ASCI upholds 215 of 240 complaints in August

Education, and health and personal care categories continue to lead with the highest number of complaints received.

The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) of ASCI, the voluntary self-regulating industry body, announced upholding complaints against 215 advertisements in August, 2013. CCC received a total of 240 complaints for the month. A majority of the upheld complaints were for ads from the education sector, followed by the health and personal care category, for misleading claims.

The council upheld complaints against 63 advertisements falling under the health and personal care category. Some of these brands were The Himalaya Drug Company, Dabur India, Johnson & Johnson, Hindustan Unilever, L'Oreal India, Ban Labs, Naaz India Company, and Ayurwin range of products, among others. The CCC found the following claims in health and personal care product or service ads to be either misleading, false or not adequately/scientifically substantiated.

In the education sector, the council found 121 print ads by different advertisers misleading and not complying with the guidelines laid down by ASCI. Some of the advertisers that were pulled up by the council were Shree Santhoshi Group of Institutes, Jetking Infotrain: Jetking Computer Education, Vivekanand Institute of Hotel & Tour Management, RMT Group Education Charitable Trust: Asia Pacific Institute of Management, Institute of Advanced Management: IAM Institute Hotel Management, Institute for Technology & Management: ITM Business School, Indus Institute of Hospitality & Culinary Arts, Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Swa Institute and Apeejay Education Society, among others.

Other sectors where some of the advertisements were pulled up were FMCG, telecom, real estate, auto, teleshopping, food and beverages and consumer durables.

In the telecom sector, the ads by Reliance Communications, Intex Technology India and Max Moblink were found misleading, while in the FMCG sector, Colgate-Palmolive India's ad was found guilty of violating the ASCI code. The council also found two ads in the auto sector, four ads in the food and beverages sector, one in real estate and nine in teleshopping sectors violating the guidelines.

During August 2013, CCC also received 25 complaints against the advertisements of La Opala RG, Kent RO Systems, Wrigley India, State Bank of India(Home Loans), Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance, Naver (Line Chat), Tata Chemicals, NIIT, Tata Teleservices, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Kohler, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, DS Group, Mosons, Career Launcher, Cadbury India, Life Slimming & Cosmetic Clinic, Bharti Airtel, Ashok & Company, Dr Hair care & Slimming Clinic, Royal Dental Clinic, Delhi Police, Rodeo Drive Luxury Products, Celestial collection Lord Venkateswara Watches, Shree Cement and Cadbury (India). However, the complaints against them were not upheld as they did not violate ASCI's guidelines.

ASCI's National Advertising Monitoring Service has been instrumental in rigorously tracking most of the advertisements being released across print and television. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) was established in 1985 and works to ensure the protection of the interests of consumers. Its main objective is to promote responsible advertising, thus enhancing the public's confidence in advertising.