Open Forum

New Delhi, 22 February 2017

Misleading Advts

NEED TO PROTECT CONSUMER

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

In this age of fierce competition, wars are fought by competing companies through means of advertisements. Advertisement has become far too important and potent weapon to promote particular products that companies’ think of innovative and attractive ways to woo the consumers. For this purpose services of specialised advertising agencies are hired by the companies. But whether they portray the truth is questionable.

The influence of advertisements on consumer choice is undeniable. And it is this fact that makes it imperative that advertisements be fair and truthful. Misleading and false advertisements are not just unethical; these distort competition and of course, consumer choice. False and misleading advertisements, in fact, violate several basic rights of consumers: the right to information, the right to choice, the right to be protected against unsafe goods and services as well as unfair trade practices.

Since advertisements are basically meant to promote a product or a service it is generally seen there is inevitable exaggeration in the way these extol the virtues of the produce. But when it goes beyond that and deliberately utters falsehood or tries to misrepresent facts thereby misleading the consumer, then it becomes objectionable.

Deceptive advertisements are increasing in the country. The enormous demand in the domestic market, as a result of the ever-growing and fast growing population, has led to the proliferation of numerous products and hence their advertisements, most of which are deceptive in nature.

As is well known, the educational level in the country is quite low. The lack of knowledge and education among consumers, in a vast country like India, has led to  deceptive advertisements going unchecked As such, common people cannot make any judicious or scientific judgment about which product to choose and why. Obviously, taking advantage of this, there are misleading advertisements in the media, specially electronic, where regular showing of the positive and beneficial effects of products by leading companies even confuses educated and well-informed urban populace. 

There is no control in the country of what is aired in the electronic media and except for some stipulations, any claim can be put up in the media. With most people, both in urban and rural areas, watching TV almost regularly and specially in the evenings, the claims of well-known brands, which actually have no meaning, enter their minds and they are motivated to buy these products, even as the costs are quite high and may be beyond their purchasing power.

The doctors are sometimes paid by the companies to prescribe some of these products – mainly for nutritional value – which, in reality, is not needed at all. One may mention here wherein the undersigned had a conversation more than two decades back with Dr Abirlal Mukherjee, considered a leading ENT specialist in the South Asian region, who stated very clearly that a growing youth who takes his or her food regularly need for go for any type of bottled foods. These foods, he observed, had very little value compared to pulses and vegetables and two or three eggs per week.

The hampering of advertisements of some selected products in each channel every day at regular intervals do not provoke the viewer to question from where these companies get funds for such huge expenditure on ads. On the other hand, most believe that since the advertisements are appearing regularly every day in most channels, there must be some veracity of the claims made in terms of positive and beneficial effects on the human body.

The Advertising Standards Council of Indie (ASCI) does not have statutory powers and acts only as a moral pressure group in the protection of the consumers’ choice from deceptive advertising. It publishes cases of non-compliance by advertisers and agencies in mass media and hands over the matter to statutory authority if its decisions are not followed by the advertiser.

Its role is limited to laying down the criteria for advertisement, directing the advertisers the corrective measures in case the advertisements are not in line with its code, lobbying for the removal/correction of advertisements violating the code of ASCI and by taking up the matter with statutory authorities for the restriction of advertisement in case the advertiser does not render assurance of corrective measures. However, its role leaves much to be desired.

Deceptive advertisements are ever on the increase in the country. There is no Government machinery to check the claims being made by the companies of its products. In the absence of checks, people are fooled as they cannot verify the authenticity of the claims without going in to purchase these.

Recently, however, on the recommendations of a parliamentary committee on food, consumer affairs and public distribution, headed by TDP MP, JC Divakar Reddy, the Government prepared a bill to regulate misleading advertisements and impose stringent accountability on celebrities for endorsing products. Celebrity brand ambassadors could soon have to think before endorsing products that make unrealistic claims that can fetch them a jail term of 5 years apart from a penalty of Rs 50 lakhs.

Apart from celebrities, Section 75A of the Bill makes a manufacturer also legally responsible for any false and misleading advertisements and prescribes penalties in the same manner in which celebrity brand ambassadors are made liable. The Bill is yet to be made an Act but this is expected shortly.  

It goes without saying that an efficient law is the need of the hour to tackle the menace of deceptive and misleading advertisements which harm innocent consumers and violate their rights. And, for this, the Government has also mooted a Regulation Authority.  Loopholes in the existing self-regulation mechanism and scarcity of appropriate laws are one of the reasons why the Government is planning for effective law in this regard. But merely laws shall not suffice. An effective mechanism for the implementation of law is also needed.

An effective, efficient and fair implementation of Consumer Protection Act (CPA) is one of the vital conditions for promoting the culture of good governance and thereby ensuring the better promotion and protection of rights of the consumers. If the rights in relation to the quality of goods are assured and taken care of then there will be no cause for the complaints.

This situation would certainly create an atmosphere wherein the clients, customers and consumers would feel satisfied with the things needed most to them. But to attain this state, the Government has to educate and enlighten the huge population of the country. It also has to create an effective mechanism which would check deceptive advertisement independent of the consumers and the complaints.

The implementation of CPA is imperative at this juncture for promoting the culture of good governance and thereby ensuring the better promotion and protection of rights of the consumers. If the rights in relation to the quality of goods are assured and taken care of then there will be no cause for the complaints. This situation would certainly create an atmosphere wherein the clients, customers and consumers would feel satisfied with the things needed most to them. But to attain this state, the Government has to educate and enlighten the people. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)