The story below says that the I&B Ministry has sanctioned a proposal to allow political ads on radio.
The interesting thing is that political ads are banned under the general Broadcast Code of radio & TV, which says ""No advertisement shall be permitted, the objects whereof, are wholly or mainly of a religious or political nature; advertisements must not be directed towards any religious or political end." In 2004, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had struck down rule 7(3) of the Cable TV Act that bans political ads on TV, saying it was discriminatory and violative of the right to freedom of trade and business under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. If I remember, the Election Commission had then pointed out that the AP High Court's judgment does not strike down Rule 7(3) of the Cable TV Act, which they also extended to radio. The matter went to the Supreme Court, and sometime in April 2004, it was announced that political parties, contesting candidates or any other person could advertise on TV channels provided they got the ads cleared by the Election Commission. As far as I remember, the ban on political ads continued on radio (there was some case in Gujarat) on the grounds that radio could not be monitored as easily as TV. Now political ads have apparently been allowed on radio as well. This raises some interesting questions: 1. Does radio include Community Radio? I would assume it does. (As well as All India Radio, by the way, on which such ads are still banned under the AIR Code). 2. If so, does it mean we can now broadcast political ads but not political news? How about advertisements not-so-cunningly disguised as news? (Well, India's finest newspapers do it all the time). Hypothetically, a political party or 'any other person' could insert a 5 minute advertisement in a community radio programme that sounds suspiciously like political news -- which is illegal -- but is actually a political advertisement -- which is now apparently legal. We live in strange times. As the man said, you know the world is going crazy when a black man is the world's best golfer, a white guy is the best rapper, France accuses America of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war and - I should add - a black dude named Hussein is the next president of the US of A. Sajan * I&B Ministry nod to political advertising on radio; revenue impetus of Rs 150-200 cr expected*** November 07, 08, exchange4media.com Pallavi Goorha It is a windfall for radio players amid worries over the economic slowdown. Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma, who was recently given the additional charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), has sanctioned a proposal allowing radio players to air political ads. Senior sources close to the development have confirmed the news to exchange4media. They have also said that it would take a month for the political ads to begin airing on radio. This move is expected to boost radio revenues by at least 15 per cent to 20 per cent in the three months of campaigning. The sources informed that a formal notification on this was expected shortly. The advertising size of the Indian radio industry at present is gauged between Rs 750 crore and Rs 800 crore. Industry sources said that the radio industry would see an influx of anywhere between Rs 150 crore and Rs 200 crore in the radio medium with this move. As per the Code for Commercial Advertising on All India Radio dated April 13, 2004, advertisement of political nature was prohibited on All India Radio, which was also applicable to FM radio. As is known, a few radio stations had carried political ads in the recent past, which was objected to by the Election Commission. Following this, the radio industry had lobbied for allowing political ads.
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