Now, producers can apply for film certification online

CHENNAI:In an attempt to weed out middlemen and corruption, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has been allowing producers to apply for certification online from July 1. The facility for online application is available in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad .
"We are trying to eliminate corruption and make the system of certification faster," said V Packirisamy, regional officer, CBFC, Chennai."The moment producers apply online, they join a queue," he said. "The system does not allow a film to jump the queue no matter how many times a producer visits the office and tries talking to us," he said.
Now, producers and directors only have to visit the office twice: Once, to submit hard copies of documents and the demand draft for payment of the fee, and a second time for a hearing on the certification.
Going online needed a three-pronged approach, said K Nagaraj, nodal officer for e-governance implementation, CBFC. "First, CBFC went online with its office applications, then we digitised the historical data on our website, and now we are allowing producers to apply online for certification. They can monitor the status of their application online but they still need to make two visits because of certain legal constraints," he said. The next phase is to allow payment online.
Around this time last year, former CBFC Chennai regional officer D Rajasekar was detained after he was accused of taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 for viewing and certifying a film for release. A producer said that apart from the censor fee of about Rs 13,000 and the cess of Rs 10,000, he used to pay Rs 10,000 under the table. "This new system is likely to improve matters," he said.
According to CBFC norms, a film has to be certified within 21 days of application, but Packirisamy said the board is trying to certify movies within three to four days.
Despite the CBFC introducing a system, producers insist on visiting the office at Shastri Bhavan several times asking for their movie to be viewed. "I’ve requested a meeting with the Tamil Film Producers’ Council to explain the new system ," said Packirisamy.
Producer RB Choudhury still visits the CBFC office, but he feels the new system will save time and money. "I am just getting acquainted with the system ," he said. "Not having to depend on agents or middlemen is abig plus."