The Genesis of ASCI

The GENESIS of the ASCI and its ACTIVITIES-1985 till date

• In keeping with the practice followed in almost 50 countries around the world, the Indian marketing and advertising professionals took the initiative of setting up a council called The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), to self-regulate the content of advertisements.
• The advertisers' association, namely the Indian Society of Advertisers, the advertising agencies' association, namely The Advertising Agencies Association of India, the media owner's association, namely The Indian Newspapers Society, came together and took the initiative to form the ASCI (the council).
• The Council's Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising specifies that all advertising should be truthful, honest, decent, legal, safe for consumers particularly minors, and fair to the competition.
• The Council is managed by a Board of Governors consisting of 16 elected members, constituted as follows:
  • Four each from Advertisers
  • From Advertising Agencies
  • From Media, and from Allied Professions like outdoor contractors
  • Audio-visual producers/distributors
  • Consumer researchers
  • Printers/blockmakers, etc.
• The Council has been in existence since October 1985 (regd. as a not-for-profit company u/s 25 of the Indian Companies Act.)
• It has its own independent, fully staffed Secretariat of five members, headed by a Secretary General, who is an ex-Company Director.
• There is no other professional association or trade or consumer body that looks into or tries to regulate the "content" of advertisements published or appearing in India, other than the observance of the prevalent laws of the land.
• The Board of Governors appoint a Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) to examine complaints received by the Council. The composition of the CCC is as follows:
  • 9 from within the advertising industry representing advertisers, advertising agencies, media owners and allied professions.
  • 12 from society at large, consisting of eminent consumer activists, educationists, prominent journalists, lawyers, engineers, doctors, etc
• From time-to-time the Council puts out advertisements in newspapers, which are generally carried free of cost in the public interest, informing the consumers about the existence of the Council; and inviting them to complain to the Council, at no cost to themselves, should they find anything wrong or objectionable in any advertisement.
• Each year the Council receives approximately 150 complaints. Of these, about 50% are Upheld and we get a voluntary compliance rate of as high as above 80% (4 out of 5 such advertisements are withdrawn or modified appropriately so as not to contravene the Code). If the advertiser refuses to accept the verdict of the CCC, then the Council uses its good offices with media owners (particularly its members), and advises them of such offending advertisements, which are in contravention of the ASCI Code