The Indian Broadcasting Federation (IBF) announced the step last week, two days after the 16 October launch date for the surcharge. A number of the country’s biggest advertisers, including Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, and Marico, withdrew their ads rather than pay the so-called “surcharge”.
While the IBF made a last-ditch offer to waive the surcharge for one month upon acceptance, advertisers - represented by the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) - held firm.
While the IBF claims the surcharge will still be levied on new advertising deals that take effect after 1 January, broadcasters such as BBC World, Turner and Discovery have refused to implement the advisory. The IBF’s exemption of non-AAAI members and Government advertisers led the ISA to label the surcharge “irrational” and threaten legal action.
In a statement, the IBF said it would call for an extraordinary general meeting soon to evolve a consensus approach to address the issue of fair value for advertising inventory in the market.
