MAM
MIB: No case of misleading ads in last three years
NEW DELHI: Action was taken in only two cases of misleading advertisements for violation of the Advertising code in 2014 and there has been no action since, the minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said in the Parliament.
He said that advertisements telecast on private satellite TV channels are regulated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) under advertising code prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules 1994 as listed out in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995.
The code contains a whole range of parameters to regulate advertisements on TV channels. Rule 7 (5) of the advertising code specifically deals with misleading advertisements, which prescribes that no advertisement shall contain references which are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special or miraculous or super-natural property or quality, which is difficult to prove.
The Department of Consumer Affairs has not fixed any criteria for veracity of advertisements of products related to daily use of consumer goods. However, Section 2(1)(r) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 provides that the practice of making any statement, whether orally or in writing or by visible representation, which falsely represents that the goods are of a particular standard, quality, quantity, falls under unfair trade practices.
A consumer can make a complaint against unfair trade practice in a consumer forum established under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. If the complaint is upheld by the forum, it can issue restraining orders.
In response to another question, Rathore refused any update from the government stating that the case was in the Delhi High Court and, hence, sub judice. Broadcasters had challenged in court a provision in the Cable Act for advertisements to be limited to twelve minutes per hour.
He said Rule 7(11) of the Rules provides that “no programme shall carry advertisements exceeding 12 minutes per hour, which may include up to ten minutes per hour of commercial advertisements and up to two minutes per hour of the channel’s self-promotional programmes”.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) notified the regulation ‘Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) (Amendment) Regulations 2013’ on 22 March 2013 further amplifying the regulation.
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.
