New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has quickly reacted to the Advertising Standards Council of India’s (ASCI) recent move in regulating the fairness products with a guidelines on skin lightning and fairness ads, by issuing an advisory to the broadcasters not to carry the ads found violating the rules by Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
The advisory from information and broadcasting ministry states that non-compliance of ASCI’s code of self regulation was a violation of rule 7 (9) of the Advertising Code contained in the Cable Television Network Rules (1994) which states that ‘no advertisement which violates the code of self regulation in advertising, as adopted by ASCI for public exhibition in India, from time to time, shall be carried in the cable service.’ Therefore, the ASCI decisions are not just bound for compliance by advertisers but also by TV channels. Any violation of ASCI rules implies violation of the advertising code enshrined in the CTN Act 1995 and rules 1994.
This move will serve as a deterrent to such violating advertisements as the self regulatory mechanism will have a tooth of law to regulate the erring advertisers at some point of their move to mislead the audience, as the same can be restricted from reaching them by controlling it at telecast level.
Moreover, the Inter- Ministerial Committee (IMC) observed that ASCI has pointed to possible violation of the provision of drug and magic remedies (objectionable advertisements) Act 1954 and rules 1955. Therefore it has recommended that TV channels do not telecast such ads. The recommendation has already been accepted by MIB.
The Ministry also issued an Annexure with list of violating advertisers under the categories like Skin Fairness Products, Yantra and Black Magic Items, Magical Curing of Ailment Products, Mileage Plus, Hair Growth, Slimming and Weight Loss products, Anti Addiction products etc… with a detailed list of the kind of violation the ads had false fully depicted in their TVC.
