As many as 25 Patanjali ads in violation of norms

The government has received 33 complaints regarding advertisements of Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved Limited products in the last one year of which 25 were found to be violating the advertising code, the government said on Friday.

In response to a Lok Sabha query, minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said between April 2015 and July 2016, the department of consumer affairs had received complaints against Patanjali Ayurved advertisements in various media such as TV, print and product-packaging and in various sectors such as food and beverages, personal care, health care etc.

Patanjali has emerged as a significant player in the food and FMCG sector and one of the largest advertisers in the country.

The department found 17 advertisements whose content was found to be violating the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) code for self-regulation while six product packaging communications (out of eight complained against) were considered to be in violation of the code. Two TV advertisements out of four were considered to be in violation of the ASCI code.

The department of consumer affairs has established a portal called 'grievance against misleading advertisements' (GAMA) and ASCI has been assigned the task of handling the complaints received through this portal. The cases where the advertisers do not comply with ASCI's directions are referred to the department or the regulator Food safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for appropriate action.

The FSSAI has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ASCI to undertake comprehensive monitoring of advertisements appearing with respect of food and beverages (F&B) sector in print and TV media. Action against any FBO for any misleading advertisement will depend upon substantiating the same by ASCI.