Bollywood movies and dramas are extremely popular in Pakistan.
Despite its huge audience for Bollywood dramas and movies, Pakistan has indicated that it could cut down on airtime for Indian television content. In the wake of strained relations between the two nations, Pakistan said how much Indian content it airs will depend on how much Pakistani content India is allowing.
The move by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority reverses a relaxation on the airing of popular Bollywood movies that had been in place since the days of former president Pervez Musharraf.
The announcement, made on Tuesday, comes amid the strain in India-Pakistan ties after the terror attack in Kashmir's Uri and India's surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
According to PEMRA rules, local channels can only show five per cent foreign content. But several Pakistani channels mostly rely on foreign content -- mostly from India, Turkey, the US and Europe.
It further said from October 15, the body will take action against airing of all "unauthorised" content and TV channels.
Last month, PEMRA said it would launch a crackdown on the illegal Indian Direct-to-Home and airing of excessive foreign content by TV channels and cable operators.
"Around 3 million Indian DTH decoders are being sold in the country," said PEMRA chairman Absar Alam. "We not only want this sale stopped but will also ask the relevant agencies to trace the money trail to determine the mode of payments made to Indian dealers selling these decoders to Pakistanis."
All stakeholders, including cable operators and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association, had been warned that steps will be taken soon against the airing of excessive foreign content, he said.