The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) on Wednesday released its annual complaints report for 2022-23. During the period, ASCI reviewed 7,928 advertisements across different media, including print, digital and television. This raises serious concerns about the safety of consumers in the online space.
As per the report, the real-money gaming industry surpassed the education sector to emerge as the most violative sector, moving from fifth to first place. 92% of gaming advertisements reviewed by ASCI for FY2022–23 did not adhere to the guidelines for real money gaming and failed to inform consumers about the risks of financial loss and addiction.
“The complaints analysis for 2022–23 shows that the digital medium is leading in terms of violative ads. This raises significant concerns about online consumer safety and trust. Advertisers, content creators and platforms must come together to address this issue on an urgent basis to protect consumer interests. In addition, the sharp increase in the number of violative gaming ads needs serious attention from the industry,” said Manisha Kapoor, CEO and secretary general, ASCI.
ASCI has increased scrutiny of ads nearly two folds over the last two years. TV and print advertisers continued to be highly compliant at 94%. However, the overall compliance is lower at 81% due to digital. Hence, digital ads emerged not just as a leading violator, with 75% of ads processed being from the digital space, but also as the least compliant.
ASCI released its guidelines for the real money gaming sector in December 2020, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting thereafter released an advisory asking all parties to comply with the guidelines.
The sector was also the least compliant, with only 50% of ads being modified voluntarily after they have been called out.
The report revealed a sharp increase in the number of misleading ads featuring celebrities. ASCI processed 503 such ads, as opposed to 55 the previous year registering a growth of 803%. In 97% of these ads, the celebrities failed to provide evidence of due diligence as mandated by the Consumer Protection Act. In addition, influencer violations stood at 26%, with 2,039 complaints being processed against them. Categories, including personal care, food and beverage and fashion and lifestyle, topped the list of influencer-related violations.
ASCI’s adoption of artificial intelligence-based tracking has bolstered its ability to scrutinise digital media effectively, despite challenges such as the pace of advertising and the sheer number of ads to be processed.
Speaking on the AI-based surveillance system, NS Rajan, chairman, ASCI said, “Stepping up our surveillance through AI-based tools and a robust complaint management system has ensured that ASCI is keeping pace with this dynamic environment. Updating our codes to reflect newer consumer concerns makes sure the ASCI codes remain contemporary.”