New Delhi : The Delhi High Court has adjourned the 10+2 ad cap case till September 23rd. This gives broadcasters a relief of few more weeks.
In its previous hearing held on July 24th, the HC had fixed September 8th, 2015 as the date for hearing in the 10+2 ad cap case. Due to advocates’ strike the case didn’t appear in front of the judges in July this year.
The case has been postponed for hearing till 23rd September as the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) asked the Delhi HC to adjourn the hearing. The NBA sought adjournment on the ground that it wanted to discuss the issue with the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to seek certain clarifications.
Earlier, The NBA had challenged the ad cap rule, contending that TRAI does not have jurisdiction to regulate commercial airtime on television channels.
Soon, the petition has also been filed by other broadcasters like Sarthak Entertainment, Pioneer Channel Factory, E24 Glamoru, Sun TV Network, TV Vision, B4U Broadband, 9X Media, Kalaignar, Celebrities Management, Eanadu Television and Raj Television.
The news and regional broadcasters fear that the capping of commercial airtime will curtail their ad revenues. They also argue that the ad cap must be brought only after the benefits of cable TV digitisation start showing.
Recent update released by TRAI show that around 36 news channels apart from 105 General Entertainment Channels (GECs) have violated the ad cap by telecasting ads for more than 12 minutes an hour.
