A recent print advertisement featured three fashionably dressed young women in a mall, loaded with shopping bags, and chatting away with gay abandon. If you thought it was for the latest sale, you could be forgiven.

The ad, with the tagline “When you are 60 will you be able to sustain this high end lifestyle?” is the latest attempt by pension fund regulator PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) to get people investing early for their retirement.

“Breaking the stereotype of a typical pension scheme ad featuring senior citizens, we have opted to target youngsters in the age group 18-35 years,” says Yogesh Agarwal, Chairman, PFRDA.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Competition Commission of India (CCI) are also reaching out to the public. CCI, for instance, aims to spread awareness on unfair trade practices and cartelisation. Earlier, regulators did not bother being in touch with the masses. Today they are keen to reach out to the common man directly, for a variety of reasons. These include cautioning investors about ponzi schemes and making them aware of their rights and choices as consumers of services.

“Ideally, the target of a campaign on the Competition Act would be the corporate sector and the government. However, being a relatively new entity, CCI would initially also like to reach out to the masses to highlight the features of the Act,” says Rajinder Chaudhry, Director, Media and Communication, CCI.

While PFRDA released its first television commercial in April last year, SEBI and CCI did so this year.

Regulators are also innovating with puppet shows, nukkad natak, wall paintings, multi-media campaigns and even documentaries in a bid to reach out to the “aam aadmi”.

> manisha.jha@thehindu.co.in

> priyanka.pani@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW