Broadcasting Act 1994

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“Authority” means the Info-communications Media Development Authority established by section 3 of the Info‑communications Media Development Authority Act 2016;

“broadcasting apparatus” means any apparatus capable of or designed or constructed for the reception of any broadcasting service and specified in the First Schedule;

“broadcasting apparatus licence” means a licence granted under section 20 in respect of broadcasting apparatus, and “broadcasting apparatus licensee” is to be construed accordingly;

“broadcasting licence” means a licence granted under section 8 or 9 for the provision of a licensable broadcasting service, and “broadcasting licensee” is to be construed accordingly;

“broadcasting service” means a service whereby signs or signals transmitted (whether or not encrypted) comprise

“Chief Executive”, in relation to the Authority, means the Chief Executive of the Authority appointed under section 40(1) of the Info-communications Media Development Authority Act 2016, and includes any individual acting in that capacity;

“class licence” means a licence determined under section 9 to be applicable to certain licensable broadcasting services, and “class licensee” is to be construed accordingly;

“Code of Practice” means a Code of Practice issued under this Act;

“debenture” includes debenture stock;

“dwelling house” includes a hotel, inn, boarding house or other similar establishment;

“encrypted” means treated electronically or otherwise to prevent intelligible reception;

“free-to-air broadcasting service” means a licensable broadcasting service made available for reception in at least 2 dwelling houses by broadcasting apparatus commonly available to the public without payment of a subscription fee;

“free-to-air licence” means a broadcasting licence granted under this Act for the operation of a free-to-air broadcasting service, and “free-to-air licensee” is to be construed accordingly;

“licence” means a licence granted under any provision of this Act, and “licensee” is to be construed accordingly;

“licensable broadcasting service” means any broadcasting service specified in the Second Schedule;

“member” means a member of the Authority;

“programme”, in relation to a broadcasting service, means

“regulations” means regulations made under this Act;

“securities”, in relation to a company, includes shares, debentures, bonds and other securities of the company, whether or not constituting a charge on the assets of the company;

“shares”, in relation to a company, means shares in, or stock forming part of, the capital of the company;

“subscription broadcasting service” means a licensable broadcasting service made available to the audience for whom it is intended only upon the payment of a subscription fee;

“subscription fee” means any form of consideration.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, “part of the public” includes

For the purposes of this Act, a company is regarded as wholly owned by the Government at any time when all the issued shares in the company are held by or on behalf of the Government.

The Minister may, after consultation with a person to whom this section applies, give to that person such directions as the Minister thinks fit as to the exercise by that person of that person’s functions under this Act.

Without limiting subsection (1), if it appears to the Minister to be requisite or expedient to do so

Any directions given under subsection (1) or (2) may include provisions for

A person to whom this section applies must give immediate effect to any directions given to the person under subsection (1) or (2) despite any other duty imposed on the person by or under this Act.

A person to whom this section applies must not disclose any directions given to the person under subsection (1) or (2) if the Minister notifies the person that the Minister is of the opinion that the disclosure of the directions is against the public interest.

The Minister may

Any sums required by the Minister for paying compensation or making grants under subsection (6) are to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

This section applies to the Authority and to any person who is a licensee.

If any doubt arises as to

The Authority may grant the following licences:

The Authority may grant licences under subsection (1) in such categories as the Authority may determine are appropriate for the regulation of the broadcasting industry.

The Authority may issue and from time to time review

Any provision in any Code of Practice that is inconsistent with any regulations is, to the extent of the inconsistency

The Authority may in any licence exempt any licensee from any provision in a Code of Practice generally or for any time that the Authority may specify.

A licence must not be transferred to any other person without the prior written consent of the Authority to the transfer to that person.

Any purported transfer of any licence is for all purposes void and of no effect.

A person must not provide any licensable broadcasting service in or from Singapore without a broadcasting licence granted by the Authority under this section or granted under section 9.

Every broadcasting licence (other than a class licence) granted by the Authority must be in such form and for such period and may contain such terms and conditions as the Authority may determine.

The Authority may require any licensee to pay a fee on the grant of the licence or such periodic fees while the licence is in force or both of such amount as the Authority may determine by or under the licence.

Without limiting subsection (2), conditions attached to a free‑to‑air licence granted under this section may include

The Authority may, by notification in the Gazette, determine a class licence (being a broadcasting licence) for the provision of such subscription broadcasting services and other licensable broadcasting services as the Authority may specify.

The Authority may include in a class licence any conditions that it thinks fit.

Different conditions may be specified for

Without limiting the conditions that may be imposed, the Authority may impose a condition on a class licence requiring the licensee to comply with a Code of Practice that is applicable to the licensee or designed to ensure that a breach of a condition of the class licence by the licensee does not recur.

The Authority may modify the conditions of a broadcasting licence (other than a class licence) in accordance with this section.

Before making any modification to the conditions of a broadcasting licence under this section, the Authority must give notice to the broadcasting licensee

Upon receiving any written representation mentioned in subsection (2)(b), the Authority must consider the representation and may

Any broadcasting licensee aggrieved by a decision of the Authority under subsection (3) may, within 14 days of receiving the direction, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.

The Authority must not enforce a direction given under subsection (3)

If no written representation is received by the Authority within the time specified in subsection (2) or if any written representation made under that subsection is withdrawn, the Authority may immediately carry out the modification as specified in the notice given under that subsection.

If the Authority is satisfied that

Any person who is aggrieved by any decision of the Authority under this section may, within 14 days of receiving the notice mentioned in subsection (1), appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.

In this section, “Code of Practice” includes

Every broadcasting licensee must comply with the Codes of Practice relating to standards of programmes and advertisements and broadcast standards.

A broadcasting licensee must not allow to be transmitted a broadcasting service other than in accordance with

A free-to-air licensee must provide broadcasting services in such language as may be specified in its licence.

Each free-to-air broadcasting service must be broadcast for at least such number of hours during each day as may be specified in the free-to-air licence.

A broadcasting licensee must supply to the Authority on demand any material, including the script thereof, which is intended for broadcasting.

A broadcasting licensee who is required to supply material under subsection (1) must

The Authority may, if it is satisfied that any programme intended to be broadcast by a broadcasting licensee may be against the public interest or order, national harmony or will offend against decency, require the broadcasting licensee to pre-record the programme and submit it to the Authority for approval before it is broadcast.

The Authority may issue directions in writing to a broadcasting licensee requiring the licensee to take any action with regard to the contents of programmes or advertisements or to broadcast standards that the Authority considers necessary in order to comply with the provisions of this Act, any relevant Code of Practice and any condition attached to the broadcasting licence.

Directions issued under subsection (1) may include a direction prohibiting a broadcasting licensee from broadcasting the whole or any part of a programme or of any class of material.

Any broadcasting licensee and any other person responsible for the broadcasting of any programme prohibited by a direction issued under subsection (1) shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

Programmes required under section 17 or pursuant to a condition attached to a broadcasting licence to be broadcast by a broadcasting licensee must be broadcast without charge to the Authority or with such subsidy from the Authority as may be provided in that broadcasting licence.

A broadcasting licensee must, on the request of the Authority and on receiving reasonable notice, make available to the Authority without charge such part of its broadcasting apparatus as the Authority may specify for the purpose of broadcasting programmes required to be broadcast under section 17 or pursuant to a condition attached to its broadcasting licence.

Despite anything in this Act but subject to this section, the Authority may, by a direction in writing, require a broadcasting licensee to provide for transmission and reception any broadcasting service which is

Where the Authority gives a direction under this section, the broadcasting licensee to whom the direction is given must comply with the requirements of the direction until it is withdrawn.

Where it is proposed to give a direction under this section, the Authority must give notice to the broadcasting licensee

Upon receiving any written representation mentioned in subsection (3)(b), the Authority must consider the representation and may

Any broadcasting licensee aggrieved by a decision of the Authority under subsection (4) may, within 14 days of receiving the direction, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.

The Authority must not enforce a direction given under subsection (4)

If no written representation is received by the Authority within the time specified in subsection (3) or if any written representation made under that subsection is withdrawn, the Authority may immediately give effect to the requirements of the direction given under this section.

Subject to this section, a person must not

Every licence granted under subsection (1) must be in such form and for such period and may contain such terms and conditions as the Authority may determine.

Subsection (1) is not to be construed as requiring any person who works a broadcasting apparatus in the course of the person’s duty as a member of the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force, the Vigilante Corps or the Singapore Civil Defence Force to obtain a licence under this Act.

The Authority may exempt any person or broadcasting apparatus or class of broadcasting apparatus from subsection (1).

A broadcasting licensee must, within the time that may be specified in its broadcasting licence, broadcast in a manner that enables its broadcasting services to be received to the satisfaction of the Authority in all parts of Singapore or any parts of Singapore that the Authority may specify.

If the Authority so directs, a free-to-air licensee must publish, in the manner that the Authority may require, notice of the commencement dates for broadcasting its broadcasting services and the areas of Singapore within which its broadcasting services may be received satisfactorily.

The Authority may direct any broadcasting licensee or broadcasting apparatus licensee to coordinate and cooperate, in such manner and on such terms as the Authority may specify, with any other licensee or any other person specified by the Authority in the use or sharing of any broadcasting apparatus or related equipment or facility (other than a telecommunication system licensed under section 5 of the Telecommunications Act 1999) owned, operated or used by the broadcasting licensee or broadcasting apparatus licensee for the purpose of broadcasting, whether or not they have been provided, or are intended to be provided, by the licensee or any other licensee or any other person specified by the Authority.

The Authority may direct any broadcasting licensee to coordinate and cooperate, in such manner and on such terms as the Authority may specify, with any telecommunication licensee in the use or sharing of any, or part of any, installation, plant or system owned or used by the telecommunication licensee, where the Authority is of the view that such coordination and cooperation is necessary for the provision of any broadcasting service.

In this section, “telecommunication licensee” and “telecommunication system” have the meanings given by section 2 of the Telecommunications Act 1999.

The Authority or any person authorised by it in that behalf may, at any reasonable time, inspect and test any broadcasting apparatus used, or intended to be used, by a broadcasting apparatus licensee for the transmission of any broadcasting service for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the licensee is complying, or will comply, at all times with the broadcast standards prescribed by this Act or the regulations, any Code of Practice and the conditions of its broadcasting apparatus licence in respect of the transmission of broadcasting services.

For the purpose of any inspection or test under subsection (1), the directors, principal officers and other employees of a broadcasting apparatus licensee must

Where the Authority

Where the Authority

Any direction under subsection (1) or (2) may include

Any person who fails to comply with any requirement in a direction under subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

Nothing in any direction given under subsection (1) is to be construed as granting any exemption from any licensing requirement under this Act or any other written law which the developer or the owner of any building or land may be required to comply with in respect of any broadcasting apparatus or installation or plant.

In this section, “installation or plant” includes all buildings, lands, structures, machinery, equipment, cables, poles and lines used or intended for use in connection with broadcasting.

Subject to this section, the Minister may make an order proscribing a foreign broadcasting service for the purposes of section 30.

If the Authority considers that the quality or content of any foreign broadcasting service which is brought to its attention is unacceptable and that the service should be the subject of an order under this section, the Authority must notify the Minister the details of the service and the reasons why it considers an order under subsection (1) should be made.

The Authority must not consider a foreign broadcasting service to be unacceptable for the purposes of subsection (2) unless the Authority is satisfied that the content of that service included any matter which prejudices the public interest or order, national harmony or offends against good taste or decency.

In this section and section 30, “foreign broadcasting service” means a broadcasting service which transmits from a place outside Singapore broadcasting services which are capable of being received in Singapore.

This section applies to any foreign broadcasting service which is proscribed for the purposes of this section by virtue of an order made under section 29, and references in this section to a proscribed service are references to any such service.

Any person who in Singapore does any of the following acts shall be guilty of an offence:

Any person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (2) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $40,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

Any equipment and goods used in the commission of an offence under this section are liable to be forfeited to the Government.

For the purposes of this section, a person exposing decoding equipment for supply or having such equipment in the person’s possession for supply is deemed to offer to supply it.

The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, declare any foreign broadcasting service rebroadcast in Singapore on any relevant licensable broadcasting service to be a foreign broadcasting service engaging in the domestic politics of Singapore.

A person must not, without the prior approval of the Minister, include any declared foreign broadcasting service for rebroadcast in Singapore on any relevant licensable broadcasting service.

The Minister may

Without limiting subsection (3), the Minister may, in imposing conditions under that subsection, specify that

Any person who contravenes subsection (2) or fails to comply with any condition imposed under subsection (3)(a) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000.

In this section —

“foreign broadcasting service” means

“relevant licensable broadcasting service” means a licensable broadcasting service specified in the first column of the Third Schedule provided by a person specified in the second column of that Schedule opposite the licensable broadcasting service.

This Part applies to every broadcasting company unless exempted by the Minister under section 60(b).

In this Part —

“broadcasting company” means a company incorporated or registered under the Companies Act 1967 which holds a relevant licence, or a broadcasting holding company;

“broadcasting holding company” means a holding company of a company incorporated or registered under the Companies Act 1967 which holds a relevant licence;

“holding company” has the meaning given by section 5 of the Companies Act 1967;

“relevant licence” means

A broadcasting company must not, on or after 2 September 2002, appoint a person as its chief executive officer or director, or as the chairperson of its board of directors, unless it has obtained the approval of the Authority.

Unless the Authority otherwise approves, the chief executive officer of a broadcasting company and at least one-half of its directors must be citizens of Singapore.

No chief executive officer, director, or chairperson of the board of directors, of a broadcasting company who was appointed before 2 September 2002 is to be permitted by the broadcasting company to act as such on or after that date unless

Where the Authority does not approve the appointment of a person as chief executive officer, director or chairperson of the board of directors under subsection (3)(b), the broadcasting company must immediately remove the person from such office.

Any broadcasting company which contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $5,000 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.

This section has effect despite the provisions of any other written law or of the memorandum or articles of association, or other constitution, of a broadcasting company.

In this section —

“chief executive officer”, in relation to a broadcasting company, means any person, by whatever name described, who is

“director” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967.

This section and sections 35 to 42 apply to, and in relation to, all individuals whether resident in Singapore or not and whether citizens of Singapore or not, and to all bodies corporate or unincorporate, whether incorporated or carrying on business in Singapore or not.

In sections 35 to 42, unless the context otherwise requires —

“arrangement” includes any formal or informal scheme, arrangement or understanding, and any trust whether express or implied;

“share” includes stock except where a distinction between stock and shares is expressed or implied;

“substantial shareholder” has the meaning given by section 81 of the Companies Act 1967;

“voting share” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967.

A person must not, on or after 2 September 2002, become a substantial shareholder of a broadcasting company without first obtaining the approval of the Minister.

Subject to section 37(4), a person who, immediately before 2 September 2002, is a substantial shareholder of a broadcasting company must not continue to be a substantial shareholder unless the person has, within 6 months after 2 September 2002 or any longer period that the Minister may allow, applied to the Minister for approval to continue to be a substantial shareholder.

A person must not, on or after 2 September 2002, enter into any agreement or arrangement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or implied, to act together with any other person with respect to the acquisition, holding or disposal of, or the exercise of rights in relation to, their interests in voting shares of an aggregate of more than 5% of the total votes attached to all voting shares in a broadcasting company without first obtaining the approval of the Minister.

Subject to section 37(4), a person who, at any time before 2 September 2002, has entered into any agreement or arrangement mentioned in subsection (3) must not continue to be a party to the agreement or arrangement unless the person has, within 6 months after 2 September 2002 or any longer period that the Minister may allow, applied to the Minister for approval to continue to be a party to the agreement or arrangement.

For the purposes of this section, a person has an interest in any share if

A person must not, on or after 2 September 2002, become

Subject to section 37(4), a person who, immediately before 2 September 2002, is

In subsections (1)(a) and (2)(a), “12% controller” means a person who alone or together with the person’s associates

For the purposes of subsection (3)

In subsections (1)(b) and (2)(b), “indirect controller” means any person, whether acting alone or together with any other person and whether with or without holding shares or controlling voting power in a broadcasting company

The Minister may approve an application made by any person under section 35 or 36 if the Minister is satisfied that

Any approval under this section may be granted to any person subject to any conditions that the Minister may determine, including but not limited to any condition

Any condition imposed under subsection (2) has effect despite any of the provisions of the Companies Act 1967 or anything contained in the memorandum or articles of association, or other constitution, of the broadcasting company.

Where the Minister does not approve an application made by any person under section 35(2) or (4) or 36(2), the person must, within the time that the Minister may specify, take such steps as are necessary

The Minister may serve a written notice of objection on any person mentioned in section 35 or 36 if the Minister is satisfied that

Before serving a written notice of objection, the Minister must, unless he or she decides that it is not practicable or desirable to do so, cause to be given to the person concerned written notice of the Minister’s intention to serve the written notice of objection, specifying a date by which the person may make written representations with regard to the proposed written notice of objection.

Upon receiving the written representations of any person mentioned in subsection (2), the Minister must consider the written representations for the purpose of determining whether to issue a written notice of objection.

The Minister must, in any written notice of objection, specify a reasonable period within which the person to be served the written notice of objection must

Any person served with a written notice of objection under this section must comply with the notice.

Without affecting section 41, if the Minister is satisfied that any person has contravened section 35, 36, 37(4) or 39(5) or any condition imposed under section 37(2), or if the Minister has served a written notice of objection under section 39, the Minister may, by written notice

Any person to whom a notice is served under subsection (1) must comply with any direction or restriction that may be specified in the notice.

In the case of any direction or restriction made under subsection (1)(a) or (b), despite any of the provisions of the Companies Act 1967 or anything contained in the memorandum or articles of association, or other constitution, of the broadcasting company

In this section, “associate” has the meaning given by section 36(4)(c).

Any person who contravenes section 35, 36(1)(a) or (2)(a) or 37(4)(a), (b) or (c)(i) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $5,000 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.

Any person who contravenes section 36(1)(b) or (2)(b), 37(4)(c)(ii), 39(5) or 40(2) or any condition imposed under section 37(2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $5,000 for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.

Where a person is charged with an offence in respect of a contravention of section 35 or 36, it is a defence for the person to prove that

Where a person is charged with an offence in respect of a contravention of section 36(1), it is also a defence for the person to prove that, even though the person was aware of the contravention

Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4), it is not a defence for a person charged with an offence in respect of a contravention of section 35 or 36 to prove that the person did not intend to or did not knowingly contravene section 35 or 36, as the case may be.

The Authority may, by written notice, direct any broadcasting company to obtain from any of its shareholders and to transmit to the Authority information

The Authority may, by written notice, require any shareholder of a broadcasting company, or any person who appears from the information provided to the Authority under subsection (1) or this subsection to have an interest in any share in a broadcasting company, to inform the Authority

Any person who

Subject to this section, a person must not, without the prior consent of the Authority, receive any fund from any foreign source for the purposes of financing, directly or indirectly, wholly or partly, any broadcasting service owned or operated by any broadcasting company.

The Authority may grant its consent under subsection (1) if it is satisfied, on any information that it may require to be provided to it, that the fund from a foreign source is intended for bona fide commercial purposes.

Despite subsection (1), where any fund from a foreign source is sent to a person without the person’s prior knowledge, consent or solicitation and the fund is intended for or given by the sender for any purpose mentioned in that subsection, that person must, within 7 days of receiving the fund, report to the Authority the circumstances and particulars of the receipt of the fund and the purpose for which the fund was received.

Where any fund from a foreign source has been received by a person for any purpose mentioned in subsection (1) and the Authority refuses to grant consent to retain the fund, the person must, within the time that is specified by the Authority, return the fund to its sender or, if the sender cannot be traced, donate the fund to any charity specified by the Authority.

Any employee of a broadcasting company who, having received any fund from a foreign source for the broadcasting of any item or programme or for adopting a particular line or bias in respect of any item or programme, fails to report in writing, within 7 days of receiving the fund, to the company’s chief executive shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to the same penalty prescribed by subsection (8).

For the purposes of subsection (5), any fund received from outside Singapore by an employee is presumed to be from a foreign source until the contrary is proved.

Nothing in this section applies to any dealing by any person in the shares of a broadcasting company quoted on a stock exchange in Singapore.

Any person who contravenes subsection (1), (3) or (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both, and the court may, in addition to any other penalty that it may impose, order the forfeiture to the Authority of any fund which is the subject of the charge.

In this section and section 44 —

“foreign source” includes

“fund” means money, securities, movable or immovable property or other valuable consideration;

“fund from a foreign source” includes any fund provided by a foreign source indirectly through any agent of the foreign source.

A company must not, unless the Minister otherwise approves, be granted or hold a relevant licence if the Minister is satisfied that

Where the Minister does not grant his or her approval under subsection (1) for a company to hold a relevant licence (whether the licence is granted before, on or after 2 September 2002), the Authority must, within such time and in such manner as the Minister may specify, cancel the licence by written notice and without any compensation.

For the purposes of this section

A person must not manufacture, assemble, modify, import, export, sell, offer for sale, let for hire or otherwise distribute any decoder which the person knows is an unauthorised decoder.

A person must not wilfully receive or rebroadcast any encrypted programme which has been decoded without the authorisation of the lawful provider of a broadcasting service who had broadcast the programme.

Any person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $40,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both, and any unauthorised decoder shall be forfeited to the Authority.

Where it is proved that a person has manufactured, assembled, modified, imported, exported, sold, offered for sale, let for hire or otherwise distributed any unauthorised decoder, it is presumed, unless there is evidence to the contrary, that the person knew that the decoder was an unauthorised decoder.

In this section and section 48A —

“decoder” means any apparatus or device (including a computer program) or any component or part thereof which is designed or adapted to enable (whether on its own or with any other apparatus or device) an encrypted programme to be decoded;

“lawful provider”, in relation to a broadcasting service, means

“unauthorised decoder” means a decoder which is designed or adapted to enable an encrypted programme to be viewed in decoded form without the authorisation of the lawful provider of a broadcasting service who had broadcast the programme.

Where

Where

An action must not be brought under subsection (1) or (2) after the expiry of 6 years from the time the relevant act under section 48(1) or (2) (as the case may be) took place.

The Authority or any person the Authority authorises in that behalf may by notice require any person to provide the Authority or the person so authorised, within the period specified in the notice, with all such documents or information relating to all such matters as the Authority may require for the purposes of this Act and as are within that person’s knowledge or in that person’s custody or under that person’s control.

Any person who, on being required by any notice under subsection (1) to provide any document or information, fails to comply with any requirement of the notice shall be guilty of an offence.

Any person who

Any person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) or (3) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Any police officer or any employee authorised by the Authority may, if he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that

If there is no prosecution with regard to any broadcasting apparatus seized under this section, such broadcasting apparatus is to be taken and deemed to be forfeited to the Authority unless a claim is made within 2 months from the date of seizure.

Any person asserting that the person is the owner of any broadcasting apparatus so seized may personally or by the person’s authorised agent give written notice to the Authority that the person claims the broadcasting apparatus.

On receiving the notice, the Authority may direct that the broadcasting apparatus be released or may refer the matter to a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court.

The District Court or the Magistrate’s Court may proceed to the examination of the matter and upon examination is to order that the broadcasting apparatus be forfeited or released.

The Chief Executive or any employee of the Authority the Chief Executive authorises to act under this section may arrest without warrant

Every person so arrested must, together with any article as to which an offence may have been committed or attempted to be committed, be taken to a police station.

For the purposes of this section, offences punishable under sections 30, 46, 47 and 48 are deemed to be arrestable offences within the meaning of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010.

Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, an officer of the body corporate, the officer as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Where the affairs of the body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.

Proceedings for an offence alleged to have been committed under this Act by an unincorporated association must be brought against the association in its own name (and not in that of any of its members) and, for the purposes of these proceedings, any rules of court relating to service of documents have effect as if the association were a corporation.

Where an offence under this Act committed by a partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner, the partner as well as the partnership shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Where an offence under this Act committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, an officer of the association or a member of its governing body, the officer or member as well as the association shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Without limiting section 66, the Authority may make regulations to provide for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Authority considers appropriate, to a body corporate or an unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a country or territory outside Singapore.

In this section —

“officer”

“partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner.

The Authority may compound any offence under this Act which is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding $1,000.

The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations prescribing the offences which may be compounded.

Any licensee aggrieved by

Unless otherwise provided, where an appeal is made under this section, the decision, direction or other thing appealed against must be complied with until the appeal is determined.

The Minister may determine an appeal under this section by confirming, varying or reversing any decision or direction of the Authority or by amending any Code of Practice.

The decision of the Minister in any appeal is final.

No equipment or related facility of a licensee used for providing, transmitting or delivering licensable broadcasting services shall be subject to distress or be liable to be taken in execution under any process of a court in any bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings by any person without the prior approval of the Minister in writing.

This section does not apply to any class licensee.

Nothing in section 62 is deemed to abrogate the right of the Government at any time to determine its relations with any country or with any international agency or organisation.

The Authority and each broadcasting licensee must so discharge their responsibilities and conduct their business as to comply with and fulfil all international agreements, conventions or undertakings relating to broadcasting to which Singapore is a party.

Unless otherwise expressly provided in this Act, any notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act to be given or served on any person, and any summons issued by a court in connection with any offence under this Act, may be served on the person concerned

Any notice, order, document or summons sent by registered post to any person in accordance with subsection (1) is deemed to be duly served on the person to whom the letter is addressed at the time when the letter would, in the ordinary course of post, be delivered and in proving service of the same it is sufficient to prove that the envelope containing the notice, order, document or summons was properly addressed, stamped and posted by registered post.

The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, at any time amend the First, Second or Third Schedule.

The Minister may, in any notification made under subsection (1), make such incidental, consequential or supplementary provisions as may be necessary or expedient.

All acts done by the Singapore Broadcasting Authority before 1 January 2003 continue to remain valid and applicable as though done by the Authority, until the time invalidated, revoked, cancelled or otherwise determined by the Authority.

Any decision, document, licence, consent, approval or authorisation prepared, made, issued or granted by the Singapore Broadcasting Authority under the Singapore Broadcasting Authority Act (Cap. 297, 1995 Revised Edition) before 1 January 2003 is, so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, deemed to be a decision, document, licence, consent, approval or authorisation prepared, made, issued or granted by the Authority.

Where anything has been commenced by or on behalf of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority before 1 January 2003, the thing may be carried on and completed by or under the authority of the Authority.

Despite the repeal of Part XI of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority Act (Cap. 297, 1995 Revised Edition), as from 1 January 2003, sections 49 to 53 of that Act continue in force and to apply to the broadcasting successor companies mentioned in those sections as if that Part has not been repealed.

In this section, “broadcasting successor companies” means companies nominated by the Minister for the purposes of the repealed section 49 of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority Act (Cap. 297, 1995 Revised Edition).