The 10-page document was signed by Mr Kunal Dasgupta, treasurer of IBF and Mr Ramesh Narayan, president of AAAI, here.

Announcing the agreement, Mr Narayan said: "This is an institution-to-institution agreement rather than an institution-to-individual agency agreement. We are now getting into a win-win phase of agency-media relations."

According to Mr Narayan, it's for the first time that two industry bodies representing TV broadcasters and advertising agencies have inked an agreement of this stature. As per the agreement, all AAAI and IBF members will get automatic benefits enshrined in the agreement. Also, AAAI members will guarantee payments to channels within a specific credit period.

Highlighting the significance of this agreement, Mr Dasgupta, who is also chief executive officer of Sony Entertainment Television, said: "To IBF, this is an important step in dealing fairly with our important constituent of our business. We look forward to working with AAAI on many issues governing our industry's prospects."

Realising the crying need for a common platform to address issues, the two major industries such as boradcasting and advertising have come together, informed Mr Dasgupta. "The need stems out of the sheer size of our business worth over Rs 3,000 crore. We worked on this initiative for many months," added Mr Dasgupta.

According to Mr Sam Balsara of AAAI, the Indian advertising industry has registered a growth rate of 20 per cent in the year 2000. "And TV accounts for 40 per cent of the total ad-spend in the country. With 85 agency members, AAAI contributes about 80 per cent of the advertising in the electronic media. Which is why it's ideal that we come together and play by a set of rules.".

IBF consists of 29 members, who are major broadcasters and airtime sellers in India.