Govt scraps 12-minute ad cap on TV channels to level playing field with digital media

In a major regulatory shift for India’s broadcasting landscape, the Union Government has decided to remove the two-decade-old 12-minute hourly advertisement cap for television channels, unlocking commercial flexibility for broadcasters and levelling the field with fast-growing digital media.

The advertisement duration limit was first introduced in 2006 under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, back when analog cable dominated distribution and offered consumers a sparse selection of just 62 channels. Today, the sector looks vastly different.

Full digitisation across Direct-to-Home (DTH), Cable TV, Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS), and IPTV platforms has expanded choices to over 900 channels, with individual distribution systems routinely carrying 300 to 500 options.

Explaining the rationale behind revisiting the rules, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting noted that Indian television remains heavily reliant on advertising revenue, regardless of whether a channel operates on a pay-TV or free-to-air model. Crucially, traditional television broadcasters faced a disadvantage against digital media platforms, which operated without any government-mandated cap on commercial durations.

The Ministry of I&B emphasised that robust market dynamics now exist both within the television industry and between traditional TV and digital media. Removing the cap is aimed at enabling fair competition and improving the ease of doing business across the media ecosystem.

The policy change will formally come into effect from the date the official amendment to the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 is published in the Gazette.