Advertising Standards Council of India

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
Public
Industry Advertising
Founded 1985
Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Area served
 India
Key people

Srinivasan K.

Swamy, Chairman,[1][2] Shweta Purandare, Secretary General [3]
Website ascionline.org

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is a self-regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry in India. It is a non-Government body.

Origin

Like other countries around the world, India too has a self-regulatory organization (SRO) for advertising content – The Advertising Standards Council of India, ASCI founded in 1985. The four main constituents of advertising industry viz advertisers, advertising agencies, media and allied professions came together to form this independent NGO. The aim of ASCI is to maintain and enhance the public's confidence in advertising. Their mandate is that all advertising material must be truthful, legal and honest, decent and not objectify women, safe for consumers - especially children and last but not the least, fair to their competitors.[4]

Members of ASCI

ASCI’s team consists of the Board of Governors,[5] the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC)[6] and its Secretariat. ASCI has 12 members in its Board of Governors, four each representing the key sectors such as Advertisers, advertising agencies, media and allied professions such as market research, consulting, business education etc. The CCC currently has about 21 members: 9 are from within the industry and 12 are from the civil society like well-known doctors, lawyers, journalists, academicians, consumer activists, etc. The CCC’s decision on complaint against any ad is final. ASCI also has its own independent Secretariat of 5 members which is headed by the Secretary General.

There is no other non governmental body in India which regulates the advertising content that is released in India. If an ad that is released in India seems objectionable, a person can write to ASCI with their complaint. This complaint will be deliberated on by the CCC after providing due process to advertiser to defend the ad against the complaint and depending on whether the ad is in alignment with the ASCI code and law of the land,[7] the complaint is upheld or not upheld and if upheld then the ad is voluntarily either withdrawn or modified.[8]

In 2007, the Government of India amended the Cable TV Network Rules’ Advertising Code by which ads which violate ASCI code cannot be permitted on TV.

Self-Regulation

Almost all professional fields have self-regulatory bodies governing their activities. For the advertising fraternity, until 1985 there was none. Due to this there was a lot of false, misleading and offensive advertising. This led to consumers losing faith in advertising and hence resenting it. It was decided that if this continued it would not take time for statutory regulations such as censorship to be imposed on advertising content.

In 1985, ASCI to be imposed on advertisers and advertising agencies. This would make fair, truthful and decent advertising almost impossible which would in turn hinder the industry’s ability to compete and grow.

In 1985, the ASCI adopted a Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising. With the introduction of the code, the aim is to promote honest and decent advertising and fair competition in the industry. It will also ensure the protection of consumer interests and the all concerned with the ad industry - advertisers, media, advertising agencies and others who help in the creation or placement of advertisements.

As the fraternity starts accepting the code, it will result in fewer false claims, fewer unfair advertisements and increased respect for advertisers.[9]

Need for ASCI

When an advertiser is creating an ad, the consumer is his audience. The feedback from a consumer is important to the advertiser so he can be assured if his message has been correctly conveyed. If a consumer feels that a particular advertisement is in bad taste or is false in its claims, they need a body or council to whom they can air their grievances and who will take any appropriate action, if necessary. ASCI as a self-regulatory body governing advertising content is the ideal medium as its purpose is to serve both the advertisers as well as the consumers.

References

  1. ↑ India, Campaign (2010-01-07). "ASCI launches campaign against dishonest, misleading ads - News - Advertising - Campaign India". Campaignindia.in. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  2. ↑ "ad-stand-advertisements-in-education-sector". economictimes.indiatimes.com. 2011-01-05. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  3. ↑ "ad-companies-opting-for-tactical-advertising-to-break-clutter". economictimes.indiatimes.com. 2011-01-14. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  4. ↑ "ASCI | Why Self Regulation". Ascionline.org. Archived from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  5. ↑ "ASCI | Board of Governors". Ascionline.org. 2011-02-01. Archived from the original on 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  6. ↑ "ASCI | CCC Members". Ascionline.org. 2010-10-15. Archived from the original on 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  7. ↑ "Asci | Asci Code". Ascionline.org. 1985-11-20. Archived from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  8. ↑ Agencies (2007-12-26). "ASCI seeks to benefit from global self-regulation practices". Express India. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  9. ↑ Kalpana Ganesh (2010-09-06). "ASCI To Introduce Advertising Code For Educational Sector". Indiaprwire.com. Retrieved 2011-02-12.

COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCESS: Complaints are acknowledged instantly and tracking number is provided - this is good. If there is any shortcoming in the complaint submission viz.documents are not attached, complaints is not covering the complete details, copy of advertisement is not forwarded or hard copies are not submitted - the same should be informed to the complainant for correction. This will one hand save the time to reach to a logical end & on other hand will satisfy the complainant.

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