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Tag: DoCA

  • CCPA and ASCI join hands to strengthen Advertising Regulation in India

    CCPA and ASCI join hands to strengthen Advertising Regulation in India

    Mumbai: The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) and The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) both operate with a mutual goal of protecting consumer interests. This objective is central to the missions of both ASCI and the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) when it comes to the issue of misleading advertisements.

    It is noteworthy that ASCI’s code and associated guidelines in the area of advertising are harmonious with several guidelines enforced by the Central Consumer Protection

    Authority. These encompass guidelines concerning misleading advertisements, dark

    patterns, influencer guidelines, coaching institutes, greenwashing and more.  In light of this alignment, the CCPA has recognized that any violation of ASCI’s code pertaining to misleading advertisements may potentially contravene the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 and its related guidelines.

    Therefore, the CCPA has requested ASCI to forward any advertisement that is non-compliant with the ASCI Code and could potentially violate the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, along with its accompanying guidelines, to CCPA for appropriate action. Any such case escalated by ASCI concerning misleading advertisements will be promptly addressed and handled in strict accordance with the Consumer Protection Act 2019 by the CCPA.

    This collaboration comes amidst the growing complexity of the advertising landscape, especially with respect to digital advertising. Commenting on this development, Shri Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary DoCA said, “The alignment between ASCI’s code and CCPA’s guidelines highlights a collective effort towards promoting transparency and fairness in advertising. With similar objectives, CCPA and ASCI can work in complementary ways to ensure that any infringements are addressed effectively. New challenges are being created by digital advertising, and keeping pace demands a collaborative approach with like-minded bodies.  Regulators working closely with self-regulators is an established best practice, and we hope that with this partnership, the regulation of Indian advertising keeps getting more effective. Where voluntary compliance with the CCPA guidelines is not forthcoming, or in the case of repeat offenders, the CCPA has the power to impose fines and penalties. We will not shy away from enforcing the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act as needed.”

    ASCI CEO and secretary-general Manisha Kapoor said, “We have been working closely with DoCA and CCPA on several issues, and we are truly delighted to deepen this relationship.  ASCI has deep expertise and specialization in advertising regulation and we thank CCPA and DoCA for their trust and their collaborative approach. A robust self-regulatory system helps all stakeholders and this partnership is a positive step in taking self-regulation to the next level.”

    DoCA and ASCI have, in recent times, held joint consultations and collaborations on several issues surrounding advertising such as Influencer Guidelines, Greenwashing, Dark Patterns and Surrogate Advertising, creating greater dialogue and alignment between industry, civil society and regulators. Advertising self-regulators around the world work closely with governments in models of co-regulation in formal and informal ways. Given the complex nature of advertising today and the borderless nature of the online space, issues like disguised advertising, deepfakes and scams are coming to the fore, such partnerships gain significance in effective advertising regulation.

  • ASCI reports 732 complaints of misleading AYUSH ads

    ASCI reports 732 complaints of misleading AYUSH ads

    MUMBAI: Ministry of AYUSH had signed a memorandum of understanding with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), for suo moto monitoring of Ayush advertisements appearing in print and TV media and reported 732 complaints in the period 20 January 2017 to 19 January 2018. The ministry has been receiving written and online complaints of misleading advertisements of Ayush medicines including herbal medicines/products.

    Six states/UTs including Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka and Chandigarh have reported 573 instances of such misleading advertisement during the last three years, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

    Such complaints are also registered in the GAMA (Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements) portal maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA). About 809 complaints of advertisements pertaining to Ayush and herbal medicines/products have been received during the period from April 2015 to March 2018.

    The provisions of Rule 158-B of the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, 1945 provide for pilot studies for generating proof of safety and effectiveness for grant of licence to manufacture for sale certain categories of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani drugs. As such the terms ‘herbal medicines’ and ‘clinical trials’ are not provided or prescribed in the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules thereunder pertaining to ASU drugs but certain complaints received in the Ministry referred to these aspects.  

    Two incidents of death have come to the notice of Ministry of AYUSH after consuming herbal medicines/products, one in Tamil Nadu and one in Kerala.

    In order to check the veracity of misleading advertisements and claims of AYUSH products, the government has taken following steps-

    I. State governments have been directed for appointing Gazetted Officers under section 8 (1) of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 to  enter, search any premises  or examine or seize any record which contravenes any provisions of the Act. About 621 Gazetted officers for this purpose are reported to have been appointed in 22 states. 

    II. Complaints of misleading advertisements of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathic medicines are forwarded to the concerned State Licensing Authorities for action in accordance with the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules thereunder and Drugs & Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder. Out of the 809 complaints reflected on GAMA portal, about 274 complaints have been resolved and 585 complaints forwarded to concerned state authorities for appropriate action in accordance with the legal provisions. States have reported action taken by them against the defaulters.

    III. Ministry of AYUSH signed MoU with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to undertake monitoring of the misleading AYUSH –related advertisements appearing in print and TV media and bring the instances of improper advertisements to the notice of the State Regulatory Authorities for taking necessary action. ASCI reported that 233 alleged advertisements were rectified or withdrawn by the advertisers and about 456 complaints were escalated to the state regulators for appropriate action.

    IV. On the request of Ministry of AYUSH, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting issued an advisory to all media channels to ensure strict compliance of the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs & Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 in respect of AYUSH health products/drugs being advertised. TV channels have been advised to advertise only those AYUSH products, which have valid manufacturing license.

    V. Provision of surveillance of AYUSH advertisements has been kept in the central scheme implemented for safety monitoring of ayurvedic, siddha, unani and homeopathy drugs under the pharmavigilance initiative. 

  • 1000+ complaints of misleading ads on DoCA portal in 2015-16

    1000+ complaints of misleading ads on DoCA portal in 2015-16

    NEW DELHI: A total of 1046 complaints have been received in the past one year between March 2015 and 31 March 2016 on the portal Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA) set up by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA).

    After preliminary scrutiny of the grievances registered on the portal, the grievances are forwarded to the state government concerned or the respective central regulator as the case may be.

    Of these, complaints relating to 363 were successfully resolved, 234 were rejected, 41 are in process with the Advertising Standards Council of India and 391 have been given to the regulator to intervene. In addition, 17 have been given to the Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee of the (DoCA).

    The DoCA last year appointed the Advertising Standards Council of India as its executive arm to process complaints received on the GAMA (Grievance against Misleading Advertisements) portal.

    The Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee which is headed by Additional Secretary in DoCA consists of members from Bureau of India Standards; the Information & Broadcasting, and Health Ministries; Press Council of India; ASCI; Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; Centre for Consumer Studies (Indian Institute of Public Administration); two representatives on rotation basis from NGOs/VCOs and Industrial/ Business/ Trade Bodies and Central Consumer Protection Council etc.  

    DoCA sources who told indiantelevision.com that a large number of misleading advertisements appear in various media, said the Consumer Protection Act 1986 is being amended for which the Consumer Protection Bill 2015 has been introduced in Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to provide for a Central Consumer Protection Authority, the objective of which is to protect and enforce the rights of the consumers, to prevent unfair trade practices and to ensure that no advertisement is made for any goods or services which is misleading or deceiving or contravenes the provisions of the Act and rules made thereunder

    Section 2 (1) (r) of the existing Act provides that the practice of making any statement, whether orally or in writing or by visible representation which falsely represents that the goods are of a particular standard, quality, quantity, grade, composition style or model; falsely represents that the services are of a particular standard, quality or grade, falls under unfair trade practices.

    A consumer can make a complaint against unfair trade practice in a Consumer Forum established under the Act. If the complaint is upheld by a Consumer Forum, it can order for removal of the defect pointed out, replacing the goods with new goods free from any defect, issuance of corrective advertisement to neutralize the effect of misleading advertisement at the cost of the opposite party responsible for issuing such misleading dvertisement, etc.

    Meanwhile, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry received six complaints in 2013 and 2014 and none in 2015 or the current year until April against private satellite television channels.

    In most cases, I and B sources said the matter was referred to ASCI which had the advertisements removed while in two cases the Ministry gave a general directive to all channels.

    All advertisements telecast on TV channels are regulated in accordance with the Advertising Code available on Ministry’s website mib.nic.in. Rule 7 (5) of the Advertising Code provides that no advertisement shall contain references which are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special or miraculous or super-natural property or quality, which is difficult of being proved.

    The I and B Ministry had constituted an Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary and comprising of officers drawn from various ministries such as Consumer Affairs, Home Affairs, Law & Justice, Women & Child Development, Health & Family Welfare, External Affairs, Defence and including a representative from the ASCI, to take cognizance sou-motu or look into specific complaints regarding violation of the Programme Code and Advertising Code. The IMC functions in a recommendatory capacity.

    The final decision regarding penalties and its quantum is taken on the basis of the recommendations of IMC. The Ministry generally issues warnings or advisories to comply with the Programme/Advertising Codes or asks the channels to scroll apologies on their channel. Occasionally, the channels are also taken off air either temporarily for a limited period depending on the gravity of the violation. A list showing details of action taken against TV channels for telecasting advertisements in violation of Rule 7(5) regarding misleading advertisements is at Annexure-II.

    Meanwhile, the ASCI received a total of 525 complaints against misleading advertising content on the electronic media between 2013 and 2016. Rule 7(9) of the Advertising Code provides that no Advertisement which violates the Code for self-regulation in advertising, as adopted by the ASCI Mumbai for public exhibition in India, from time to time, shall be carried in the cable service.

    While 187 complaints were received in 2013-2014, the number went up to 203 in 2014-2015 but fell to 135 in 2015-2016.

  • 1000+ complaints of misleading ads on DoCA portal in 2015-16

    1000+ complaints of misleading ads on DoCA portal in 2015-16

    NEW DELHI: A total of 1046 complaints have been received in the past one year between March 2015 and 31 March 2016 on the portal Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA) set up by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA).

    After preliminary scrutiny of the grievances registered on the portal, the grievances are forwarded to the state government concerned or the respective central regulator as the case may be.

    Of these, complaints relating to 363 were successfully resolved, 234 were rejected, 41 are in process with the Advertising Standards Council of India and 391 have been given to the regulator to intervene. In addition, 17 have been given to the Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee of the (DoCA).

    The DoCA last year appointed the Advertising Standards Council of India as its executive arm to process complaints received on the GAMA (Grievance against Misleading Advertisements) portal.

    The Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee which is headed by Additional Secretary in DoCA consists of members from Bureau of India Standards; the Information & Broadcasting, and Health Ministries; Press Council of India; ASCI; Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; Centre for Consumer Studies (Indian Institute of Public Administration); two representatives on rotation basis from NGOs/VCOs and Industrial/ Business/ Trade Bodies and Central Consumer Protection Council etc.  

    DoCA sources who told indiantelevision.com that a large number of misleading advertisements appear in various media, said the Consumer Protection Act 1986 is being amended for which the Consumer Protection Bill 2015 has been introduced in Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to provide for a Central Consumer Protection Authority, the objective of which is to protect and enforce the rights of the consumers, to prevent unfair trade practices and to ensure that no advertisement is made for any goods or services which is misleading or deceiving or contravenes the provisions of the Act and rules made thereunder

    Section 2 (1) (r) of the existing Act provides that the practice of making any statement, whether orally or in writing or by visible representation which falsely represents that the goods are of a particular standard, quality, quantity, grade, composition style or model; falsely represents that the services are of a particular standard, quality or grade, falls under unfair trade practices.

    A consumer can make a complaint against unfair trade practice in a Consumer Forum established under the Act. If the complaint is upheld by a Consumer Forum, it can order for removal of the defect pointed out, replacing the goods with new goods free from any defect, issuance of corrective advertisement to neutralize the effect of misleading advertisement at the cost of the opposite party responsible for issuing such misleading dvertisement, etc.

    Meanwhile, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry received six complaints in 2013 and 2014 and none in 2015 or the current year until April against private satellite television channels.

    In most cases, I and B sources said the matter was referred to ASCI which had the advertisements removed while in two cases the Ministry gave a general directive to all channels.

    All advertisements telecast on TV channels are regulated in accordance with the Advertising Code available on Ministry’s website mib.nic.in. Rule 7 (5) of the Advertising Code provides that no advertisement shall contain references which are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special or miraculous or super-natural property or quality, which is difficult of being proved.

    The I and B Ministry had constituted an Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary and comprising of officers drawn from various ministries such as Consumer Affairs, Home Affairs, Law & Justice, Women & Child Development, Health & Family Welfare, External Affairs, Defence and including a representative from the ASCI, to take cognizance sou-motu or look into specific complaints regarding violation of the Programme Code and Advertising Code. The IMC functions in a recommendatory capacity.

    The final decision regarding penalties and its quantum is taken on the basis of the recommendations of IMC. The Ministry generally issues warnings or advisories to comply with the Programme/Advertising Codes or asks the channels to scroll apologies on their channel. Occasionally, the channels are also taken off air either temporarily for a limited period depending on the gravity of the violation. A list showing details of action taken against TV channels for telecasting advertisements in violation of Rule 7(5) regarding misleading advertisements is at Annexure-II.

    Meanwhile, the ASCI received a total of 525 complaints against misleading advertising content on the electronic media between 2013 and 2016. Rule 7(9) of the Advertising Code provides that no Advertisement which violates the Code for self-regulation in advertising, as adopted by the ASCI Mumbai for public exhibition in India, from time to time, shall be carried in the cable service.

    While 187 complaints were received in 2013-2014, the number went up to 203 in 2014-2015 but fell to 135 in 2015-2016.

  • Dept. of Consumer Affairs and ASCI join hands

    Dept. of Consumer Affairs and ASCI join hands

    MUMBAI: Strengthening its mission towards self-regulation in advertising, Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, has partnered with Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) to augment the efforts on stopping misleading advertisements.

     

    The collaboration will see joint efforts to evaluate and pass strictures against the violators. The six priority sectors that would be covered are: agriculture and food, health, education, housing, financial services and e-commerce.

     

    DoCA will redirect the complaints received by it to ASCI to avoid duplication of processing of complaints against advertisements that is already under process by ASCI. The complaints will be evaluated across media like print, packaging, internet, outdoor, wall paintings, posters, bill boards, etc.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, DoCA additional secretary G Gurucharan said, “The problem of misleading advertisements and the consequent unfair trade practices that arise is widespread – across sectors, mediums and geographies.  DoCA’s effort is to build a coalition of stakeholders to combat this menace – partnering with ASCI is an important step.”

     

    ASCI chairman Narendra Ambwani added, “It’s a moment of pride for ASCI to have received such support from DoCA. Earlier our work has been recognised by various government bodies like Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Medical Council of India (MCI) etc. It’s highly motivating to see such developments and this partnership has widened ASCI’s scope for complaints.”

     

    While the operational aspects of this collaboration between DoCA and ASCI is being worked upon, DoCA has requested ASCI to flag off  advertisements that are in clear violation of the law (e.g. claims regarding cure of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, sexual impotence, leucoderma (white spots), paralysis etc. covered under the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act). This would enable prompt action against such non-scrupulous advertisers and protect consumer interest.