ASCI ties up with TAM to check misleading ads

In a move aimed at strengthening the mechanism to check misleading advertisements, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has tied up with TAM Media Research to monitor print and television ads, in an initiative ASCI calls the National Advertising Monitoring Service (NAMS).

TAM's specialist division, ADEx India, will track and monitor roughly 350 TV and 10,860 newspaper ads per week to check if they subscribe to ASCI's code. It will check ads violating ASCI's ad code related to unsubstantiated, misleading or false claims, the council said.

This is expected to help ASCI act on misleading claims by advertisers as quickly as possible, an area where the regulatory body has been weak.

Prior to this, ASCI relied on intra-industry or consumer complaints to rein misleading ads. This led to ''delayed action'', where solutions were offered well after the ad had run its course.

NAMS would become operational from 1 May, said Bharat Patel, chairman of the Indian Society of Advertisers and head of the marketing committee of ASCI. ''The endeavour is to fast-track the redressal system by proactively talking to advertisers who indulge in misleading advertising,'' he says.

ASCI chairman I Venkat said, "NAMS will strengthen the ad self-regulation redressal process manifold, as we will be able to proactively monitor wider numbers of ads. This will be in the best interest of the Indian consumers as it will significantly reduce release of misleading advertising in India."