Complaints about misleading advertisements rose to 3,302 in 2017: Govt

The number of complaints relating to misleading advertisements rose in 2017 to 3,302 from 641 in 2015, according to official data.

In his written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said the Department of Consumer Affairs had informed that it has launched a portal -- Grievance Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA) -- to handle the complaints relating to misleading advertisements.

It has entered into an MoU with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a self-regulatory body of the advertisement industry, to process the complaints of misleading advertisements in print and electronic media, as received on the GAMA portal, he said.

The minister was replying to a question on whether the government has taken cognizance of the rise in misleading advertisements in television programmes in the country.

ASCI processes complaints as per its code and asks the companies concerned to modify or withdraw the advertisements found to be misleading.

The number of complaints received on GAMA portal over the last three years are -- 641 in 2015, 2,032 in 2016, 3,302 in 2017, Rathore said.

Advertisements telecast on private TV channels are required to adhere to the Advertising Code prescribed under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. As per existing regulatory framework, there is no pre-censorship on advertisements, he said.

Action is taken whenever a violation of the advertising code is brought to the notice of the ministry, Rathore said.

Rule 7 (5) of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, specifically provides, "No advertisement shall contain references which are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special or miraculous super natural property or quality, which is difficult of being proved", the minister said.

Ministry had constituted an inter-ministerial committee to take cognizance suo-moto or to look into specific complaints regarding content telecast on private TV channels including advertisements, he said.

To another question on whether surrogate advertisements of alcohol and tobacco brands were being shown on TV, Rathore said a directive was issued in June 2010 to all the TV channels to stop carrying any advertisements of a product that uses a brand or logo which is also used for cigarettes, tobacco products, wine alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants.

Responding to another written question on whether DTH operators in India were currently using foreign satellites for uplinking and downlinking signals, the minister said DTH operators were either operating on indigenous satellites built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) or operating on a capacity leased through ISRO.