Explainer 5 min read•Updated Aug 30, 2026

U, U/A, A and S: Indian Movie Certificates Explained

Every film released in an Indian cinema carries a certificate from the CBFC. U means anyone can watch. A means adults only. U/A sits in between and, since a 2023 change in the law, is split into three age bands — 7+, 13+ and 16+. Streaming shows are not certified by the CBFC at all, which is why their ratings look similar but work differently.

The short version

•U — anyone can watch, no age limit.
•U/A — children can watch with a parent or guardian. Now split into 7+, 13+ and 16+.
•A — adults only, 18 and above. No one under 18, even with a parent.
•S — for a specific group of people, such as doctors or scientists. Very rare.
•Netflix, Prime Video and JioHotstar are not certified by the CBFC. They rate themselves under separate rules.

Who actually decides

The body is the Central Board of Film Certification, usually just called the CBFC. It works under the Cinematograph Act of 1952.

People call it the censor board, and the name has stuck, but its formal job is certification — deciding which audience a film is suitable for. In practice it can also ask for cuts or changes before it gives a certificate, which is why the old name refuses to die.

No film can be shown publicly in an Indian cinema without one of its certificates. That is a legal requirement, not a courtesy.

What each letter means

There are four, and they have been there for decades.

U — Universal

Suitable for everyone. Family films, most animation, most comedies. No age restriction of any kind.

U/A — Parental guidance

Anyone can watch, but children under 12 were traditionally expected to be with an adult. This is where the large majority of mainstream Indian films land.

A — Adults only

Restricted to viewers 18 and over. A cinema can refuse entry to anyone younger, and a parent cannot sign that away.

S — Special class

Restricted to a named group of people. Think a surgical training film shown to doctors. You will almost never see one in a normal cinema.

The new U/A age bands

U/A used to cover an enormous range. A gentle family drama and a hard action film could both be U/A, which told a parent almost nothing.

The Cinematograph Amendment Act of 2023 changed that. U/A is now split into three, based on age.

So a certificate now reads U/A 7+, U/A 13+ or U/A 16+. The higher the number, the stronger the content. It brings India closer to how ratings work in most other countries, and it is genuinely more useful to a parent deciding what to take a child to.

The same law made two other changes worth knowing. Certificates used to expire after ten years and now do not, and the Act added specific penalties for recording a film in a cinema, which is where a great deal of piracy begins.

U/A 7+

Mild content. Suitable for children of about seven and above with a guardian.

U/A 13+

Stronger themes, some violence or language. Suitable for about thirteen and above.

U/A 16+

The strongest content that is still short of an adults-only certificate.

Streaming plays by different rules

This is the bit that surprises most people. The CBFC does not certify anything on Netflix, Prime Video, JioHotstar or ZEE5. Its authority covers films shown publicly in cinemas.

Streaming services in India work under the IT Rules of 2021 instead. Those rules ask the services to classify their own content and display the rating, along with a note about what is in it — violence, language, and so on.

Their age bands are similar on purpose: U, U/7+, U/13+, U/16+ and A. But the key difference is who applies them. A film in a cinema was judged by an outside body. The same film on an app may carry a rating the service gave itself.

That is also why a film can appear on streaming in a longer or less trimmed form than the version that played in cinemas. It went through a different process.

What this means when you are picking something to watch

If you are booking a cinema ticket for a family, the age band is now doing real work. U/A 16+ is a meaningfully different film from U/A 7+, and before 2023 they would have carried the same label.

If you are choosing something on an app, open the rating and look for the content note rather than the letter. The note is where the useful detail is — it will actually say violence, or language, or substance use.

And an A certificate in India is firm. Cinemas do check, and no adult can accompany an under-18 into an A rated film.

Common questions

What does U/A mean in Indian films?

U/A means unrestricted with parental guidance. Anyone can watch, but children are expected to be accompanied by an adult. Since the 2023 amendment to the Cinematograph Act it is split into three age bands: U/A 7+, U/A 13+ and U/A 16+.

Can a child watch an A certificate film with a parent?

No. An A certificate restricts the film to viewers aged 18 and over, and being accompanied by a parent does not change that. It is the strictest of the ordinary categories.

What is an S certificate?

S restricts a film to a particular class of people, such as doctors or scientists — for example a medical training film. It is very rarely used and you will almost never see one in a public cinema.

Does the CBFC rate Netflix and Prime Video shows in India?

No. The CBFC certifies films shown in cinemas. Streaming services classify their own content under the IT Rules of 2021, using similar age bands — U, U/7+, U/13+, U/16+ and A — along with a note describing the content.

Why do certificates now show a number like 13+?

The Cinematograph Amendment Act of 2023 split the single U/A category into three age based bands, so parents get a clearer signal than the old one-size-fits-all U/A label gave them.

Where this came from

Published Aug 30, 2026 · Last checked Aug 30, 2026