NEW DELHI: The government has ruled out categorisation of TV channels, fixing telecast time and framing code of conduct for contents of various serials and other telecast, the Parliament has been told.
Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said the programmes and advertisements telecast on private TV channels are required to be in conformity with the Programme and Advertising Codes prescribed in the Rule 6 and 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994.
Rule 7(11) of the said rule provides that “No programme shall carry advertisements exceeding 12 minutes per hour, which may include up to 10 minutes per hour of commercial advertisements and up to two minutes per hour of a channel’s self-promotional programmes.”
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court is to hear on 11 October the case challenging the ad cap on television channels.
In the hearing on 29 March 2016, a plea was made on behalf of the information and broadcasting ministry that a proposal was being contemplated to amend the relevant provision relating to limiting ads to 12 minutes an hour. The petition has been filed against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Union Government by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) and other stakeholders.
The court has already directed that the order that TRAI would not take any action against any channel pending the petition would continue. In an earlier hearing, the court had, at the regulator's instance, directed that all channels keep a record of the advertisements run by them.
The NBA had challenged the ad cap rule, contending that TRAI does not have jurisdiction to regulate commercial airtime on television channels. Apart from the NBA, the petitions have been filed by Sarthak Entertainment, Pioneer Channel Factory, E24 Glamorous, Sun TV Network, TV Vision, B4U Broadband, 9X Media, Kalaignar, Celebrities Management, Eanadu Television and Raj Television.
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