Delhi High Court reschedules hearing in the ad cap case

The 12-minute ad cap case has been postponed till May 25, 2022, by the Delhi High Court. The case was set for a hearing on December 23rd. The News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) has filed a rebuttal to the Indian government. It would also respond to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) imposition request.

The TRAI had filed an impleadment motion in the Delhi High Court in October to become a party to the NBDA-UOI dispute. The Delhi High Court had requested replies from the NBDA and the Central government in response to TRAI's petition.
The TRAI said in its petition that it had received multiple emails from customers complaining about their television viewing experience due to heavy advertising on various channels. TRAI has filed an intervention request in a case brought by the NBA, which is contesting rule 7(11) of the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 (CTN/Cable TV Rules). The NBA has argued that the rule goes against the constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech and expression.

No TV channel can show more than 12 minutes of commercials in a clock hour, according to regulation 7(11). "No programme must contain commercials for more than twelve minutes per hour, which may include up to ten minutes per hour of commercial advertisements and up to two minutes per hour of a channel's self-promotional programmes," according to the guideline.

The Delhi High Court is now hearing two different writ petitions challenging the 12-minute ad restriction. In 2013, news, regional, and music broadcasters filed a petition with the TRAI against the TRAI's introduction of 12-minute commercial cap legislation. In that case, the Delhi High Court awarded petitioner broadcasters immediate relief.

The NBDA challenged Rule 7(11) of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994, which aims to control the length of ads, in April of this year. The National Business Development Agency (NBDA) has stated that "controlling advertisement is nothing more than regulating free commercial expression allowed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution."