Centre releases new guidelines to prevent misleading advertisements

The government released new guidelines on Friday to prevent misleading advertisements, including those targeting children and making free claims to entice consumers.

The guidelines also state that when endorsing in advertisements, due diligence must be performed. The new Consumer Affairs Ministry guidelines, which went into effect immediately, also prohibit surrogate advertisements and have increased transparency in ad disclaimers.

“Advertisements have great interest for consumers,” Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said in announcing the guidelines. The CCPA Act includes provisions for dealing with misleading advertisements that affect consumer rights.

Violations of the new guidelines will be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Central Consumer Protection Act (CCPA).

The Secretary stated that these guidelines will not bring about change overnight, but they will provide a framework for industry stakeholders to prevent misleading ads, even if they are made by mistake, and will also empower consumers and consumer organisations to file complaints against misleading ads.