LIGAL PROVISION ON M MISLEADING ADVERETISEMEMNT

Though advertising has a positive contribution to make, one needs to recognize that advertising has
immense manipulative power and capacity to harm the consumer and the public interest.

Objective of Legal Control : The objective of regulating misleading advertising is to ensure that
advertisements do not distort the facts about the product and mislead the buyer through subtle
implications, omissions, and false statements about the quality, quantity, features or other
characteristics of the product or any service accompanying the product, e.g., repair and
maintenance.

Regulatory Measures: In view of its enormous capacity to harm the public and the consumer
interest, unfair advertising is sought to be regulated in almost all major countries of the world. In
India, statutory provisions for the regulation of misleading advertising are contained in the
Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act), and the Consumer Protection Act,
1986 (CPA).

Concept of Unfair Trade Practice: A UTP, in so far as it relates to advertising, refers to any unfair
method or deceptive practice adopted for promoting the sale, use or supply of any goods, or for the
provision of any service. Moreover, the following three advertising practices are particularly
specified as unfair trade practices:
• Making false claims and misleading advertisements.

• Offering of bargain prices or pseudo discounts

• Conducting of pseudo sales promotion contests.

Regulation of Misleading Advertising under MRTP Act: Under the MRTP Act, misleading or
deceptive advertising is sought to be regulated by way of a 'cease and desist' order, or any other
appropriate direction, issued by the MRTP Commission. Before passing such an order, the
Commission is required to conduct an inquiry into the alleged misleading advertisement.

Surrogate Advertising: On September 8, 2000, the Central Government had announced a

complete ban on the telecast of alcohol and tobacco advertisements in the country. The amendment
to the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, sought to prevent surrogate advertising. The Act
prohibits all advertising which "directly or indirectly" promotes the production, sale or consumption
of tobacco, cigarettes, and alcohol. Advertisements promoting synthetic baby food have also been
banned.

Regulation of Advertising under CPA: Regulatory provisions of the CPA are to be enforced
through the redressed of grievance by a three-tier, quasijudicial machinery, set up at the district,
state, and the national levels. A complaint against any unfair trade practice can be filed before the
appropriate consumer court by any consumer or a recognized consumers' association or the Central
Government or the State Government. Consumer courts enjoy the powers of a civil court for
purposes of hearing the cases filed before them.

In the case of a UTP, a consumer court can pass a 'cease and desist' order against the erring party,
award a suitable compensation to the aggrieved person, and order the payment of costs incurred by
the winning party in pursuing the case.
Regulation under Trade Marks Act: False and misleading advertisements may also attract
regulatory measures provided in the Trade Marks Act, 1999 , any person who (1) falsifies any
trademark or (2) falsely applies to goods or services any trademark, or (3) applies any false trade
description to goods or services, shall be punishable with imprisonment and fine. These provisions
are intended to prevent the use of fraudulent marks and thereby protect the interest of consumers
as well as legitimate businessmen.

Regulation by SEBI: In order to protect the investor from unscrupulous practices of companies
offering shares and debentures to the public, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has
issued comprehensive guidelines. It is mandatory for such companies to make certain disclosures in
their offer documents. The Guidelines on Advertisements contained in the SEBI Guidelines, 2000,
provide that an advertisement for the issue of shares, etc., must be truthful, fair, and clear and
should not contain any statement which is untrue or misleading.

Self Regulation of Advertising: The internal or self regulation of misleading and deceptive
advertising is sought to be achieved through the machinery of the Advertising Standards Council of
India (ASCI). ASCI has adopted the Code of Self Regulation in Advertising, which is intended to
control offensive contents of advertisements. It seeks "to achieve the acceptance of fair advertising
practices in the best interest of the ultimate consumer."

Conclusion:
Though comprehensive legal framework for the control of unfair, deceptive, and misleading
advertising in India exists, the practice continues almost unabated. Consumers and their
organizations must assert their rights against unscrupulous businessmen indulging in such a practice
and bring such cases to the notice of the enforcement agencies.