New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has issued new film-certification guidelines, nearly 35 years after the previous framework was notified in December 1991, with a new mandatory warning for films depicting the consumption, use or trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Issued by the ministry of information and broadcasting on September 16, the guidelines largely retain the existing framework on violence, obscenity, sexual violence, communal content, national security, public order and other grounds for certification. The main substantive change in the new guidelines relates to drugs. The 1991 guidelines said scenes that tended to encourage, justify or glamorise drug addiction should not be shown. The new guidelines specifically cover scenes depicting or involving the consumption, use or trafficking of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances. Such scenes will have to carry the warning: "Illicit Narcotics Destroy Health and Guarantees Imprisonment. Say No to Drugs." The new guidelines also mention three UA age markers - UA 7+, UA 13+ and UA 16+ - under which parental guidance is advised for children below the respective age. However, these markers are not new. They were introduced through the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024, and are also defined in the Cinematograph Act. The government amended the 1991 guidelines in May 2025 to incorporate the three markers. CBFC chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati highlighted the age markers in a post on X. "Film makers need to highlight these markers in promotional material so that these are clearly understood by the audiences before exposing children to a film," he wrote....