Ad breaks to get longer: Centre scraps 20-year-old 12-minute cap on TV — What does it mean for viewers?
The I&B Ministry argued that the television landscape has evolved so drastically that the 2006 rule is simply obsolete.
The Indian government has announced it will be doing away with the 20-year-old limit of 12 minutes of television ads per hour. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting made the decision on Friday, stating that the restriction, introduced in 2006, is now outdated due to the drastic changes in the TV broadcasting sector. With over 900 channels available compared to just 62 back in 2006, the government believes the market is now competitive enough to self-regulate.
The ministry argues that the removal of this cap will enable traditional TV channels to compete fairly with digital media for advertising budgets, ensuring a level playing field for legacy broadcasters. Viewers will now have the option to switch to one of the hundreds of other channels if they find too many ads on a particular channel.
The policy change will take effect once the amendment to the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, is published in the Gazette.
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