New guidelines to protect interests of consumer from misleading publicity come into effect

New Delhi: The Union Government has notified new guidelines for fair advertising to protect interests of the consumer from misleading publicity of the product and service. These guidelines have come into effect from today. These will prohibit surrogate advertising and prescribe conditions for bait advertisements and commercials targeting children.

Briefing media in New Delhi, Secretary of Ministry of Consumer Affairs Rohit Kumar Singh said, these guidelines will apply to all advertisements regardless of form, format or medium. He said, these guidelines will not only safeguard the interest of the consumer, but also make industry understand about the genuinity of the advertiments so that it can refrain itself from doing misleading publicity. Mr Singh said, if any product and advertisement is found to be violating these guidelines, they will face strict action by Central Consumer Protection Authority, CCPA.

While talking about the actions CCPA took in recent times, Additional Secretary Nidhi Khare said, since the inception of the authority, around 113 notices have been sent to either manufacturer or advertiser for misleading publicity.