After the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) dismissed its petition challenging the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) ad cap mandate, the News Broadcasters Association has decided to appeal to the High Court. Sources close to the development reveal that the petition will be filed by the end of this week.
“This was the most logical step for the NBA to take. They decided to appeal to the High Court at the earliest once TDSAT dismissed the petition in view of the Supermem Court ruling on 6 December,” reveals the source who preferred to remain unnamed.
The Supreme Court had ruled that the TDSAT does not have jurisdiction in hearing the petition that challenges the regulator's mandate. Post this, the tribunal had dismissed various petitions filed by the NBA and other broadcasters.
Sources further reveal that the appeal to the high court is the last measure that the news broadcasters can take. If the appeal does not find merit with the High Court as well, the industry will be in big trouble.
With the dismissal of he petitions by TDSAT, the broadcasters are supposed to follow the 12 minute ad cap mandate passed by TRAI, failing which, the regulator can pull up channels and take coercive measures towards implementation of the ad cap regulation.
It has been revealed that currently, most news broadcasters are following the 20 minute commercial time format which was put in place from July 1. “We need time to rejig our programming and rework the contracts with out advertisers. The dismissal of the petition has come as a big blow to us,” reveals a news broadcaster.
