Complaints against 214 advertisements upheld in March

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on Monday said complaints against 214 out of 280 advertisements were upheld by the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) during March 2017.

According to the advertising industry's self-regulatory body, out of the 214 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 175 belonged to the healthcare category, 21 to education, followed by seven to food and beverages category and 11 to others.

In the healthcare products or services segment, complaints against Kolors Health Care India (Kolors Slimming and Beauty) and Ayurwin Pharmaceutical (Nutrigain plus Powder and Capsules) were upheld, ASCI said in a statement.

The statement said that in the education category, the CCC found that claims in advertisements by 21 different advertisers were not substantiated and violated ASCI Guidelines for Advertising of Educational Institutions.

The advertisements included Patel Group of Institutions' claim in the advertisement that it was "awarded for best infrastructure, best faculty, best results and best placements" and Frankfinn Aviation Services (Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training) advertisement's claim of being "the world's No.1".

"Also the claim, 'World's No.1 air hostess training institute', was not substantiated with any verifiable comparative data versus other similar institutes in the same category or any third-party validation or research, and is misleading by exaggeration," the statement added.

In food and beverages segment, complaints against A.V. Thomas and Co. (AVT Premium Tea and AVT Premium Select Tea), Apurva Organics (Chamong Green Tea) and Mahesh Edible Oil Industries (Saloni Mustard Oil) were maintained.

The statement added that complaints against advertisements from other categories included Bharti Airtel's advertisements of "free data for 12 months" and "free unlimited local + STD calls".

--IANS

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