2025 has been a busy year for The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). Advertising regulation in India had to navigate the rapid evolution of AI-driven marketing and increasingly complex digital ecosystems. ASCI has responded by significantly strengthening monitoring systems and oversight mechanisms to keep pace with these changes. It has focussed on expanding partnerships with digital platforms, enhanced AI-powered ad scanning capabilities and processed record volumes of complaints while maintaining our commitment to swift resolution.
ASCI’s work on regulating betting, gambling and offshore betting advertisements has been particularly crucial, as it has worked closely with stakeholders to protect consumers from misleading claims in this high-risk category.
In 2026 ASCI will continue to lead the evolution of the Indian advertising industry. It is preparing for the next wave of AI applications in advertising, from generative content to targeting algorithms, ensuring that innovation and consumer trust go hand in hand. Our focus will remain proactive regulation, industry collaboration and creating frameworks that protect consumers while allowing creativity and business growth to flourish.
Medianews4u.com caught up with Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General and CEO, ASCI
Q. In 2026 ASCI’s focus will remain proactive regulation, industry collaboration and creating frameworks that protect consumers while allowing creativity and business growth to flourish. What would this entail?
In 2026, ASCI’s approach will focus on staying ahead of emerging risks by proactive surveillance, preparing for the next wave of AI-led advertising and strengthening collaboration with advertisers, agencies, platforms and regulators. Through research-led frameworks, industry consultations and policy dialogue platforms, ASCI will continue to balance innovation and creativity with the imperative of consumer trust and protection.
Q. How is AI helping ASCI with regulation?
ASCI is actively evaluating AI as a means to strengthen our work in the self- regulatory space. It can enable large-scale scanning of digital ads, early identification of violations, and faster prioritisation of high-risk categories. In 2025, ASCI strengthened its monitoring systems, including AI-enabled ad scanning. This allowed the organisation to review record volumes of digital advertising, with over 93% of violations identified through proactive monitoring (overall, not just through AI).
Q. ASCI has done a lot of work on regulating betting, gambling and offshore betting ads. Do you think the government did the right thing by banning RMG and does the challenge of regulating betting, gambling and offshore betting ads reduce as a result?
ASCI believes that clear regulation and ability to enforce are essential in high-risk categories. A high number of offshore and illegal betting advertisements continue to target Indian consumers despite bans, and therefore the challenge of regulating such advertising does not automatically diminish.
What has proven effective is coordinated and sustained action, combining proactive monitoring of digital platforms, rapid reporting of violations to statutory regulators and ongoing, often daily, takedowns. In this context, ASCI continues to play an important role in supporting government action and ensuring vigilance in the betting and gambling advertising ecosystem.
Q. Which are the key categories that had the most ad violations in 2025?
In data published in ASCI’s half-yearly complaints report (April to September 2025), offshore and illegal betting dominated violations, accounting for the largest share. This was followed by personal care, healthcare, food and beverages, and education.
Q. Does digital make the monitoring of ads a lot more complex?
Yes, digital advertising is high-volume, fast-moving and fragmented across platforms, formats and creators. With 97% of violations originating on digital media, monitoring requires advanced technology, platform partnerships and continuous vigilance. The scale and speed of digital advertising make proactive, tech-enabled surveillance essential.
Q. What steps will be taken in 2026 to boost proactive surveillance? Will AI help?
In 2026, ASCI will significantly strengthen its proactive surveillance framework by exploring the right AI tools and expanding collaborations with digital platforms. These systems will enable continuous, large-scale scanning of advertising content across formats and languages, allowing early identification of potentially misleading or non-compliant claims – particularly in high-risk categories such as health, financial services, gaming and influencer advertising.
AI can play a critical role in moving surveillance from reactive to predictive, helping flag emerging patterns, repeat violations and evolving risks in near real time. This will allow faster escalation, timely takedowns, and more targeted engagement with advertisers and platforms.
Q. Influencers not complying with ASCI’s guidelines in terms of paid disclosures are a growing issue. Are these guidelines especially crucial when it comes to finfluencers?
ASCI conducted its second dipstick study on Forbes India’s Top 100 Digital Stars 2024, who collectively command a following of over 110 million. The study revealed an increase in the number of influencers failing to disclose paid collaborations – 76% vs. 69% the previous year, resulting in non-compliance with both ASCI’s Influencer Advertising Guidelines and the Regulatory disclosure norms underlined by CCPA. These findings were published in our half-yearly report.
Disclosure norms are critical across all influencer categories, but they are especially vital for finfluencers and Health influencers because their advice can directly affect consumers’ financial or health conditions. Transparency ensures audiences understand commercial intent and can make informed choices. ASCI’s findings show that even top influencers often fail to meet disclosure requirements, and SEBI’s regulations restricting the use of trend data to promote specific scrips or funds highlight why clear disclosures are essential to prevent misleading advice, undue market influence, and the misuse of investor education as a cover for promotion.
Q. A few years back ASCI had launched a new digital campaign to tell consumers to not ignore misleading ads but to go ahead and register a complaint with ASCI. What marketing activities will ASCI be doing in 2026 to raise consumer awareness?
In 2026, ASCI will continue investing in consumer education through sustained digital outreach, partnerships and programmes like AdWise, which aims to reach one million schoolchildren by the end of 2026. AdWise is a national consumer education programme for school children launched in September, that is set to improve advertising literacy amongst children from Grades 3 to 8.
Overall, the focus will be on empowering consumers to recognise misleading ads, understand their rights and actively participate in advertising self-regulation. ASCI will continue its ongoing digital outreach efforts to educate consumers on identifying misleading advertisements and to use ASCI’s complaints mechanism.
Q. How frequently does ASCI convene meetings with stakeholders from broadcasters to advertisers and agencies to sort out issues?
Stakeholder engagement remains a continuous priority for ASCI. The organisation engages regularly with advertisers, agencies, platforms and other stakeholders through a mix of formal and informal discussions, issue-based consultations and structured platforms. These interactions help address concerns in a timely manner and support the collaborative development of responsible advertising practices across the ecosystem.
Q. Is surrogate advertising by liquor brands an issue?
Yes, surrogate advertising remains a concern, particularly where promotions seek to bypass legal restrictions. ASCI actively monitors such advertising, working within the existing self-regulatory and legal frameworks to curb misleading or prohibited promotions.
Q. Are false and misleading claims a big challenge in healthcare advertising? What should be the way forward?
Misleading claims in healthcare advertising remain a significant concern, particularly where advertisements violate the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act or make unsubstantiated claims that can impact consumer health and safety. ASCI addresses this through stringent scrutiny of health-related claims, proactive digital surveillance and fast-track processing in high-risk cases.
The way forward lies in stronger evidence-based advertising, sustained advertiser and influencer education, deterrence for repeat violators and close coordination with statutory regulators, ensuring timely enforcement and greater consumer protection.
Q. Should platforms bear responsibility for the ads they service?
Platforms play a critical gatekeeping role in today’s digital advertising ecosystem, given the scale and speed at which ads are disseminated online. While advertisers remain responsible for the claims they make, platforms must actively support compliance through better screening, faster takedowns of objectionable content and close cooperation with self-regulatory and statutory bodies.
Recognising this shared responsibility, ASCI had, for instance, issued an advisory in January in the context of LinkedIn, highlighting the role platforms must play in enabling compliant advertising, particularly around disclosure and transparency.
