We take pleasure in presenting the Twenty-first Annual Report of the Advertising Standards Council of India, together with the Statement of Accounts for the period April 2006 to March 2007.

The highlights of the year:

Government of India (GOI) accorded recognition to the effective role of the ASCI in voluntary Self-Regulation of Advertising in India, by Notification in The Gazette of India: Extraordinary {Part II – sec.3(i)}, 2nd August 2006, incorporated the ASCI Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising as part of the Code for Advertising, included in the The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, which now states, “(9) No advertisement which violates the Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising, as adopted by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), Mumbai, for public exhibition in India, from time to time, shall be carried in the cable service”.

In a directive dated 29th August 2006, the Drugs Controller General (India), Directorate General of Health Services (Drugs Section), has advised the Indian Soaps & Toiletries Makers Association, the Indian Drugs Manufacturers Association, and the Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, to apprise their members of the Notification of 2nd August 2006, and to instruct them to strictly follow the ASCI Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising while advertising their products.

The dialogue with GOI continues: ASCI Board Team (4 members) met with Shri Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Hon. Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Director (BC), Jt. Secretary, and Secretary, on 12th February 2007, in Mumbai. The Minister expressed his satisfaction at the implementation of Self-Regulation in Advertising, by your Council. He appreciated the work done and was supportive of letting your Council be the self-regulatory arm even on behalf of the Government.

ASCI’s Consumer Awareness TV campaign ran on 25 channels sponsored by members of your Council and non-members, during the period - August to December 2006, without charge to your Council, as a Public and Consumer interest service.

Board of Governors Members: During the year, Mr. Sam Balsara and Mr. N. Murali retired from the Board. The Board wishes to place on record its appreciation of the valuable services rendered by them during their tenure. Mr. Srinivasan K. Swamy and Mr. I. Venkat were elected to the Board, to fill the consequential vacancies.

Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) Members: During the year, Mr. Shantanu Khosla and Dr. (Ms.) Angela Rodrigues retired from the CCC. Mr. Farokh Balsara resigned from the CCC. Mr. Bhaskar Das, Prof. K.G. Narayankhedkar, Dr. (Ms.) Shilpa Patil, and Ms. Anita Ramachandran were appointed to fill the consequential vacancies.

On behalf of all members of the Council, the Board of Governors places on record its gratitude to members of the CCC for their very generous contribution of valuable time and expertise each month.

Memberships: Your Council is pleased to report that due to active follow-up by Board members, 10 new members have enrolled during the year. However, 18 members did not renew their memberships.

Representation from the Advertisers category in your Council continues to be lower than required to extend the observance of Self-Regulation. It is a cause of concern for the self-regulation movement that over 100 major advertisers are not yet members of your Council.

CCC - Analysis of Decisions on Complaints: The CCC met 14 times and deliberated on 140 complaints against Ads of which, 78 (56%) were Upheld, whilst 62 (44%) were Not Upheld. The number of complaints received has reduced considerably during this year, despite the ASCI Awareness TV campaign.

The provisions of the ASCI Code which have been contravened the most, appear to be Chapter I.1 – claims not substantiated or false (31 Ads), Chapter I.4 – misleading (32 Ads), Chapter II – offensive to generally accepted standards of public decency (8 Ads), Chapter III.3 - show or refer to dangerous practices (9 Ads) and Chapter III.4 – breach of the law (8 Ads).

Compliance with CCC decisions: Out of the 78 complaints which were Upheld, in 56 cases the Ads have been withdrawn or modified appropriately in accordance with the CCC decisions, which involves 28 advertisers being members of ASCI, 28 ad. agencies members, and 43 media members. Assurance of compliance is awaited for 22 Ads, which involves 7 advertisers being members of ASCI, 5 ad. agencies members and 15 media members. Of these 22 complaints, 9 were from consumers, 10 were suo motu complaints, 2 were from a consumer representational organisation, and 1 was an intra-industry complaint.

It is a matter of concern that some major media members of ASCI who were advised of the CCC Upheld decisions, where the Ads were in contravention of the ASCI Code, have failed to support your Council in the observance and implementation of the CCC recommendations implicit in Self-Regulation in Advertising.

Intra-Industry Complaints: Out of the 140 complaints processed, during this year, 22 intra-industry complaints were received from advertisers and ad. agencies, in respect of misleading comparative advertising, or unfair competitive advertising. Of these, 13 were Upheld and 9 were Not Upheld; assurance of compliance has been received for 12 of these Upheld complaints. It is encouraging to observe that the rate of compliance in such complaints is much higher than the response received in respect of consumer complaints.

A summary of these complaints is mentioned in the Compilation of CCC decisions reported for the year, which is included in this Report. The involvement of ASCI members in the various complaints, identified by * in this report, is indicative of the need for greater pro-active observance of the Code, at the time of development of every Ad.
Of 26 suo motu complaints registered by your Council, 22 were Upheld; of these, in 12 cases the Ads have been withdrawn or modified appropriately in compliance with the CCC decisions, whilst assurance of compliance is awaited for 10 Ads. 4 complaints were Not Upheld.

Of the 8 complaints received from Consumer Representational Organisations, in 5 cases the Ads have been withdrawn or modified appropriately; assurance of compliance is awaited for 2 Ads. It is gratifying to observe that such bodies have come to rely on your Council to address the reluctance of the offending advertisers who failed to respond to them.

Complaints Upheld by CCC against TV Ads and Press Ads – Non-Compliance with CCC decisions (April 2006 – March 2007): Relevant extracts of case papers of the complaints Upheld by the CCC against TV Ads for which the Advertisers or Ad. Agencies have not assured compliance with CCC decisions, have been sent to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B), for follow up and corrective action. In case of press Ads, details of the complaints Upheld by CCC for which the Advertisers or Ad. Agencies have not assured compliance, have been sent to the Press Council of India (PCI), for follow up and corrective action.

Complaints Upheld against Surrogate Ads promoting Alcohol/ Liquor Brands (April 2006 to March 2007) A report providing details of Complaints Upheld by CCC, in those exceptional cases where assurance of compliance was still awaited from the Advertisers or Ad. Agencies, was sent to the Director General, Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), New Delhi, for appropriate action by their members.