ASCI working on new guidelines

Move comes after the Saradha scam, new guidelines are expected to be out in another month

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has started working on new guidelines for advertisements of any financial product. The new guidelines are expected to be out in another month, said a top official of ASCI.

“We want the advertisements to be honest and not misleading. We have invited suggestions from the European Advertising Standards Alliance in this regard,” said the official.

Currently, there are specific set of guidelines only for the food & beverage, automotive and education sector. Thousands of depositors lost their money in the Saradha scam and to prevent such incidents in future, ASCI has started working on new guidelines.

When contacted, ASCI chairman Arvind Sharma said this was something under review and the organisation would take necessary steps. Sharma, however, did not give any timeline.  

It is not only the Tollywood stars that are just associated with these companies but, there is a touch of Bollywood, as well. It is well known that around 30 per cent of the Tollywood movies are produced by these companies.

Harish Bijoor, chief executive officer of Harish Bijoor Consultants, said the prime motive of such chit fund companies is to get credibility by bringing stars with them. “Stars add to the credibility of a brand and give a boost to unknown companies such as the chit fund companies. Stars now must do the audit before signing on these brands because when a company like Saradha gets busted, it is the brand equity of stars which also gets dented,” he said.