The Hindu Business Line : `Govt ruling gives ASCI more teeth'

With the government stepping in to make the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) code compulsory for TV advertisements, unscrupulous advertisers who were not adhering to ASCI will now have to mend their ways. With several cases where advertisers continue to run their ads upheld by ASCI, the recent government notification making it compulsory for television commercials to abide by its code should put an end to the ads being aired by such advertisers.

According to Mr Sam Balsara, CMD, Madison Communications, "While things are not expected to change dramatically, it will strengthen ASCI and should presumably make its task easier. There are advertisers who do not always want to play ball and these are mostly smaller advertisers who come from a non-corporate set up. ASCI is expected to have compliance from such advertisers.''

In fact, the cable regulation Act had a provision created by the Advertising Agencies Association of India for regulating advertising. The AAAI has now replaced itself with ASCI, which has the powers to regulate content on television. "All this time we have been asking to rectify the Act and it has taken a bit of time, but we are happy now that the Government has decided to do this,'' says Mr Balsara, who is also on the ASCI Board. Claims a large advertiser from an FMCG company, "Most advertisers will continue to do their jobs and its all about ASCI getting more teeth. There may be a few smaller advertisers who did not believe in regulation who may not be forced to abide by ASCI regulations.''

In fact, ASCI has almost 85 per cent compliance rate from advertisers and most big companies continue to treat ASCI as the law. Adds Mr M.G. Parameswaran, Executive Director, FCB Ulka, "Till now the ASCI rulings were not tenable by law and there are companies who have been blatantly misusing the freedom of advertising. Such unscrupulous advertisers cannot ignore ASCI anymore.''

As Mr Pranesh Misra, President& Chief operating Officer, Lowe, says, "For an industry body like ASCI to get recognised by the government is a big step.It gives ASCI more teeth and power.''

More Stories on : Radio/TV | Advertising | Regulatory Bodies & Rulings

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page