Media bodies — such as print, radio and broadcast players — and their ad agencies, have urged the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to defer the implementation deadline for a “self-certification” for all advertising. The requirement was put in place by the I&B Ministry in response to a Supreme Court order on May 7 in the Indian Medical Association’s case against Patanjali, where the court found that the ayurvedic conglomerate was endangering people’s health by printing misleading claims on evidence-based medicine and its own products.
In representations to the Ministry reviewed by The Hindu, three industry bodies pushed back on the rapid implementation of the Supreme Court’s order. The order requires advertisers to reaffirm their ads’ compliance with the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994.
The rules are currently on track to kick in on June 20. An industry body representing print media asked the Ministry to keep the requirements in “abeyance” until ambiguities in terms of the scope of advertisements, applicability for digital ads, advertorials, government ads, and other issues are sorted out. The body also requested that the requirements be limited to medical advertising.
A body representing TV broadcasters and some of their streaming services said that the SC only imposed requirements on advertising firms, and not channels, whereas the MIB has sent advisories to channels and other media requiring them to “verify the authenticity” of self-certification furnished by advertisers.
“[We] urge that the compliance period be extended by 45 days since the transition would involve practical challenges and would require cooperation by various stakeholders,” the letter said.
A grouping of ad agencies, for its part, said that firms they service “may lose revenue due to the inability to launch campaigns on time,” and that the Broadcast Seva portal set up for permissions and clearances may have technical glitches that could hobble ads from being released on time.
The scope has also been confounding some media houses — for instance, one source at a broadcast channel wondered, would a channel and its show be considered a product or a service meriting a self-certification? Would viewership claims — based on constantly fluctuating data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), be considered claims?
While the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has lined up meetings on a variety of subjects, there is no clarity on when advertisers and ad agencies will have an opportunity to discuss their reservations with the requirements. While associations had chalked out a plan to approach the Supreme Court to clarify these issues, The Hindu has learnt, they have chosen to wait longer to decide whether or not to file intervention applications before a vacation bench.
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