BCC penalties will take effect immediately, not after published in Official Gazette

The penalties imposed by the Broadcasting Coordination Council (BCC) are carried out when the relevant decisions are adopted and the broadcasters and service distributors are informed about this. The decisions are afterward published in the Official Gazette. The MPs Friday adopted a bill with amendments to the Broadcasting Code in the final reading, at the suggestion of Liberal lawmaker Corina Fusu, Info-Prim Neo reports. Earlier, the penalties came into force in 15 days. Now they will take effect immediately after they are published on the BCC’s website. The broadcasters and service distributors will be able to appeal the Council’s decision to court and the judges can suspend the penalties if they consider them unfounded. The BCC can impose such gradual penalties as: public warning, ban on broadcasting advertisements for a certain period, fine, suspension of the broadcasting license for a certain period and, the most serious, withdrawal of the broadcasting license.