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    CBFC Film Certification Guidelines Revised After 35 Years: What Has Changed?

    Team_The Industry Highlighter MagazineBy No Comments3 Mins Read


    The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has revised the guidelines governing film certification in India, updating the framework that has been in place since 1991. Notified on September 16, 2026, the revised guidelines retain most existing provisions on violence, crime, substance use, sexual violence and the depiction of women, while introducing a mandatory anti-drug warning for certain scenes.

    Issued under Section 5B(2) of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, the guidelines set out the principles the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) must follow while certifying films for public exhibition.

    Here is what the revised framework says:

    Creative freedom remains part of the framework

    The guidelines state that film certification should balance social responsibility with creative freedom. Films are expected to remain sensitive to societal values and standards, while certification should respond to social change and avoid unnecessarily restricting artistic expression.

    The framework continues to prohibit the glorification or justification of anti-social activities such as violence. It also bars depictions of criminal methods that could encourage offences, as well as unnecessary or avoidable portrayals of violence, cruelty and content that could desensitise or dehumanise audiences.

    Children, animals and substance use

    The guidelines retain restrictions on depicting children as victims or perpetrators of violence, as forced witnesses to violence or as victims of child abuse. Needless cruelty or abuse of animals and ridicule or abuse of persons with disabilities are also covered.

    Scenes that encourage, justify or glamourise drinking, drug addiction, tobacco consumption or smoking continue to face restrictions.

    The key new provision concerns narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Scenes depicting or involving their consumption, use or trafficking must now carry the warning:

    “Illicit Narcotics Destroy Health and Guarantees Imprisonment. Say No to Drugs.”

    The earlier guidelines prohibited the encouragement or glamourisation of drug addiction but did not prescribe this specific on-screen warning.



    Sexual violence and depiction of women

    The framework continues to address sexual violence, the treatment of women and content considered offensive to human sensibilities. It also retains provisions concerning public order, national security and India’s relations with foreign countries.

    Films are judged as a whole

    The CBFC is required to consider a film in its entirety and assess its overall impact rather than viewing every scene completely in isolation. The guidelines also require attention to the period depicted and contemporary standards.

    UA categories

    Films can be certified as U, UA 7+, UA 13+, UA 16+ or A, depending on their content and suitability. However, the UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+ categories are not a new 2026 addition. They were incorporated into the certification framework in 2025 following amendments to the Cinematograph Act.

    So, what has actually changed?

    The clearest substantive change is the mandatory anti-drug warning for scenes involving the consumption, use or trafficking of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances. Most of the other provisions, covering violence, crime, child abuse, cruelty, substance use, sexual content, public order and national security, largely continue existing certification principles.

    Also Read: Preity Zinta, Suniel Shetty, Pankaj Tripathi and More Become Members of CBFC



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