The Newspaper (Prices and Pages) Act, 1956 was enacted to provide for the regulation of the prices charged for newspapers in relation to their pages and of matters connected therewith for the purpose of preventing unfair competition among newspapers so that newspapers may have fuller opportunities of freedom of expression. The Act empowers the central government to make orders providing for the regulation of the prices charged for newspapers in relation to their maximum or minimum number of pages, sizes or areas and for the space to be allotted for advertising matter in relation to other matters therein for the purpose of preventing unfair competition among newspapers so that newspapers generally and in particular, newspapers with smaller resources and those published in Indian languages may have fuller opportunities of freedom of expression. The Act further provides the Central Government shall, before making any order, consult associations of publishers and such publishers likely to be affected by the order. The Act prohibits publication and sale of newspapers in contravention of any order made under the provisions of this Act.
