Last week, the Supreme Court sent a singularly stern signal to the corporate sector against any attempt to take the public for a ride with misleading advertisements when it censured self-styled yoga practitioner Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, founders of the consumer goods firm Patanjali Ayurved. The court refused to accept apologies from the duo for a second time. And the judges did not spare a state licensing authority over inaction in Uttarakhand, where the fast-moving consumer goods company is based. “What about all the faceless people who have consumed these Patanjali medicines stated to cure diseases which cannot be cured. Can you do this to an ordinary person?” the court asked the licensing authority. The court also expressed dissatisfaction with the AYUSH ministry which aims to propagate traditional medicines including ayurveda. The warning from the judiciary was much needed for an area where self-regulation has completely failed. Ad violations by brands are unfortunately routine, and reports by the Advertising Standards Council of India repeatedly flag healthcare and education as among the worst offenders.
Patanjali Ayurved had it coming. The court took note of the company’s misleading ads promising that its products could cure all kinds of ailments including even Covid-19, which were “deliberate and wilful violations” of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. The latest reprimand followed a Supreme Court warning in November 2023 to fine the company Rs 1 crore if it made such claims, and a letter to the Chief Justice of India in January that highlighted how Patanjali continued to float misleading ads. It was bad enough that in 2021 during the peak of the pandemic, the company launched a product, Coronil, as the “first evidence-based medicine for Covid-19” in the presence of Union ministers.
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If anything, it only showed an errant brand operating with impunity and government backing of pseudoscience in its zeal to promote and popularise home-grown or “Indian systems of medicine” as an alternative to “Western” medicine. The case against Patanjali unfolded after it riled the medical fraternity with an egregious dismissal of allopathy in August 2022. The Indian Medical Association filed a plea after Patanjali published an advertisement in newspapers titled “Misconceptions spread by allopathy: Save yourself and the country from the misconceptions spread by pharma and medical industry.” There have been many examples of brands being at the receiving end of law over advertising violations. The larger issue, thus, is one of missing deterrence. At present, under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) can impose a penalty of up to `10 lakh on manufacturers, advertisers, and endorsers for false or misleading advertisements, and a fine of up to `50 lakh for a subsequent violation.
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The CCPA has slapped penalties on several big brands across sectors including pharma and education. However, such action has been either too mild or too late. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission last year issued a public warning to 670 advertisers of health-related products that it could enforce fines of up to $50,120 per violation. Two years ago, a standing committee submitted a report in Parliament, suggesting that the consumer affairs ministry create a mechanism to control the menace of misleading and fake advertisements and recommending hefty penalties and bans. It’s time the government takes considers such options and reviews existing laws to effectively deter advertisers from unfair and deceptive practices.
Last week, the Supreme Court sent a singularly stern signal to the corporate sector against any attempt to take the public for a ride with misleading advertisements when it censured self-styled yoga practitioner Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, founders of the consumer goods firm Patanjali Ayurved. The court refused to accept apologies from the duo for a second time. And the judges did not spare a state licensing authority over inaction in Uttarakhand, where the fast-moving consumer goods company is based. “What about all the faceless people who have consumed these Patanjali medicines stated to cure diseases which cannot be cured. Can you do this to an ordinary person?” the court asked the licensing authority. The court also expressed dissatisfaction with the AYUSH ministry which aims to propagate traditional medicines including ayurveda. The warning from the judiciary was much needed for an area where self-regulation has completely failed. Ad violations by brands are unfortunately routine, and reports by the Advertising Standards Council of India repeatedly flag healthcare and education as among the worst offenders.
Patanjali Ayurved had it coming. The court took note of the company’s misleading ads promising that its products could cure all kinds of ailments including even Covid-19, which were “deliberate and wilful violations” of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. The latest reprimand followed a Supreme Court warning in November 2023 to fine the company Rs 1 crore if it made such claims, and a letter to the Chief Justice of India in January that highlighted how Patanjali continued to float misleading ads. It was bad enough that in 2021 during the peak of the pandemic, the company launched a product, Coronil, as the “first evidence-based medicine for Covid-19” in the presence of Union ministers.
If anything, it only showed an errant brand operating with impunity and government backing of pseudoscience in its zeal to promote and popularise home-grown or “Indian systems of medicine” as an alternative to “Western” medicine. The case against Patanjali unfolded after it riled the medical fraternity with an egregious dismissal of allopathy in August 2022. The Indian Medical Association filed a plea after Patanjali published an advertisement in newspapers titled “Misconceptions spread by allopathy: Save yourself and the country from the misconceptions spread by pharma and medical industry.” There have been many examples of brands being at the receiving end of law over advertising violations. The larger issue, thus, is one of missing deterrence. At present, under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) can impose a penalty of up to `10 lakh on manufacturers, advertisers, and endorsers for false or misleading advertisements, and a fine of up to `50 lakh for a subsequent violation.
The CCPA has slapped penalties on several big brands across sectors including pharma and education. However, such action has been either too mild or too late. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission last year issued a public warning to 670 advertisers of health-related products that it could enforce fines of up to $50,120 per violation. Two years ago, a standing committee submitted a report in Parliament, suggesting that the consumer affairs ministry create a mechanism to control the menace of misleading and fake advertisements and recommending hefty penalties and bans. It’s time the government takes considers such options and reviews existing laws to effectively deter advertisers from unfair and deceptive practices.
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Wake-up call from Supreme Court
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15.04.2024
Last week, the Supreme Court sent a singularly stern signal to the corporate sector against any attempt to take the public for a ride with misleading advertisements when it censured self-styled yoga practitioner Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, founders of the consumer goods firm Patanjali Ayurved. The court refused to accept apologies from the duo for a second time. And the judges did not spare a state licensing authority over inaction in Uttarakhand, where the fast-moving consumer goods company is based. “What about all the faceless people who have consumed these Patanjali medicines stated to cure diseases which cannot be cured. Can you do this to an ordinary person?” the court asked the licensing authority. The court also expressed dissatisfaction with the AYUSH ministry which aims to propagate traditional medicines including ayurveda. The warning from the judiciary was much needed for an area where self-regulation has completely failed. Ad violations by brands are unfortunately routine, and reports by the Advertising Standards Council of India repeatedly flag healthcare and education as among the worst offenders.
Patanjali Ayurved had it coming. The court took note of the company’s misleading ads promising that its products could cure all kinds of ailments including even Covid-19, which were “deliberate and wilful violations” of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. The latest reprimand followed a Supreme Court warning in November 2023 to fine the company Rs 1 crore if it made such claims, and a letter to the Chief Justice of India in January that highlighted how Patanjali continued to float misleading ads. It was bad enough that in 2021 during the peak of the pandemic, the company launched a product, Coronil, as the “first evidence-based medicine for Covid-19” in the presence of Union ministers.
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