Mr.Bhat
EntMnt Contributor
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, whose diktat about television advertisements was challenged by broadcasters, says it is prepared to discuss the issue with organisations of the broadcasters.
This was stated today by its counsel Saket Singh when a petition by News Broadcasters Association and others challenging Trai’s ad regulations came up before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat).
Counsel said Trai was willing to look into various issues raised by the broadcasters which have opposed the move to put a cap on advertising time.
"There are issues we are willing to consider. We are looking in a broad manner," said the counsel. He said amendments can be made, whatever the issue.
Trai was granted its request for six months for this process by chairman Justice S B Sinha and member P K Rastogi.
Trai assured Tdsat that it would not implement its order and enforce the broadcasters to follow it till 30 August when the matter comes up for hearing.
Trai had issued a notification on 14 May limiting the duration of advertisements in TV channels to 12 minutes per hour. Any shortfall of advertisement duration in any hour cannot be carried over, the telecom regulator had said.
Trai in its regulation had also said that the minimum time gap between any two consecutive advertisement breaks should not be less than 15 minutes and not less than 30 minutes for movies.
However, Trai today also faced questions from the bench over the overlapping of its authority with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
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This was stated today by its counsel Saket Singh when a petition by News Broadcasters Association and others challenging Trai’s ad regulations came up before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat).
Counsel said Trai was willing to look into various issues raised by the broadcasters which have opposed the move to put a cap on advertising time.
"There are issues we are willing to consider. We are looking in a broad manner," said the counsel. He said amendments can be made, whatever the issue.
Trai was granted its request for six months for this process by chairman Justice S B Sinha and member P K Rastogi.
Trai assured Tdsat that it would not implement its order and enforce the broadcasters to follow it till 30 August when the matter comes up for hearing.
Trai had issued a notification on 14 May limiting the duration of advertisements in TV channels to 12 minutes per hour. Any shortfall of advertisement duration in any hour cannot be carried over, the telecom regulator had said.
Trai in its regulation had also said that the minimum time gap between any two consecutive advertisement breaks should not be less than 15 minutes and not less than 30 minutes for movies.
However, Trai today also faced questions from the bench over the overlapping of its authority with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
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