Mumbai: Television broadcasters are considering moving the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s order upholding the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) authority to enforce a 12-minute-per-clock-hour cap on television advertising, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The industry is worried because the ruling could hurt revenues and significantly expand the regulator’s oversight over broadcasters.
The Delhi High Court on May 29 dismissed petitions filed by broadcasters in 2013 challenging TRAI’s advertising regulations.
Broadcasters argue that strict enforcement of the advertising cap could hurt business at a time when the television industry is grappling with falling pay-TV subscriptions and sluggish advertising growth.
“Broadcasters across the board are planning to challenge the Delhi HC order before the Supreme Court since implementation of the ad cap will be detrimental to their business,” said a lawyer aware of the deliberations.
India’s television broadcasting economy remains heavily dependent on advertising. In 2025, the linear TV industry generated nearly Rs 62,000 crore in revenue, including Rs 26,300 crore from advertising and Rs 35,400 crore from subscriptions, according to a Ficci-EY report.
Industry estimates suggest that pay broadcasters derive 50-70% of their revenue from advertising depending on the genre, while free-to-air channels rely entirely on it. As of December, India had 335 pay channels and 576 free-to-air channels, according to TRAI.
The Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation and the News Broadcasters and Digital Association were parties to the case before the Delhi High Court.
The dispute dates back to 2012, when TRAI directed broadcasters to comply with advertising limits under its quality-of-service regulations. Broadcasters challenged the move first before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal and later in the Delhi High Court, which restrained TRAI from taking any coercive action against the appellants while it considered the matter.
At the centre of the dispute was whether TRAI’s authority extends beyond carriage and tariffs into advertising regulation.
A division bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Amit Mahajan ruled that TRAI acted within its statutory powers, holding that the regulator’s mandate under the TRAI Act to set quality-of-service standards extends to viewing experience, thereby allowing it to prescribe limits on advertising duration to protect consumer interest.
“The Delhi HC order materially expands the scope of TRAI’s powers. It will not only cover carriage-related issues but also extend to content through ad-cap regulation,” said a legal expert.
Industry executives are particularly concerned over the court’s observation that broadcasters use spectrum, a public resource, which justifies regulatory intervention in the interest of consumers.
“The ruling could have far-reaching implications for TRAI’s future oversight of broadcasters,” said another lawyer representing one of the parties.
The ruling revives a long-contentious regulation that broadcasters have resisted for over a decade. Under Rule 7(11) of the Cable Television Network Rules and TRAI’s quality-of-service regulations, television channels can air a maximum of 12 minutes of advertisements per clock hour, including up to 10 minutes of commercial advertising and two minutes of self-promotional content.
In 2017, TRAI identified more than 100 pay-TV channels from broadcasters including Star India, Sony Pictures Networks India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Sun TV Network and Viacom18 Media for breaching the cap during peak hours, with channels airing 12-25 minutes of advertisements per hour between June and September 2016.
