Mauritius
Independent Broadcasting Authority Act
Act 29 of 2000
- Commenced on 1 January 2001
- [This is the version of this document at 30 June 2017.]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act—"access agreement" means an agreement made under section 18 between the Company and a licensee, which sets out the terms and conditions upon which the Company shall broadcast through transmission stations operated by the Company;"Authority" means the Independent Broadcasting Authority established under section 3;"broadcast" means emit sound or images by means of Hertzian waves, satellite or a wired electromagnetic system for reception by the public—(a)otherwise than within a self-contained building; and(b)extending to or connecting at least 2 buildings;"Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Authority;"Company" means the company known as MultiCarrier (Mauritius) Ltd and referred to in section 28;"Complaints Committee" means the committee set up under section 30;"Conditional Access System" means any technical measure or arrangement whereby access to protected radio or television broadcasting service in unencrypted form is made conditional on subscription or any other form of prior individual authorisation;"Corporation" has the same meaning as in the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation Act;"digital broadcasting" means the practice of using advanced digital compression techniques to encode and transmit audio, text, data, images and video signals resulting in more efficient bandwidth usage;"Director" means the Director of the Authority appointed under section 11;"employee"—(a)means any person who works under a contract of employment with the Authority;(b)includes the Director;"financial year" means the period starting on 1 July and ending on 30 June in the following year;"ICT Authority" means the Information and Communication Technologies Authority established under the Information and Communication-Technologies Act;"Internet Protocol" means a standard consisting of a set of rules governing digital data communications on the Internet;"Internet Protocol Television service" means a service which provides scheduled television programming over a public network and may provide additional features such as data, text and audio signals which are ancillary to the scheduled television programming;"law practitioner" has the same meaning as in the Law Practitioners Act;"licence" means any licence specified in the First Schedule;"licensee" means the holder of a licence;"local authority" has the same meaning as in the Local Government Act;"member"—(a)means a member of the Authority; and(b)includes the Chairperson;"Minister" means the Minister to whom responsibility for the subject of matters relating to the Authority is assigned;"Multimedia" means the combination of multiple forms of media such as audio, video, text, graphics, fax, and telephony in the communication of information;"Multiplex" means a bundle of television broadcast programs that have been digitised, compressed and combined into a single data stream;"Multiplex Operator" means the Company acting as such in accordance with section 28;"public network" means a network set up and operated by a public operator, to which the general public has access and through which it can connect to other networks or the Internet;"qualified auditor" has the same meaning as in the Statutory Bodies (Accounts and Audit) Act;"reception apparatus" means any instrument intended for the reception of a broadcast programme;"Standards Committee" means the committee set up under section 29;"terrestrial Multiplex Operator" means the Company;"transmission station" means a station for the transmission of broadcasting for reception by the public.[S. 2 amended by s. 25 (a) of Act 9 of 2015 w.e.f. 14 May 2015.]Part II – The Authority
3. Establishment of Authority
4. Objects of Authority
The Authority shall—5. Powers of Authority
6. Constitution of Authority
The Authority shall consist of—7. Disqualification
8. Meetings of Authority
9. Term of office
10. Remuneration
Every member shall receive such allowance or remuneration as the Authority may determine.11. Director
12. Appointment of staff
Part III – Finance
13. General Fund
The Authority shall establish a General Fund—14. Revenue and expenditure
15. Raising of loans
The Authority may raise loans to finance any expenditure which it may incur under this Act.16. Auditor
17. Annual report
Part IV – Licensing
18. Prohibition against broadcasting
19. Application for licence
20. Consideration of application
21. Grant or refusal of licence
22. Duration of licence
23. Transfer and surrender of licence
24. Variation and revocation of licence
25. Suspension of licence
26. Register of licences
27. Derogation in respect of, and restrictions on, broadcasting by Corporation
28. Broadcasting transmission company
Part V – Contents of programmes
29. Standards and ethics
30. Complaints Committee
Part VI – Miscellaneous
31. Oath of office
Every member of the Authority, the Standards Committee or the Complaints Committee, the Director and every employee of the Authority shall, before assuming office, take the oath specified in the Third Schedule.32. Conflict of interest
33. Confidentiality
34. Reception apparatus
35. Exemptions
36. Protection from liability
37. Offences
38. Regulations
39. ***
40. ***
41. ***
History of this document
30 June 2017 this version
Consolidation
01 January 2001
Commenced