New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has restricted the self-declaration requirement to only the food and health sectors. Moreover, these sectors will now only need to submit the self-declaration certificate once a year. This directive was announced on July 3, 2024.
The directive read, “it is deemed appropriate to invoke the powers vested in this. Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for the enforcement of the fundamental right to health that encomposses the right ofa consumer to be made aware of the quality of products being offered for sale by manufacturers, service providers, advertisers and advertising agencies.”
Advertisers/advertising agencies issuing advertisements for products and services related to Food and Health sectors are advised to upload an annual self-declaration certificate and make available the proof of uploading the self-declaration to the concerned media stakeholders, such as TV channels, newspapers, entities involved in publishing of advertisements on the internet, etc. for the record.
The self-declaration shall be uploaded by the advertiser/advertising agency on the Broadcast Sewa Portal run under the aegis of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. As for the advertisements in the press/print Media/Internet, the Ministry is directed to create a dedicated portal within four weeks from today. Immediately on the porfal being activated, the advertisers shall upload a Self-declaration before any advertisement is issued in the Press/Print Media/Internet.
Previously, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had softened its strict ‘no-amendment’ position on the self-certificate requirement, showing a willingness to take advertisers’ concerns into account during the implementation phase.
During a meeting with industry stakeholders on June 25, the ministry announced the formation of a core committee to prepare its submission to the Supreme Court by July 9. The ministry assured that advertisers’ feedback would be included in the report.
