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Informist, Friday, May 29, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Friday upheld the Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India's law to fix a time ceiling of 12 minutes per hour for broadcasting of advertisements, with a 10-minute cap fixed for commercial advertisements and a 2-minute cap pertaining to self-promotional advertisements. The high court rejected pleas by Sun TV Network Ltd., NDTV Lifestyle Ltd., News Broadcasters Association, entertainment channels, regional channels and others alleging that the telecom regulator's law was violative of Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution.

 

The high court said that the telecom regulator's framework was reasonable under Article 19(6) of the Constitution, as it serves the interests of the general public, preserves viewer experience, and does not interfere with broadcasters' freedom to determine content, pricing, or business models. There is no constitutional guarantee of profitability or unlimited monetisation of public resources, said the court. Article 19(6) of the Indian Constitution outlines the permissible limitations on the fundamental right to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade, or business. The 12-minute cap is a neutral, time-based regulation that does not restrict content but only regulates quantity of advertising time, said the court.

 

The right to maximise advertising inventory on the public spectrum cannot override the public interest considerations, said the court. The loss of revenue as projected by broadcasters is at best a reduction in one revenue lever, not a denial of their right to carry on business, said the court. What is subject to protection as a fundamental right is the freedom to conduct business of broadcasting, not a guarantee of any particular level of profit gained from the sale of advertising minutes on public property, said the court.

 

The broadcasters cannot claim an unfettered right to exploit spectrum for commercial purposes, said the court. Their use of such resources is subject to licensing conditions, statutory frameworks, and regulatory oversight, it said. The state, in discharge of its constitutional obligations, is fully competent to regulate the manner and extent of such usage in order to ensure that the public character of the resource is preserved and that its benefits accrue to the community at large, said the court. 

 

The bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Amit Mahajan said that the telecom regulator acted within its statutory authority in coming out with this law. The per-clock-hour-advertisement cap is a valid exercise of its regulatory power relating to quality of service, said the bench. The telecom regulator prevents excessive commercial exploitation and ensures equitable use, thereby attracting protection under the Constitution, said the court.

 

The high court said that the petitioners' challenge based on Article 14 of the Constitution was unsustainable as the classification between programme content and advertisement time was intelligible and bore a rational nexus with the objective of preventing over-commercialisation and protecting consumer interest. The telecom regulator's law is not manifestly arbitrary, being based on consultation, empirical consumer concerns, and comparative international practice, said the court. It reflects a structured and principled regulatory approach and the decision-making process adopted by the telecom regulator satisfies the requirements of consultation, transparency and application of mind, said the court.
 

The high court said that Directive Principles of State Policy under the Constitution state that while exercising its regulatory and distributive functions, the state must adopt policies that ensure equitable distribution of resources in furtherance of public welfare and socio-economic justice. These principles embody a core facet of the Constitution's socio-economic philosophy, aimed at preventing structural imbalances thereby ensuring that economic power is not disproportionately accumulated in the hands of a few, said the court. Upholding TRAI's law as a welfare measure, the high court said that any law enacted to give effect to the policy of the state towards securing the principles enshrined under directive principles shall not be deemed void on the ground of inconsistency with, or abridgment of, the rights conferred under Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution. 

 

The petitioners had said that the primary source of sustenance for channels was advertising revenue. However, an additional imposition of a uniform time ceiling of 12 minutes of advertisements per clock hour across all time slots adversely impacts the commercial speech guaranteed under the Constitution and their revenue. Tariff regulation and bouquet pricing already operate to safeguard consumer interest and further quantitative cap on advertisement time constitutes duplicative and excessive regulation, imposing an unjustified fetter on commercial speech, said the petitioners.

 

At 1349 IST, the shares of Sun TV Network Ltd. were down 1.4% at INR 505.80 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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