Telecom Lead India: TRAI on Friday asked television channels to limit the duration of advertisements for up to 12 minutes in one hour.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India feels that the restriction on the duration of advertisement will improve the quality of services to customers.
In a notification — the regulation “Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) (Amendment) Regulations, 2013 — on Friday, TRAI also said several broadcasters violated the current guidelines.
“This regulation mandates the broadcasters to restrict the duration of advertisements in their channels to a maximum of 12 minutes in any given clock-hour as prescribed in the existing rules,” said TRAI in a statement.
“To monitor and ensure compliance of these regulations, broadcasters are also mandated to report the duration of advertisements carried in their channels to TRAI on quarterly basis in a proforma prescribed by the authority,” the directive added.
TRAI says it has studied the issue of duration of advertisements being carried in TV channels. The data obtained from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and that collected from the broadcasters, established the general perception that most of the TV channels are in brazen breach of the existing rules on the subject, notified by the Central Government in the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994.
The duration of advertisements being carried in TV channels is closely related to the quality of viewing experience of the consumers which is akin to the quality of service being offered by the service providers to the consumers.
