The Zero Hour is a unique, informal parliamentary concept and device that is an innovation of the Indian Parliament, not mentioned in the Constitution or the Rules of Procedure of either House. It originated organically in the early 1960s as Members of Parliament (MPs) sought a way to raise urgent national and constituency issues without the procedural delays of formal notice. The practice became an accepted part of the routine, solving the problem of addressing time-sensitive matters that could not wait for the ten-day advance notice required for other procedures.
The name comes from the fact that it traditionally begins at 12:00 noon, immediately after the Question Hour ends in the Lok Sabha. In the Rajya Sabha, however, the day often begins with the Zero Hour. To raise a matter, an MP must submit a notice to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha before 10:00 AM on the day of the sitting, stating the subject. The presiding officer has complete discretion to allow or disallow the issue. The session typically lasts about 30 minutes in the Lok Sabha, with each MP generally getting around three minutes to speak.
The Zero Hour connects directly to the Question Hour, as it follows it in the Lok Sabha, and is often contrasted with the Calling Attention Motion, which is a formal device mentioned in the Rules of Procedure and requires a minister to make an authoritative statement. While the government is not formally required to respond during Zero Hour, the concerned minister usually takes note. There have been no recent amendments to the informal concept itself, but its practice has seen changes, such as the extension of its duration by the Speaker to allow more MPs to raise issues, with a record 202 matters raised in a single day in 2025.