Latest Articles
Back
ADVERTISING LAWS IN INDIA
ADVERTISING LAWS IN INDIA
In India deceptive advertising, misleading prices, failure to maintain standards, labeling issues, surrogate advertisements are some of the issues faced in Advertising. Some laws in India that relate to advertising are listed below:-
- Section 6 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 grants consumers the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case could also be so on to protect the buyer against unfair trade practices.
- Drug and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954 purports to regulate the advertisements of drugs in certain cases and to prohibit the advertising for certain purposes of remedies alleged to possess magic qualities and to supply for matters connected therewith;
- Section 29 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 imposes penalty upon whoever uses any report of a test or analysis made by the Central Drugs Laboratory or by a Government Analyst, or any extract from such report, for the aim of advertising any drug. The punishment prescribed for such an offence may be a fine which can extend up to 5 hundred rupees and/ or imprisonment up to 10 years upon subsequent conviction;
- Emblems and Names (Prevention of improper use) Act, 1950 prohibits the use of any trade mark or design, any name or emblem specified in the Schedule of the Act or any colorable imitation thereof for the aim of any trade, business, calling or profession without the previous permission of the Central Government;
- Section 53 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 provides a penalty of up to Rs. 10 lakhs for false and misleading advertisements concerning the outline , nature, substance or quality of any food;
- Indecent Representation of women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 is aimed toward prohibiting indecent representation of girls through advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings, figures or in the other manner and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto (Section 3 and 4 of the Act).
- Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994- Advertisement in any manner regarding facilities of pre-natal determination of sex available at any guidance centre, laboratory, clinic or any other place is prohibited under this Act and has been made a punishable offence under the Act (Section 22);
- The Representation of people Act, 1951- The display to the general public of any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus in any polling area during the period of forty-eight hours ending with the time fixed for the conclusion of the poll for any election within the polling area is prohibited under the Act (Section 126).
- Indian penal code, 1860 prohibits obscene, defamatory publication, publication of a lottery and/ or statements creating or promoting disharmony/ enmity in society.
Needless to say, the foregoing laws are in addition to applicable IPR laws and other relevant laws in general.
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) may be a self regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry. According to the ASCI code, complaints against deviant advertisements are often made by a person who considers them to be false, misleading, offensive, or unfair. The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) considers and decides on the complaints received from the overall public including governing body, consumer groups, complaints from one advertiser against another and even suo moto complaints from the members of the ASCI Board or CCC. The Reserve Bank of India, SEBI and the IRDA are some of the other regulatory authorities that regulate advertisements in their respective fields.
