The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has amended the Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) Regulations, 2012 to impose a cap of twelve minutes per hour on commercial advertisements.
TRAI had earlier issued the regulations in May 2012 but the broadcasters had obtained a stay on its implementation by challenging the regulations before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). TRAI has however now amended the regulations with effect from 22-3-2013 and aligned them with the Advertising Code contained in the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 which provides an overall cap of twelve minutes and further restricts commercial advertisements to 10 minutes per hour and channel’s self-promotional programmes to two minutes per hour.
Further, to monitor and ensure compliance, broadcasters are required to report the duration of advertisements carried in their channels on quarterly basis in the prescribed proforma.