MAM
UP Transport Department asks ASCI to enforce responsible advertising in auto sector
MUMBAI: The Uttar Pradesh Department of Transport has approached The Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) for taking action against automotive advertisements that depict violation of traffic rules.
Through a letter, Transport & Road Safety commissioner K. Ravindra Naik has strongly backed ASCI for its efforts in promoting responsible advertising and has requested the industry body to instruct advertising agencies to adhere to the self-regulatory code.
Early in July, highlighting the recent incident of a road accident in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 10th edition of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme also focused on the importance of road safety in the country. He said, “It is the duty of every family to inform youngsters about the importance of road safety rules.”
“According to the statistics of road accidents in the country, every four minutes a person dies in a road accident and around one – third of those dying in road accidents are between 15 and 25 years of age. It is the need of hour on creating awareness of road safety across the country as also through the manner in which advertisements depict responsible driving,” he added.
ASCI chairman Narendra Ambwani said, “ASCI has been very proactive on the subject of advertisements for Automotive Vehicles and came up with a specific guideline in April 2008. Chapter III.3 of the ASCI’s Self-Regulatory code prescribes that ‘Advertisements shall not, without justifiable reason, show or refer to dangerous practices or manifest a disregard for safety or encourage negligence.’ We welcome this move by the Department of Transport, Uttar Pradesh for discouraging depiction of rash and unsafe driving. We hope each state in the country will also take effective measure to encourage responsible advertising and promote road safety.”
The Department of Transport, Uttar Pradesh has also requested ASCI to ask advertising agencies to take effective measures to follow the said guidelines and to blacklist the agencies that do not comply with ASCI’s recommendations. The State Transport Authorities of UP has also written to all District Magistrates in the state to take action in this matter.
According to self–regulation guidelines on advertisements for automotive vehicles, advertisers are encouraged to depict advertisements in a manner, which promotes safe practices, e.g. wearing helmets and fastening of seatbelts, not using mobile phones when driving etc. The advertisements should not portray violations of any traffic rules, should not show speeding or manoeuvrability in a manner which encourages unsafe or reckless driving, which could harm the driver, passengers and / or the general public, or show stunts or actions which require professional driving skills, in normal traffic conditions which, in any case, should carry a readable cautionary message drawing viewers’ attention to the depiction of stunts.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
