Advertising Standards Council of India

Introduction

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), founded in 1985, is a self-regulatory non-governmental organisation in India that regulates the advertising business. It constitutes of members from India’s marketing, creative, media, and associated industries. ASCI is dedicated to the cause of advertising self-regulation, ensuring that consumers’ interests are protected. ASCI strives to guarantee that commercials adhere to its Code of Self-Regulation, which mandates that advertisements be lawful, decent, honest, and true, as well as not hazardous or destructive, while maintaining competitive fairness. ASCI investigates complaints in ALL MEDIA, including print, television, radio, billboards, SMS, emailers, the internet/website, product packaging, brochures, and promotional material. [1]

Objectives of ASCI

ASCI ensures that all advertising adheres to the four core ethical advertising codes:

• Honesty: Is the advertising deceptive to the public? ASCI is continually checking to see if the statements expressed in an advertisement are accurate.
• Adequacy: To ensure that advertising does not offend universally recognised public decency norms.
• Non-Detrimental: To protect against promoting situations or items that are deemed to be excessively harmful or hazardous to society.
• Fair in competition: To ensure that advertisements are not unfair or disparaging to competitors.[2]

Apart from these four core ethical codes, the other objectives of ASCI also include:

• To define, adopt, and change the code of advertising practises in India from time to time, as well as to execute, administer, promote, and publicise such a code.
• To establish facilities and apparatus in the form of one or more Consumer Complaints Councils, with such membership and powers as may be stipulated from time to time, to investigate and report on complaints about ads in accordance with the Code of Advertising Practices.
• To make the Code widely known and to encourage as many people involved in advertising as possible to follow it.
• To print and distribute pamphlets, leaflets, circulars, and other literature or material that may be regarded useful in promoting or carrying out the Company’s objectives, and to spread it through any means of communication.[3]

Consumers or organisations that see advertisements that violate these four rules can contact ASCI to file a complaint.[4]

Consumer Complaints Council

Any anyone who believes the advertisements are inaccurate, misleading, offensive, or unfair can file a complaint under the ASCI Code. The complaints are assessed by an impartial Consumer Complaints Council which consists of 21 members: 12 from the general public and 9 from the advertising industry. CCC handles three different sorts of complaints.

• General public complaints, such as those from government officials and consumer groups.
• Suo Motu complaints from members of the ASCI Board, CCC, or Secretariat; and
• Intra industry complaints, such as those from one advertiser against another.

Within 4 to 6 weeks, the CCC makes a decision on the complaints. The Consumer Complaints Council will study and investigate complaints received from customers and the general public, including Company members, regarding any infraction of the Code of Conduct and/or advertising ethics, and will make recommendations as to what action should be done.[5]

Powers of Consumer Complaints Council

1. The Board of Governors, Consumers, the general public, and Company members all have the right to file grievances with each Council.
2. Each Council shall investigate, investigate, and rule on complaints submitted within the parameters of the Company’s Code of Conduct.
3. Each Council’s decisions must be made by simple majority and in writing, and they must identify the action to be taken in response to the offending advertisement.[6]

Working of ASCI

Advertisers, advertising agencies, and others involved in the creation of advertisements, as well as the media, spread the word about ASCI’s Code and a sense of responsibility for its observance. ASCI encourages the public to COMPLAIN against advertisements with which they are dissatisfied for any reason, and ensures that each complaint is promptly and objectively considered by an impartial committee, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC), which considers the advertiser’s point of view, and that an appropriate decision is communicated to all parties involved. ASCI uses reasoned reasoning and the strength of public opinion to ensure that its judgments are followed. The ASCI and its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) are responsible for responding to consumer and industry complaints about advertisements that are false, misleading, indecent, illegal, lead to unsafe practises, or are unfair to competitors, and thus violate the ASCI code for self-regulation in advertising. If an ad is to be evaluated for its likely impact on the sensibilities of individual television viewers or newspaper readers, it must be communicated to the advertiser the major issues raised in the complaint, in the exact context of the specific ad, as conveyed by the complainant’s perception, and the appropriate response must be elicited in the form of comments from the advertiser. Only then will the ASCI’s CCC be able to meaningfully deliberate on the issues at hand, and reach a fair and objective conclusion that will withstand scrutiny by all parties concerned with the right to freedom of expression and the freedom of consumers to choose the products and services made available to them in the marketplace. A clearly readable copy or clipping of the ad under complaint, with full particulars of name and date of publication, or a printout of an ad or promotion on a website, or, in the case of a television commercial (TVC), the channel, date and time of airing, and a description of the contents of the TVC, are required, as well as a hard copy of the complete complaint, preferably signed.

In the interests of all those who rely on advertising as a commercial communication, the ASCI receives and processes complaints about ads from a wide range of consumers, the general public, and industry. This includes individuals, advertising practitioners, advertiser firms, media, ad agencies, and ancillary services related to advertising. ASCI does not reveal the identity of the complaint to the advertiser as a matter of policy. Over 80% of such commercials have been withdrawn or amended correctly by the advertisers or ad agency involved in complaints substantiated by the CCC in the last year, and the concerned media have also agreed that they will not broadcast such offending advertising/TVC.[7]

Statutes that Regulate the Advertisement

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1955 (“Act”), the Press Council of India Act, 1978 (“PCIA”), and the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2006 (“Rules”), among others, are the main legislations in India that regulate the content of advertisements to ensure that they do not offend consumers’ morality, decency, or religious sensitivities. The following are some of the most well-known, prohibitive legal rules that govern advertising:

• Obscene publication or advertisement of a lottery under the Indian Penal Code.
• Harmful publication under the Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act, 1956.
• The indecent representation of women under the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
• Use of report of test or analysis for advertising any drug or cosmetic under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
• Inviting transplantation of organs under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994.
• Advertisement of magical remedies of diseases and disorders under the Drugs and Magical Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements), Act, 1954.
• Advertisements related to prenatal determination of sex under the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994.
• Advertisements of cigarettes and other tobacco products under the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.
• Any political advertisement forty hours prior to polling time under the Representation of People Act, 1951.[8]

Other Projects

FSSAI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ASCI for the fiscal year 2016-17, which was later renewed with effect from February 13, 2018. ASCI has been given a suo moto monitoring mandate by FSSAI to examine complaints against misleading F&B commercials. They monitor incidences of misleading advertisements in the Food and Beverage industry (F&B) across various media. The MoU also mandates ASCI to report non-compliance with ASCI’s decisions to the FSSAI for further action, as required by the FSSAI Act.[9]

Conclusion

In India, there are currently a number of legislations in place to regulate the exhibition of vulgar and deceptive advertisements. However, it is fairly uncommon to come across commercials that are clearly deceptive and misleading, promoting questionable products and making unsupported promises. In actuality, the majority of these advertisements are ignored by consumers and go unnoticed by regulatory agencies. As a result, in order to implement the restrictions, regulators should take swift action against violators anytime an advertisement undermines public confidence. It is critical that ASCI be given a binding force to regulate all types of advertising modes, such as print, electronic, and so on, in the same way that television advertisements are already regulated. This will prevent newspapers and advertising agencies from breaking the law. With its content code, a method of broadcasting content certification, and harsh penalties for violations of its rules, the proposed Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, 2007, is intended to make a significant change in the regulating structure of advertising in India.

---

References:

[1] Advertising Standards Council of India, Asci.social ASCI.Social, https://asci.social/ (last visited Sep 14, 2021).

[2] Id

[3] Smriti Chand, Advertising standards Council of India (ASCI): Objectives and mission Your Article Library (2014), https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/advertising/advertising-standards-council-of-india-asci-objectives-and-mission/22490 (last visited Sep 14, 2021).

[4] The advertising Standards Council of INDIA (ASCI)BACK, The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) | Indian Broadcasting Foundation, https://www.ibfindia.com/advertising-standards-council-india-asci (last visited Sep 14, 2021).

[5] Consumer Complaints Council , Consumer Complaints Redressal Council (India) |, http://ccrc.in/about_us.php?id=1 (last visited Sep 14, 2021).

[6] Sunaina Kapoor & Neeraj Dubey, Regulating Advertisements in India PSA Legal, https://psalegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/TMT-Bulletin-Issue-III11062009042225PM.pdf (last visited Sep 14, 2021).

[7] Supra note 3

[8] Supra note 6

[9] FSSAI, https://fssai.gov.in/cms/advertising-standards-council-of-india-asci.php (last visited Sep 14, 2021).