Govt’s GAMA ‘announcement’ perplexes industry; What it means for ASCI

Grievance Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA), an online portal set up under the aegis of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, has been facilitating online registration of complaints against misleading ads. The portal was set up in 2015. 

On Saturday, June 29, 2019 a routine press release on Press Information Bureau (PIB) from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution sent Twitter into a tizzy. The release stated that, “The Government has launched an online portal called “Grievance Against Misleading Advertisements” (GAMA) where complaints relating to misleading advertisements can be lodged.” 

From the Twitter conversations it was gathered that not many had heard about GAMA before the PIB release. Many also wondered what were the implications for the Advertising Standards Council Of India (ASCI), a self regulatory voluntary organisation of the Advertising industry that was established in 1985. 

GAMA focuses on 6 key sectors:

• Food & Agriculture
• Health
• Education
• Real Estate
• Transport
• Financial Services

Regulators for each of these sectors will be key partners in the success of the effort to prevent the problem. 

The release further stated that during the period between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, a total 3,884 complaints were received on the GAMA portal. Out of these, 2,235 had been resolved, while 1,040 were rejected being incomplete or not pertaining to misleading advertisements. 

This information was given in a written reply by Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Danve Raosaheb Dadarao, in the Rajya Sabha.