Question : Misleading Advertisement

(a) whether the Government is aware of research data which suggests that a child by way of advertisements in television, print and online media watches about 8000 murder scenes before elementary school and 2,09,000 scenes of violence before turning 18;

(b) if so, the steps taken by the Government to ban such advertisements and programmes from being telecast/broadcast; and

(c) the action taken so far against celebrities for endorsing such misleading/vulgar/violent advertisements and others pertaining to alcohol consumption?

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE; AND MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a): All advertisements telecast on private satellite TV channels are regulated in accordance with the Advertising Code prescribed in Rule 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 enshrined in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The Rules inter alia provide that no advertisement shall be permitted which tends to incite people to crime, cause disorder or violence or breach of law or glorifies violence or obscenity in any way.

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(b): Appropriate action is taken as per Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 in case of violation of the said code.
As per the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the Department of Consumer Affairs runs an online portal “Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements” (GAMA) where consumers can file complaints for unfair trade practices, which includes misleading advertisements also.
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a voluntary self-regulatory organization, looks into all advertisement related complaints across media such as Print, TV, Radio, Hoardings, SMS, e-mailers, Internet/web-site, product packaging, brochures, promotional material and point of sale material, etc.

(c): The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has, in 2017, released a set of Guidelines of advertisements featuring celebrities. These Guidelines inter alia provide that advertisements featuring celebrities should not violate the advertisement code, celebrities should do due diligence to ensure that the advertisements are not misleading or deceptive, and that celebrities do not participate in advertisement of products which are prohibited for advertisement under law.
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