Author: Atul Bhatt
Annual Complaints Report 2023-24 by Advertisement Standard Council of India (ASCI), is a report published in May 2024 by the Indian ad-watchdog ASCI, based on their internal monitoring system and complaints received from the public between April 2023 to March 2024. The Report highlights the trend pertaining to misleading advertisement across various sectors in India.
The Report states that ASCI received more than 10,000 complaints out of which 8,299 were analyzed. The Report flags that 81% of the overall advertisements were making misleading claims and 98% of them required some modifications as per the ASCI Code. ASCI observed that the compliance rate is low in digital ad-space (75%) in contrast to traditional print-media and TV (97%).
The Report observed that 99% of the promotions done by influencers were found to be in violation of the Influencer Guidelines, whereas 91% of the promotions done by celebrities were found to be in violation of the Celebrity Guidelines. The most misleading claims were made regarding ‘personal care’, food & beverage’ and ‘fashion & lifestyle’ products.
The most violative sector is “Healthcare” (19%) where majority of the stakeholders violated Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954 which prohibits advertisement of a certain category of drugs for treating certain diseases/ disorders. This is followed by “offshore betting ads” (17%) that are maintained by foreign entities in India and are promoted by prominent Indian celebrities. “Personal care” (13%) continues to be in the top-3 list for the third consecutive year often involving influencer non-disclosure. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the “Ed-tech” sector is also on the rise, exploiting the vulnerabilities of parents and students. “Baby care” for the first time made it to the list of top-10 violators as parents are now becoming more aware about the products to be applied on their wards.
The Report highlights that tracking ads on the digital space is a tedious task as thousands of misleading ads are created every single day. However, ASCI has a vigilant screening team that scrutinizes violations using advanced online monitoring systems like ad-libraries. In addition, ASCI’s digital suo-moto initiative specifically targets misleading claims made on OTT-platforms, green-washing etc. Complaints can be lodged by the public, Industries, Consumer organizations and Govt-bodies by providing basic information via WhatsApp or on ASCI’s website. The average time taken by ASCI to adjudicate a complaint is 15 working days. The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) comprising of 40 professionals review complaints weekly and any appeal from CCC is handled by four retired High-Court judges. Owing to the robust mechanism the overall compliance rate has improved.
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