ASCI advises advertisers not to release new ads between June 18 and July 9: Report

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has advised broadcasters and advertisers to not release new ads between June 18 and July 9, states an ET report.

It is until there is clarity from the Supreme Court (SC) on its self-declaration certificate (SDC) mandate for advertisements that is likely to happen only after July 9 when the matter comes up before the SC.

The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF), and Indian Newspaper Society (INS) had requested the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) keep the implementation of the SDC mandate on hold to give the industry enough time to meet the new regulatory norms.

In its letter to the MIB, INS wrote that the SDC mechanism should be limited to medical ads since the SC matter pertains to misleading medical ads. Advertisers will have to generate SDC through the Broadcast Seva portal for TV and radio ads and through the Press Council of India (PCI) portal for print and digital ads.

ISA too has asked for the postponement of the SDC mechanism and said that since anyone will have access to ad materials uploaded on the Broadcast Seva and PCI websites, there are issues of asset confidentiality. It also stated that both websites hang a lot, which might lead to a delay in generating the SDC.

The MIB, in a meeting with stakeholders on June 11, made it clear the SDC mandate for all new ads on TV, digital, print, and radio will come into effect on June 18 since it's a Supreme Court directive.

ASCI has asked its members to bring to its notice any difficulties they face in implementing the SDC mandate so that it can collate and share the same with the MIB.

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