As part of a crackdown on misinformation spread by advertisers, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is planning to make information public about the establishments and brands that are running misleading advertisements, Mint reported on Saturday (16th December) citing officials.
In a statement, the CCPA stated that they will soon be “naming and shaming” companies that are publishing misleading ads to discourage such practices, as reported by Mint.
As per reports, the orders and notices issued against establishments running misleading ad campaigns, like coaching institutes, and service providers, will soon be displayed on the official websites of the CCPA and its nodal Ministry. Notably, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is the Nodal Ministry of India’s consumer protection authority.
As per the current working procedure of CCPA, the authority did not publicly disclose the information of the companies or establishments that run misleading ads. However, it is now planning to display their names on the CCPA website so that the consumers will be alerted to make informed decisions.
Additionally, the Nodal Ministry is also planning to conduct a study to evaluate the impact of the CCPA’s new guidelines on the public, officials cited by Mint stated.
The report further added that these measures are being taken to eliminate misinformation spread by certain corporations regarding their services.
As per the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, for any product or service, misleading advertisement pertains to any advertisement, that— (i) falsely describes such product or service; or (ii) gives a false guarantee to, or is likely to mislead the consumers as to the nature, substance, quantity or quality of such product or service; or (iii) conveys an express or implied representation which, if made by the manufacturer or seller or service provider thereof, would constitute an unfair trade practice; or (iv) deliberately conceals important information.
It is important to note that the CCPA had earlier issued 20 notices to IAS coaching centres for allegedly running misleading advertisements. As per reports, the authority issued a warning to all coaching centres. Apart from the warning, heavy penalties were imposed on eight of these institutes.
The information was given by the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply on 13th December in the Lok Sabha.
However, the authority didn’t reveal the names and locations of these IAS coaching institutes to the general public.
