Education, COVID-19, Online gaming see highest ad code violations in Q1

In the January-March quarter of 2021, ASCI processed 1,064 complaints in all; 200 of the ads were withdrawn by advertisers immediately on receiving an intimation from ASCI. Of the remaining 862 that required further investigation, the self-regulatory body’s independent Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 789 advertisements. Of these, 337 belonged to the education sector, 250 to healthcare, 47 to food & beverages, 32 to electronics & durables, 28 to personal care, 14 to automotive, 12 to Gaming & Mobile applications and 69 to other categories. Complaints against 73 advertisements were not upheld as they were found to be adhering to the ASCI code.

In an effort to make the Online Gaming space safer, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) introduced re guidelines for Online Gaming for real money winnings in December 2020. The guidelines were welcomed by consumers as well as the industry. As a result of the increased awareness of the guidelines, ASCI successfully received 61 complaints. Most of the complaints related to cricket gaming and Rummy, including those against established brands. However, the maximum number of complaints processed, 337 were related to the Education sector. Most of them were related to misleading claims, where students were promised 100% placements or the advertiser claiming to be India’s top-ranked college/ institute.

A large number of complaints were also processed from the healthcare and food & beverages categories. 250 complaints against advertisements were processed in healthcare most of them about fake claims of COVID-19 cures or prevention. There were 47 complaints processed against food & beverage advertisements, many of them against claims around milk, milk products, bread, green tea, fish oil as well as edible oils like sunflower.

The quarter also witnessed a number of complaints processed in the automotive and electronics and durables categories. The automotive category received 14 complaints, many of them related to covered two-wheelers as well as e-rickshaw advertisements. In the category of Electronics, durable and construction ASCI processed 32 complaints against advertisements across a range of brands, from air-conditioners to paints.

Manisha Kapoor, Secretary-General, ASCI, commented, “We are pleased to note increased consumer vigilance around gaming after the release of our guidelines. ASCI is working on more initiatives to ensure that advertising remains honest and decent, and that consumers’ confidence in advertising is sustained. We also aim to raise consumer awareness to motivate them to report misleading claims. This would help safeguard their interests and encourage ethical advertising that benefits not just consumers but also honest advertisers.”