16-hour-long raids on ad agencies and industry bodies fuel speculation

New Delhi: The raids at the premises of top global advertising agencies in Mumbai and Delhi, along with the offices of IBDF and ISA, continued until the early hours of Wednesday.

Sources told BestMediaInfo.com that law enforcement officials conducted searches at the offices of GroupM, IPG Mediabrands, Dentsu, and Publicis for over 16 hours, concluding around 4 a.m. on Wednesday.

The searches, conducted on behalf of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over alleged price collusion, have also concluded at the offices of IBDF.

When contacted, CCI officials declined to comment on the raids until the investigation is complete.

Multiple sources from the agency side remained unclear about the exact purpose of the searches but expressed confidence that nothing would come of it, asserting they had done nothing wrong.

However, the raids, occurring just three days before the IPL, are set to disrupt advertising deals currently under negotiation.

At least three sources from the agency and broadcast sides told BestMediaInfo.com that while the raids might delay the onboarding of clients, there would be minimal impact on overall advertising for the tournament.

“It has never been the case that all advertisers start advertising on the IPL from day one. Barring large sponsors committed for the entire tournament, most advertisers enter the game based on performance. Will the raids be a deterrent? No. Will they cause disruption? It’s obvious,” said a source.

In response to a query about the purpose of the raids, a senior executive at a media agency said, “There are several speculations surrounding the raids, but people are relying on guesswork at best. Let us wait until we understand the matter fully.”