The government has reiterated that advertisements claiming miraculous or supernatural properties for products are prohibited under the existing regulatory framework governing television advertising in India.
As per the Advertising Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the rules framed under it, all advertisements telecast on private satellite television channels have been required to comply with the code’s provisions. Rule 7(5) of the Advertising Code has stated that no advertisement should contain references likely to lead the public to infer that a product or any of its ingredients has special, miraculous or supernatural properties that are difficult to prove. The Ministry has taken appropriate action against private television channels when violations of the Advertising Code have been found and has issued advisories to broadcasters from time to time to ensure compliance.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has been established under Section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to regulate matters related to the violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and false or misleading advertisements, and to protect the rights of consumers as a class.
The CCPA has also issued the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 under Section 18 of the Consumer Protection Act. These guidelines have laid down conditions for non-misleading and valid advertisements, bait advertisements, prohibition of surrogate advertisements, advertisements targeted at children, and the use of disclaimers. The guidelines have also defined the duties of manufacturers, service providers, advertisers and advertising agencies.
Further, Clause 13 of the guidelines has stipulated due diligence requirements for endorsements. It has stated that any endorsement in an advertisement must reflect the genuine and reasonably current opinion of the individual, group or organisation making the representation. Such endorsements have been required to be based on adequate information about, or experience with, the identified goods, product or service and must not be deceptive. The guidelines have also stated that if Indian professionals are barred under any law from endorsing advertisements related to their profession, foreign professionals from the same field will also not be permitted to endorse such advertisements.
The information has been submitted in the Lok Sabha in a written reply by Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, to a question raised by Dr. M K Vishnu Prasad.
