Union government assumes full control over TV ratings, TRAI role curtailed: Report
New Delhi: The Union government has assumed full control over television audience measurement, removing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from oversight of the ratings system that underpins the country’s ₹36,000 crore television advertising market, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report in Mint said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) now has exclusive authority over the framework governing how television ratings are measured and regulated. TRAI had been entrusted with oversight of TV ratings in 2012 during the UPA government’s tenure. TRAI is no longer mentioned in the relevant policy document, effectively vesting sole authority in the MIB.
The report said TRAI will continue to regulate other aspects of broadcasting, including channel pricing, advertising caps, interconnection and distribution norms, service quality and compliance standards. Its role in determining how ratings agencies track viewing behaviour has been withdrawn.
Television Rating Points (TRPs), which reflect viewership patterns, guide advertisers in deciding where to allocate spending across channels and time slots.
A government source quoted in the report said the ministry could modify TRAI’s decisions even when the regulator oversaw broadcasting.
A former CEO of Prasar Bharati told the newspaper that the MIB has historically regulated rating agencies through licensing and guidelines, and by holding them accountable under existing norms.
During its tenure overseeing ratings, TRAI had taken decisions affecting the broadcast sector, which included capping advertising time at 12 minutes per hour following complaints about excessive commercial breaks and it now remains unclear how these matters will be addressed under the revised arrangement.
Satya N. Gupta, former principal advisor at TRAI, was quoted as saying that merging regulatory functions with policy oversight and removing an independent regulator from the process was a retrograde step.
TRAI’s involvement in broadcasting had earlier attracted criticism as well. In 2012, its consultation paper on quantitative limits on television advertising was viewed by some as overlapping with the Advertising Standards Council of India’s code. Subsequent recommendations covering television audience measurement, ownership of news channels and issues such as paid news had also raised concerns among sections of the industry.
Television ratings have faced scrutiny in recent years, including during the controversy involving the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), where officials of the ratings body were prosecuted over allegations of manipulation of viewership data.
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Bengaluru: Techie duped of Rs 1.46 lakh in IPL ticket scam via Instagram
Bengaluru: A 25-year-old techie was cheated of Rs 1.46 lakh by a fraudster posing as an IPL ticket seller on Instagram, in a case reported from B Narayanapura.
According to a complaint filed at the Mahadevapura police station, the accused identified himself as Sumit Biswal, claiming to be a senior supervisor at the ticket counter of M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He assured the victim that he could arrange IPL tickets along with food coupons, Deccan Herald reported.
He also convinced the victim to transfer money in multiple UPI transactions from his account and his mother’s account.
Despite receiving the amount, the accused neither delivered the tickets nor refunded the money, police said.
The complainant said that the accused promised not just match tickets but ‘VIP benefits’ like food coupons and extra ID cards for friends for RCB vs CSK, scheduled for Sunday.
"He asked me to come near the stadium gate number 10, saying someone would deliver the tickets within minutes, and even sent an email confirmation to gain my trust," the victim said.
"Initially, I agreed to buy two tickets for Rs 3,700 each, but he kept asking for more money under various pretexts such as refundable security deposits, additional ID cards and food coupons. Trusting him, I made multiple payments, even using my mother’s bank account after exhausting my own limits, and ended up transferring around Rs 1.46 lakh," he said.
Police have registered a case and further investigation is underway.
