MAM
Trai not to implement ad regulations till further orders from Tdsat
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) has directed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to hold on to its commitment of not implementing regulation of advertisement on television channels till its further orders.
The commitment that the Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) Regulations, 2012 dated 14 May 2012 will not be implemented till 30 August was given by Trai during a Tdsat hearing on July 17.
Broadcasters had moved Tdsat challenging the authority of Trai to implement the provision in the Cable Act that restricts the total advertisements in an hour to 12 minutes.
Trai will not take steps to implement the regulations on advertisement limit till the next hearing. Tdsat chairman S B Sinha and member P K Rastogi have listed for further hearing on 3 December the petitions filed by broadcasters and organisations against ad regulations.
Tdsat gave its directive after Trai Counsel Saket Singh gave an assurance that the regulator was prepared to discuss the issue with broadcasters and other stakeholders. Singh also pointed out that Trai had, in fact asked all stakeholders to respond by 11 September to amendments proposed in the draft regulation “Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) (Amendment) Regulations, 2012”. The draft amendment was released on 27 August.
The petitioners have questioned the powers of Trai contending that the regulator has no power to limit the ad times. According to the broadcasters, such power vests with the central government and that only it can issue such directions under The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
The Tribunal was hearing different petitions by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, the News Broadcasters Association,. ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd., Multi Screen India Pvt. Ltd., Neo Sports Broadcast Pvt. Ltd., and Discovery Communication India which had been clubbed together.
Some of the petitions had been filed when the first Regulations were issued on 14 May while those affecting sports channels were filed following the amended draft issued on 27 August.
Counsel A J Bhambani who represented some of the petitioners in the appeal challenging the Trai Regulations said the regulator should not have issued any amended regulations in view of its assurance to the tribunal in July that it would not implement its regulation till 30 August.
Singh said Trai had only issued draft Regulations as part of the consultation process and had no intention of enforcing it till all the stakeholders had been heard.
Trai had first 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.
Trai in its draft amendment of 27 August has proposed to withdraw the requirement of a 15-minute gap between ad breaks, while sticking to the overall ad time of 12 minutes per hour. For sports broadcasters, Trai has proposed to remove the clause that permitted ads only during breaks in case of live broadcast of a sporting event.
Also read:
Broadcasters get breathing space as Tdsat stays Trai‘s ad cap rule Trai willing to discuss with broadcasters on TV ad time issue
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
