titles would be considered similar if they contain the same words whether in
same or in different order irrespective of language, place of publication and
periodicity.
10. Suffixing or prefixing the words relating to city, state, periodicities, language,
prepositions/adjectives, articles (A, An, The) etc., to an existing title can not
be considered as different. Such most commonly used words are: The,
Times, Daily, Dainik, Weekly, V/Wartha, Aaj, Today, Express, News, India,
National, Rashtriya etc. Suffix or prefix of such words does not necessarily
change the meaning of a title already verified. Therefore, titles with such
prefixes and suffixes shall be considered as similar titles.
11. Prefixing or suffixing any generic word to any existing titles, which does not
substantially alter formation or meaning to the existing title, would be
considered similar to the existing titles. However generic words shall not be
treated as proprietary.
12. In case of any doubt regarding same or similarity, the decision of Press
Registrar will be final.
13. Press Registrar shall have power to cancel a verified title, if not registered,
after recording the reason(s) in writing.
14. Titles resembling Government Organisations/Departments, names of
National Leaders and Heads of the Government functionary cannot be
verified in any language. Names of prominent political parties of
Central/State Government shall be considered with proper justification.
15. Any title which is same or similar to any national emblem or name or given
the impression of the patronage of Central Government or State
Government or shows any connection with any local authority or any
corporation or body or body corporate constituted by the government under
any law, or any international organisation such as UN etc., shall not be
allotted, as provided under “The emblem and names (Prevention of
improper use) Act, 1950.”
16. The list is illustrative, but not exhaustive.
https://rni.nic.in/Titles-Guidelines.pdf