Delhi High Court granted respite to broadcasters

On 2 January the Delhi High Court directed TRAI to not take any action against broadcasters who exceeded the ad-cap enforced by TRAI in addition to that it also asked the broadcasters to maintain records of the airtime on a weekly basis.

The TRAI regulations significantly restrict advertising on television, which, if imposed, will accelerate the growth of digital advertising in India, with video advertising, in particular, benefiting from this move.

The maximum duration limit of advertisements allowed was 12 minutes per hour, but with the leftover advertisement duration (if any) carried over to the next hour. This is applicable to advertising spots, info-commercials and house inventory from the broadcaster. Ad breaks were allowed only during breaks for live sporting events, like half time in football or hockey match. Only full screen ads were allowed.

Broadcasters were asked to ensure that the audio level of advertisements should not be higher than the audio level of the programs and finally, the broadcasters had to submit the details of ad carried in their channel in the format specified by TRAI, within 15 days from the end of a quarter.

The broadcasters had filed a case in the Delhi High Court following the dismissal of their appeal before the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal on jurisdictional grounds. This was because the Supreme Court had struck down TDSAT’s powers to adjudicate against TRAI regulations. The next hearing is scheduled on March 13, 2014.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/legal-news/item/3939-delhi-high-court-granted-respite-to-broadcasters.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/news/legal-news/item/3939-delhi-high-court-granted-respite-to-broadcasters.html