Advertisers, media organisations push back on self-certification rules for ads

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. An industry body representing print media asked the Ministry to keep the requirements in “abeyance” until ambiguities in terms of the scope of 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. 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.