The Advertising Standards Council of India - October 28th, 2010

The Advertising Standards Council of India

Advertising Standards Council of India is a self regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry.
The Role and Functioning of the ASCI and its Consumer Complaint Council (CCC) in dealing with Complaints
received from Consumers and Industry, against Advertisements which are considered as false, misleading,
indecent, illegal, leading to unsafe practices, or unfair to competition, and consequently in contravention of
the ASCI Code for Self Regulation in Advertising.
The Advertising Standards Council of India (1985) has adopted a Code for Self Regulation in Advertising. It
is a commitment to honest advertising and to fair competition in the market place. It stands for the
protection of the legitimate interests of consumers and all concerned with advertising advertisers, media,
advertising agencies and others who help in the creation or placement of advertising.
As the Code becomes increasingly accepted and observed proactively, three things will begin to happen.
1. Fewer false, misleading claims
2. Fewer unfair advertisements
3. Increasing respectability
In India, as in several advanced economics, there is only ONE BODY for Self Regulation in Advertising the
ASCI, which is concerned with safeguarding the interests of consumers whilst monitoring / guiding the
commercial communications of Practitioners in Advertising on behalf of advertisers, for advertisements
carried by the Media, in their endeavors to influence buying decisions of the Consuming Public.
ASCIs Mission
ASCI has one important goal: to maintain and enhance the publics confidence in advertising. ASCI seeks to
ensure that advertisements conform to its Code for Self Regulation which requires advertisements to be:
1. Truthful and fair to consumers and competitors
2. Within the bounds of generally accepted standards of public decency and propriety
3. Not used indiscriminately for the promotion of products, hazardous or harmful to society or to individuals
particularly minors, to a degree unacceptable to society at large
ASCI propagates its CODE and a sense of responsibility for its observance amongst advertisers, advertising
agencies and other connected with the creation of advertising.
ASCI encourages the public to COMPLAIN (*) against advertisements with which they may be unhappy for
any reason and ensures that each complaint receives a prompt and objective consideration by an impartial
committee (CCC) which takes into account the view point of the advertise, and an appropriate decision is
communicated to all concerned.
ASCI endeavors to achieve compliance with its decisions through reasoned persuasion and the power of
public opinion. If an AD is to be reviewed for its likely impact on the sensibilities of individual viewers of TV,
or readers of press publications, the Advertisers concerned is informed of substantial issues raised in the
complaint, in the exact context of the specific advertisement, as conveyed by the perception of the
complainant, and to elicit the appropriate response by way of comments from the Advertiser.
Only then will the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) of the ASCI be in a position to deliberate
meaningfully on the issues involved and to arrive at a fair and objective conclusion, which would stand the
scrutiny of all concerned with the right to freedom of expression, and the freedom of consumers to choose
the products / services made available to them in the market-place.
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 case of a TV commercial, the channel,
date and time or programme of airing, and a description of the contents of the TVC, along with a hard copy
of the complete complaint preferably signed by the complaint. The identity of the complaint to the Advertiser
is not disclosed.

The Code of Advertising Practices

To ensure the truthfulness and honesty of representations and claims made:
1. Advertisements must be truthful.
2. Where advertising claims are expressly stated to be based on or supported by independent research or
assessment, the source and date of this should be indicated in the advertisement.
3. Advertisements should not contain any reference to any person, without due permission.
4. Advertisements shall not distort facts nor mislead the consumer by means of implications or omissions.
5. To ensure that advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards of Public Decency.
6. To safeguard against the indiscriminate use of Advertising products hazardous to society
7. No advertisement shall be permitted which:
a) Tends to incite people to crime or to promote disorder and violence or intolerance
b) Derides any race, caste, colour, creed or nationality
8. Advertisements addressed to children shall not contain anything, whether in illustrations or otherwise,
which might result in their physical, mental or moral harm or which exploits their vulnerability.
9. Ads should not show children climbing or reaching dangerously to reach products or for any other
purpose.
10. Advertisements should contain nothing which is in breach of the law, or omit anything which the law
requires.

Social, Ethical and Legal Aspect of Advertising,

Legal Aspects of Advertising
Unfortunately despite several laws meant to protect consumers against such unfair trade
practices, false and misleading advertisements continue to exploit the consumer. A number
of institutions are involved in regulating advertising. These are:
1. Self regulation by the industry
2. Regulation by the Government

In India the government assumes the role of regulating the business activity by bringing a
number of laws, regulations and codes. The following laws have been enacted by the
government, which contain provisions that regulate advertising in India.
These laws can be divided into two categories.
I. Laws having horizontal application on advertising
II. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
III. The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950
IV. Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958.
V. Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995
VI. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
VII. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969.
VIII. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
IX. Laws having vertical application on advertising
X. Section 58 Companies Act, 1956
XI. Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
XII. Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.
XIII. Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994.
XIV. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954/ Food Safety and Standards Act, 2005.
XV. Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.
XVI. Prize Competition Act, 1955
XVII. The Infant Milk Substitute, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of
Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992 and Amendment Act, 2002.
XVIII. Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994
XIX. The Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act, 1956
XX. The following Regulatory authorities have power to regulate advertising in their
respective domain.

o Insurance Regulatory Development Authority

o Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
o Securities and Exchange Board of India
o Reserve Bank of India
o Medical Council of India
Some of the important features of various laws concerning advertising are:
1. The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954
prohibits advertisements for products and services claiming to cure certain medical
conditions. As per the law, no advertisement should promise magical cure for any ailments
or disease and the rules specify the diseases and ailments that cannot be advertised
promising cure or remedies. However, the enforcement of the Act by the state authorities is
poor because one finds a number of advertisements in the print media. The Act also does
not cover advertisements that appear in various media pertaining to health gadgets of
unproven efficacy, like tummy trimmers, bands for blood pressure control, and gadgets to
increase height. This Act does not provide for issuing corrective advertisements.
2. The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practice act, 1969: It had been the most
effective Act in the eighties and nineties to regulate undesirable advertising. In the year
1984, the government brought, through an amendment, "unfair trade practices" under the
purview of the MRTP Commission and the Office of the Director General (Investigation and
Registration). However, this Act is being replaced by the Competition Act, 2002 but the
cases pending under the MRTP Commission are still being heard. Moreover, a Competition
Commission has been set up under the Competition Act to deal with monopolies and
restrictive trade practices. The complaints pertaining to unfair trade practices are still being
handled by the MRTP Commission or the consumer courts. The MRTP Act has been very
effective in hauling a number of advertisers to stop advertisements which are prejudicial to
consumer interest through its 'cease and desist orders'.
3. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986: The Consumer Protection Act, 1986, applies to
advertisements for all products in the market place. A consumer may file a complaint
related to false and misleading advertisements, which are included under the definition of
unfair trade practice (Section 2 (r) The law mentions seven classes of unfair trade practices
in six subsections of this section of the law. The consumer courts can however, take the
following actions under section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986:
" Issue interim orders stopping such advertisements pending disposal
" To pass cease and desist orders.
" Award compensation for loss or suffering, punitive damages and cost of litigation to the

affected party.
" Direct the advertiser to issue corrective advertisement
4. Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995: This law lays down the
procedure for registration of a cable television network and also regulates the programmes
and advertisements transmitted on cable network in India. The registering authority is the
Head Post Master of a Head Post Office of the area within whose territorial jurisdiction the
office of the cable operator is situated.
5. Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
This law regulates the production, manufacture and sale of all drugs and cosmetics in the
country. The Act prescribes a fine of up to Rs. 500 for any person using any report or
extract of report of a test or analysis made by the Central Drugs Laboratory or a
government analyst for advertising of a drug or cosmetic.
6. Section 292 and Section 293 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, prohibits the
dissemination of any obscene matter. The Indian Post Office Act, 1898, imposes a similar
prohibition on the transmission of obscene matter through the post. The Customs Act, 1962,
allows the detention and seizure of any obscene matter sought to be imported into the
country.
7. The Children's Act, 1960, prohibits the disclosure of names and address and other
particulars of any child involved in any proceedings.
8. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 forbids the
depiction of women in an indecent or derogatory manner in the mass media. No person
shall publish, or cause to be published, or arrange or take part in the publication or
exhibition of, any advertisement which contains indecent representation of women in any
form.
9. The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, prohibits the
use by any private party of certain names, emblems, etc.
10. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988: This law affects outdoor advertisements, like bill boards,
posters, neon signs, etc. The Act, grants powers to remove such advertisements which may
distract drivers and have the potential of causing road accidents.

Self regulation by the advertising industry

With the increasing criticism of advertising, advertisers have devised self regulation to
ensure true and accurate messages. Moreover, with the advent of new communication and
information technologies, the national policy makers have also become less willing and less
able to intervene. Since print and audio-visual media exercise the essential freedom of
speech and they are financed by advertising revenues, media has always resisted curbs

thereby constraining the capacity of national governments to influence media. Further, the
business also realizes that the long term profitability of the organisation depends upon
acting responsibly.
Agencies involved in self regulation
A number of agencies are involved. These can be classified into the following:
" Advertising trade associations
o Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
o Advertising Association of India (AAAI)
o Press Council of India
o Prasar Bharti
" Individual media and media groups
o Code for commercial advertising on Doordarshan
o All India Radio Code for commercial advertising
ASCI's code of Self Regulation says: "Advertisements should be truthful and fair to
consumers and competitors within the bounds of generally accepted standards of public
decency and propriety. Not used indiscriminately for the promotion of products, hazardous
or harmful to society or to individuals particularly minors, to a degree unacceptable to
society at large".
Unfortunately despite several laws meant to protect consumers against such unfair trade
practices, false and misleading advertisements continue to exploit the consumer. Outdated
laws, poor enforcement of them are some of the lacunas in order to control advertising. The
need of the hour is better laws in keeping with the times, better enforcement, corrective
advertisements, better self-regulation by industry independent regulator to regulate health
and children -related advertisements.

Social and Economical Aspects of

Advertising
Economic role of Advertising
Value of Products:

The advertised products are not always the best products in the market. There are some

unadvertised products also present which are good enough. But advertising helps increase value
for the products by showing the positive image of the product which in turn helps convincing
customers to buy it. Advertising educates consumers about the uses of the products hence
increasing its value in minds of the consumers. For e.g. mobile phones were first considered as
necessity but nowadays the cell phones come with number of features which makes them mode
of convenience for consumers.
Effect on Prices:
Some advertised products do cost more than unadvertised products but the vice versa is also true. But if
there is more competition in the market for those products, the prices have to come down, for e.g.,
canned juices from various brands. Thus some professional like chartered accountants and doctors are
not allowed to advertise.
But some products do not advertise much, and they dont need much of it and even their prices are high
but they are still the leaders in market as they have their brand name. e.g., Porsche cars
Effect on consumer demand and choices:
Even if the product is heavily advertised, it does not mean that the demand or say consumption rates will
also increase. The product has to be different with better quality, and more variety than others. For E.g.,
Kelloggs cornflakes have variety of flavors with different ranges to offer for different age groups and now
also for people who want to loose weight thus giving consumers different choices to select from.
Effect on business cycle:
Advertising no doubt helps in employing more number of people. It increases the pay rolls of people
working in this field. It helps collecting more revenues for sellers which they use for betterment of product
and services. But there are some bad effects of advertisements on business cycle also. Sometimes,
consumer may find the foreign product better than going for the national brand. This will definitely effect
the production which may in turn affect the GDP of the country.
The economic aspects are supported by the Abundance Principle which says producing more products
and services than the consumption rate which helps firstly keeping consumers informed about the options
they have and secondly helps sellers for playing in healthy and competitive atmosphere with their self
interest.

Social role of Advertising:

There are some positive and some negative aspects of advertising on the social ground. They are as
follows.
Deception in Advertising:
The relation between the buyers and sellers is maintained if the buyers are satisfied with what they saw in
advertise and what they got after buying that product. If seller shows a false or deceptive image and an
exaggerated image of the product in the advertisement, then the relation between the seller and buyers
cant be healthy. These problems can be overcome if the seller keep their ads clean and displays right
image of the product.

The Subliminal Advertising:

Capturing the Minds of the consumers is the main intention of these ads. The ads are made in such a
way that the consumers dont even realizes that the ad has made an impact on their minds and this
results in buying the product which they dont even need. But All ads dont impress all consumers at all
times, because majority of consumers buy products on basis of the price and needs.
Effect on Our Value System:
The advertisers use puffing tactics, endorsements from celebrities, and play emotionally, which makes
ads so powerful that the consumers like helpless preys buy those products.
These ads make poor people buy products which they cant afford, people picking up bad habits like
smoking and drinking, and buy products just because their favorite actor endorsed that product. This
affects in increased the cost of whole society and loss of values of our own selves.
Offensiveness:
Some ads are so offensive that they are not acceptable by the buyers. For example, the ads of denim
jeans showed girls wearing very less clothes and making a sex appeal. These kinds of ads are irrelevant
to the actual product. Btu then there is some ads which are educative also and now accepted by people.
Earlier ads giving information about birth control pills was considered offensive but now the same ads are
considered educative and important.
But at the last, there are some great positive aspects which help

Development of society and growth of technologies

Employment

Gives choices to buyers with self interest

Welcomes healthy competition

Improving standard of living.

Give information on social, economical and health issues.

Ethical Issues in Advertising

Puffery & Hype: Exaggerated by legal claims (Hallmark cards: When you want to send the
very best. Everready Batteries: Nothing outlasts an Eveready battery
Good Taste: Stereotyping (gender, race, ethnicity, age, lifestyle, handicaps, religion)
Stealth Advertising: Promotional messages embedded in a story line but not explicitely
presented as advertising
Advertising to Children: Congtroversial products (alcohol, tobacco, gambling)
Gratuitous Sexual Content: Using nudity, sexual imagery, and sex appeal, both explicitely
and by innuendo, for the purpose of attracgting attention, despite little or no inherent seual
aspects of the product/service/idea being advertised
Negative Content: Fear appeals, guilt appeals, threats