Commercials again went on air on Indian television channels after a compromise was reached between broadcasters and advertising agencies.

The two sides were locked in disagreement over billing issues and commercials went off air on Wednesday and Thursday. The TV channels had dropped advertisements form advertisers who were not agreeing to move from a gross billing system to a net billing system. Arvind Sharma, president of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and chairman and chief executive officer (Indian subcontinent) of Leo Burnett said in a release that the interest of broadcasters and agencies will be protected.

The two sides have not announced the details of the new mechanism. The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) reached an agreement after a seven hour meeting that went on till 1am on 3 May, 2013. AAAI has said that it will urge the CBDT to clarify that broadcasters are not required to deduct TDS from agency commission as they do not pay the agency commission.

Arvind Sharma, president of AAAI said, “We are happy that we have resolved the impasse. Advertisers' spots will be back on air starting today. We ensured that both broadcasters' and agencies' business interests are protected. We are happy that the solution we have found will meet the needs of our member agencies in terms of their transactions with their clients.”