Though the Delhi High Court decided to side with telecom and broadcast regulator TRAI in a case about limiting total ad time to 12 minutes per hour in a 24-hour cycle, there are murmurs that the TV channels may appeal the order.

Though Indianbroadcastingworld.com couldn’t get any official word from the companies concerned on the Delhi court order, which was reposted on July 8, industry sources indicate that the order is being studied to decide a future course of action.

The Delhi High Court upheld the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) rule limiting television advertisements to 12 minutes per clock hour, dismissing petitions filed by several broadcasters challenging the regulation.

The petitions were filed by several entities, including 9X Media, Sun TV Network, B4U Broadband, TV Vision, Odisha Television, Eenadu Television and the News Broadcasters & Digital Association.

They had challenged TRAI’s rule that allows channels to air 10 minutes of commercial advertisements and 2 minutes of self-promotional content in every hour.

According to a Storyboard18.com report, the broadcasters argued that while they did not oppose the overall 12 minute limit, enforcing it in every clock hour reduced their flexibility in scheduling advertisements and affected advertising revenue. (https://www.storyboard18.com/media-and-entertainment/delhi-hc-upholds-trai-12-minute-ad-cap-per-hour-ws-l-103635.htm#google_vignette)

News channels also said they depend heavily on advertising income because subscription revenue is very low for them.

However, the High Court ruled that TRAI has the legal authority to regulate advertisement duration to improve the television viewing experience.

The court said the rule helps prevent long commercial breaks by ensuring advertisements are evenly distributed throughout the hour. It also clarified that the regulation does not affect programme or editorial content but only controls the duration of advertisements.

The bench observed that television is different from print media because viewers cannot easily skip advertisements. It also noted that the 12-minute advertisement cap has been in place since 2006, with TRAI refining its implementation through regulations introduced in 2012 and amended in 2013, according to the Storyboard18.com report.