Oct 1 is just five days away, but will TRAI impose the 10+2 ad cap?

With just five days remaining for the 10+2 ad cap diktat of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to come into play, there is still lack of clarity as to whether this will actually happen. As per industry sources, TRAI was to have issued a formal order on implementation of the ad cap, which it hasn’t done so far. Hence, there are growing voices that say that broadcasters might give the October 1, 2013 deadline a miss.

As is known, news channels have already got a reprieve when the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) got a stay order from TDSAT regarding implementing the ad cap from October 1.

Meanwhile, as reported by exchange4media earlier, highly placed industry sources have said that music channels such as 9XM, Masti TV, Manoranjan TV, E24, and a few others are likely to defy the ad cap diktat, the main reason being the huge losses in revenues that they are expected to suffer if the ad inventories are shrunk.

Amid all this, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has not approached either the courts or any redressal forum to seek a stay on the implementation of the 10+2 ad cap. In an earlier conversation with exchange4media, Man Jit Singh, CEO, MSM and President, IBF maintained, “If the ad cap has to be implemented, it should be for everyone. You can’t go easy on certain genres.” At the same time, Singh added that if TDSAT directs broadcasters to work as per TRAI’s ruling, then they would do so happily.

With the economy going through a slowdown, pressure is already mounting on the broadcasters as advertisers tighten their ad budgets. Hence, even at this late hour, broadcasters are hoping for a reprieve. But going by the comments of TRAI Chairman Rahul Khullar on different occasions, he is firm about getting the ad cap in place on the due date. Despite numerous attempts, TRAI officials couldn’t be contacted for comments on this issue.

TRAI cracks the whip
Meanwhile, the regulatory pulled up some broadcasters last month for violating the ad cap. These included lifestyle channels, music channels and news broadcasters. TRAI can repeat the same if it is needed.

TRAI had issued notices to all the GECs and news broadcasters in February this year to implement the ad cap. TRAI had earlier suggested, “Broadcasters need to restrict advertising to less than 30 minutes to the clock hour with immediate effect. From July 1, news channels need to restrict advertising to less than 20 minutes and other channels to 16 minutes per hour, respectively. And from October 1, all the channels will implement the 12-minute cap on all channels.”

It may be recalled that a consultation paper in March 2012 had stated that there was a precedence of a Supreme Court ruling, which had held that the restriction on advertising space in newspapers would lead to reduction in their revenues, which was in violation of Article 19 (1)(a). The same rule should also apply to television.