TRAI amends 10+2 ad cap; deletes clause on gap between ad breaks
TRAI says that the amendment comes in wake of feedback from broadcasters and contention raised with TDSAT
The TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has amended the regulations it had issued under Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of advertisement in TV channels) that is expected to provide guidelines on advertisements seen across television broadcasters. The TRAI has made two key changes to the regulations it had issued on May 14, 2012, which it terms as principal regulations in the amended draft.
Minimum gap deleted and ad minutes can be carried forward
In the Amendment, TRAI has deleted the regulation in context to minimum gap between two consecutive ad breaks.
In the principal regulation, it was mentioned that the time gap between end of one advertisement session and the commencement of next advertisement session shall not be less than 15 minutes. This clause has been deleted in the amendment.
Also, the Regulation 3 of principal regulation has been changed from “No broadcaster shall carry in its broadcast of a programme, advertisements exceeding twelve minutes in a clock hour and any shortfall of advertisement duration in any clock hour shall not be carried over” to “No broadcaster shall, in its broadcast of a programme, carry advertisements exceeding twelve minutes in a clock hour”
The explanation of the clock hour which is said to “commence from 00.00 of the hour and end at 00.60 of that hour (example 14.00 to 15.00 hours)” is the same
Additional points of the Amendment
The TRAI has added reporting requirement in the Amendment of August 27, 2012 that states that every broadcaster shall, within fifteen days from the end of a quarter, submit to the authority in the format specified by the authority, the details of advertisements carried in its channel and first such report shall be furnished to the Authority, for the quarter ending on the 31 December, 2012, by the 15th January, 2013.
TRAI said this was needed for it to be able to ensure that broadcasters are following the advertisement regulations laid under this Notification.
The Amendment also has pointed out TRAI’s power of authority to intervene from time to time, issue order or direction as it may deem fit to ensure compliance of the provisions of these regulations.
