TRAI Ends Weekly Ad-Duration Reporting For TV Channels
TRAI has withdrawn the 2013 order that made television broadcasters report the duration of advertising on their channels every week. The requirement existed to police the 12-minute hourly ad cap, and the government removed that cap in August.
- Withdrawn: Order No. 23-1/2012-B&CS, dated 5 August 2013
- What it required: weekly ad-duration reports in a prescribed electronic format
- Why it went: the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2026 omitted sub-rule (11) of Rule 7, the 12-minute limit
- Preceded by: TRAI's repeal, on 10 September 2026, of the 2012 Duration of Advertisements regulations
What TRAI Has Now Removed
Under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, channels could carry no more than 12 minutes of advertising in a clock hour. The 2013 order was how the regulator checked that: broadcasters filed weekly data and TRAI watched for breaches. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting struck out the limit through an amendment notified in the Official Gazette in August, describing the change as a move for fair competition and ease of doing business.
That left the reporting order with nothing to monitor. TRAI first repealed the Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) Regulations, 2012, along with the orders and directions issued under them, and has now formally withdrawn the specific 2013 order as well. It acted under Section 12, read with Section 11(1)(b)(i) and (v), of the TRAI Act, 1997.
What Changes For Broadcasters And Advertisers
For channels, one compliance filing disappears. The bigger change is the one it follows: ad inventory is now a commercial decision rather than a regulated quantity. Networks can sell more minutes around a cricket final or the festive peak, when demand is highest.
Whether breaks actually get longer is a separate question. Every extra minute is weighed against viewers reaching for the remote, and against the price of the minutes already on sale. Buyers should expect the argument to be settled programme by programme, not across the schedule. More news.
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