HOW TO OBTAIN RNI REGISTRATION FOR A PUBLICATION

REGISTRAR OF NEWSPAPERS
printing and publishing of newspapers and periodicals within India are governed by the Press and
Registration of Books Act, 1867 and the Registration of Newspapers (Central) Rules, 1956.The
Registrar of Newspapers or the Press Registrar maintains a register of newspapers and periodicals
published in India.
The Office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India is headquartered in New Delhi, and has three
regional offices at Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai to cater to the needs of publishers in all corners of
the country.
LEGAL STEPS TO START A NEWS PAPER
1. As a first stage, the applicant needs to go for title verification of the Publication. The title
verification application needs to be filed before the jurisdictional District Magistrate. The District
Magistrate will get the title verified from RNI.
2. After receiving the title verification letter from RNI, the applicant needs to file a declaration for
authentication before District Magistrate. The declaration is in Form No.1.
3. Once the declaration is authenticated by District Magistrate, the newspaper needs to be published
within 6 weeks if it is published once a week or oftener than that. In case of any other periodicity, the
first issue should be published within 3 months from the date of authentication.
4. After the first issue is published, the applicant needs to file an application for registration. The
application shall annex the following documents:
a. Title verification letter.
b. Authenticated declaration.
c. An affidavit for no foreign tie-up.
d. First issue and latest issue of the publication
e. Content intimation/ confirmation in the prescribed form.
f. Certificate intimating appointment of the printer.
How to start a newspaper?
RNI: The Registrar of Newspapers for India
The office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India, popularly known as RNI came into being on 1 July 1956, on the
recommendation of the First Press Commission in 1953 and by amending the Press and Registration of Books Act
1867. The Office of the Registrar of Newspapers is responsible for implementation of the Press and Registration of
Books Act. The Registrar of Newspapers for India has its Headquarters at New Delhi. The Regional offices of RNI are
at Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

1. The first step to start a newspaper is to get the title (name of the proposed newspaper) verified from RNI.
2. For this the publisher has to make an application for title verification indicating the name, language, periodicity,
owner name and place of publication of the newspaper proposed, and submit it to the District Magistrate concerned.
3. The District Magistrate after ensuring the credentials of the applicant, will forward the application to the RNI, who in
turn checks the availability of the title and if found verifies it. RNI informs the DM and publisher, the availability of the
title by issuing a letter of title verification.
4. After this, the publisher has to file a declaration with the District Magistrate in the prescribed format available and
can start publishing the newspaper.
5. The first issue of the newspaper should be printed within 45 days from the date of authentication of the declaration
if it is a daily or weekly and in case of other periodicals, within 90 days.
6. The application for registration can be submitted to the RNI along with an attested copy of the declaration, copy of
title verification, first issue of the newspaper and a No Foreign Tie up affidavit duly attested by a Notary.
7. The newspaper should contain volume number, issue number, title prominently displayed on the cover page and
all pages, date line and page number on all pages and an imprint line containing the name of printer, publisher, owner
and editor, address of the place of publication and name and address of the printing press.
8. If the printer and publisher are different persons, separate declarations are required.
What are the formalities required after registration?
A copy of the newspaper should be delivered to the RNI whenever it is printed. The first issue after the last day of
February should contain the Form No.IV duly filled in (Statement regarding ownership and other particulars of the
newspaper). It is also mandatory to submit an annual statement in form II , on or before the last day of May every
year. In case of daily newspapers, an additional form AR-R may also be submitted.
When to file fresh declaration?
Whenever there is a change of publisher, printer, owners, periodicity and printing press, the publisher/printer has to
make a fresh declaration
RNI & Rules
The Registrar of Newspapers for India, The office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India, popularly known as RNI
came into being on 1 July 1956, on the recommendation of the First Press Commission in 1953 and by amending the
Press and Registration of Books Act 1867. The Office of the Registrar of Newspapers is responsible for
implementation of the Press and Registration of Books Act. The Registrar of Newspapers for India has its
Headquarters at New Delhi. The Regional offices of RNI are at Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
Following are the services provided by RNI: -
Title clearance: The title cell verifies and approves titles for new publication in the country. The applications are
received from the Magistrates all over the country under section 6 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867.
These are examined with reference to a database of titles maintained in the office computer record. Titles are finally
approved at the level of Press Registrar.
Registration of Newspapers: Once the Registrar of Newspapers for India verifies the title, on the basis of an
authenticated application by Magistrate, the Publisher must apply for registration within a period of two years.
The following documents are required for registration:-
a) Copy of the Title Verification Letter.
b) Attested copy of the Declaration duly authenticated by the
District Magistrate/Additional District Magistrate etc.
c) Affidavit for No Foreign Tie-up duly notarized.
d) Copy of first issue of the publication brought out within 42 days in case of dailies and weeklies and 90 days for
fortnightly and above.
e) Copy of the latest issue of the publication.
In case the applicant does not apply for registration within the stipulated period of two years, the title is deblocked and
available to any other applicant.
Revised Registration Certificate: The publisher must apply for the Revised Certificate of Registration in case of
change of Publisher, Printer, Printing Press, Place of Publication and Periodicity. He/She is required to submit the
following documents on the basis of which Revised Registration is issued: -
a) Original Certificate of Registration issued by the Office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India and in case it is
lost, he/she is required to submit the affidavit for loss of certificate duly notarized along with the IPO of Rs.5/-.
b) Attested copy of the latest declaration duly authenticat by District Magistrate/Addl. District Magistrate concerned.
(Prescribed format is available on the websitehttp://www.rni.nic.in)
c) Affidavit for No Foreign Tie-up duly notarized.
d) Latest issue of the publication.
e) In case of change of Editor or price, the declaration is not required. The publisher can intimate these changes in
writing. The changes will be entered in the Registrar of Newspapers records.
f) In case of change of ownership, the previous owner of the publication has to file an affidavit for transfer of
ownership duly certified by the concerned First Class Magistrate concerned and the latest declaration filed by the
present publisher/printer of the publication.