Advertisers had warned that a self-declaration mechanism introduced after the Patanjali Ayurved case to prevent misleading ads would overwhelm them with paperwork and other complications. Some of their concerns were realized on Tuesday, June 18, the first day of the new process.
As advertisers hurried to upload their documents on the Broadcast Seva website for TV and radio ads and the Press Council of India website for print and digital ads, they encountered numerous technical glitches that prevented them from completing the process.
Following a Supreme Court decision last month in the Patanjali Ayurved case, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting mandated that all advertisers must declare compliance with cable TV rules and advertising codes for all their ads starting June 18.
The Supreme Court also directed Union ministries and authorities to take action against fast-moving consumer goods companies engaging in false campaigns.
Advertisers have complained that uploading hundreds of pages of documents daily would only create more bureaucracy, especially without a mechanism to evaluate or monitor the declarations. Industry bodies have been attempting to engage with the government to find an alternative.
“We are complying, obviously, but it increases the paperwork for us. The industry had proposed some alternatives but those were not considered. The ministry’s own website crashed during the demonstration to the industry,” said a senior executive with an advertising agency, declining to be identified. “It’s not easy for us because so many more people will be needed to keep filing declarations in our agency.”
We independently found the Broadcast Seva website frequently crashing on the evening of June 18.
The Patanjali effect:
The I&B ministry’s self-declaration mandate is a result of the Supreme Court ruling that found consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, owned by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, guilty of making misleading claims in its advertisements.
Following this, the ministry issued a notification and an advisory requiring ad agencies to submit self-declaration forms for all advertisements before they are aired or published on television, in print, or online.
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) had found Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd, HealthKart, online tutor Unacademy, and infant-products retailer FirstCry among major ad violators in 2023-24.
Several interim applications have been filed before the Supreme Court seeking clarifications on various issues related to the implementation of the new requirement.
