DAVP barred 51 newspapers from getting govt ads for 2 months in Sept: Govt

The nodal agency for central government's advertisements, DAVP, had suspended the empanelment of 51 newspaper in September for two months, most of them for publishing paid news, Parliament was informed today.
As many as 37 newspapers were suspended from September 13, 2017 to November 12, 2017 for indulging in paid news, according to a list provided by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore in the Lok Sabha.
The other reasons for suspension included publishing false news, obscene photograph and 'inaccurate and disrespectful news reports'.
The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP)initiative came after the Press Council of India (PCI) censured these newspapers for indulging in paid news or for violation of various norms of journalistic conduct, the minister said.

He said the 51 newspapers were suspended on September 13, 2017, disqualifying them from getting government advertisement for two months from September 13, 2017 to November 12, 2017.
To another query, Rathore said Grievance Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA), a portal launched by Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) to handle complaints regarding misleading advertisements, has received 3,302 complaints in 2017.
The portal had received 2,032 complaints against misleading advertisements in 2016 and 641 in 2015.
DCA, a department under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a self-regulatory body on advertisement industry, to process the complaints received on GAMA portal.