ASCI upholds 125 out of 167 complaints in February

The maximum violations of ASCI's code were recorded in the health, personal care and education categories.

The Advertising Standards Council of India's (ASCI) Consumer Complaints Council (CCC), a self-regulatory industry body, has released a report on the complaints upheld in February 2015.

Of the 167 complaints received, the CCC found 125 ads 'guilty' of violating its prescribed code. In the case of some products, it was not just the ad, but also the product packaging that was found to be misleading.

Most of the complaints received were against products belonging to health and personal care (73 ads), education (29 ads), e-commerce and teleshopping categories.

Mastan Not Out Herbal Capsule, Kamanand Range of Products, Endocare Hospital, Cordlife, Richfeel, REPL India, Divya Pharmacy, Sun Labs, Bharat Ayurvedic Aushadhalay, Shree Phagunam Pharmaceutical, IZDA Healthcare and Herbal Vyogra were among brands that violated the code. The ads were found to be misleading or false or not adequately/scientifically substantiated.

In the education category, 29 ads were found to be objectionable. Some of the ads were from institutes such as Patel Classes, Institute of Management Studies (IMS) Ghaziabad, IMS Learning Resources, Triumphant Institute of Management Education, Institute of Finance Banking and Insurance, BCCL, RTTI, Pai classes, Shyamli institute of hotel management, Vani institute, Indiacan Education Pvt. Ltd. (Eten CA), Unique IAS study circle, HCS Institute, NIFS (Institute of Fire Engineering & Safety Management), Siddhartha Mining Sirdar and Surveyor Training Institute, Swan Webs, AIM Institute of University Studies, Anjana Institute of Technical Education and others. The institutes provided unsubstantiated claims of providing 100 per cent placement or claiming to be the No.1 in their respective fields. These ads were also found to be misleading or false or not adequately/scientifically substantiated and hence violating ASCI's code.

In the e-commerce and teleshopping space, six ads each were found to be misleading from brands such as Trendsutra Platform Services, TV Shoppee, Teleshopping Brands, Sat Kartar Shopping and Skyshopping.

Some of the other ads that were found to be misleading belong to Idea Cellular, Relaxo Footwear, Heinz India, Kalyan Jewelers, Tata Teleservices, Pernod Ricard India, Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.