Government bans surrogate advertising, rules against misleading ads

The government of India has announced a new set of guidelines to prevent misleading advertisements from going on air. The new guidelines prohibit surrogate advertising and want to bring in transparency in disclaimers in ads. Further, the types of ads that these guidelines address include those that target children, those that make free claims to woo consumers.

The guidelines have been notified by the consumer affairs ministry and that have come into force with immediate effect, also specify due diligence to be carried out while endorsing in advertisements.

According to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), action taken against those who violate the new guidelines includes a penalty of Rs. 10 lakh for the first offense and Rs. 50 lakh fine for subsequent offenses.

Announcing the guidelines, consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said “Advertisements have great interest for consumers. Under the CCPA Act, there are provisions to handle misleading advertisements affecting consumers rights. But to make it more explicit, clear and aware to the industry, the government has come out with guidelines for fair advertising with effect from today,” he said. The guidelines will be applicable to advertisements published on all platforms like print, television and online.

The advertising guidelines for self-regulation issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will also be in place in a parallel manner, he added.