Disclaimer in smaller fonts will get ads treated as ‘misleading’: Draft norms

NEW DELHI: The advertisers using smaller fonts for disclaimers as compared to the text of an advertisement would be treated as misleading ones under the Consumer Protection Act. Similarly, in case of audio, the disclaimer will have to be in sync with the voice over.
The consumer affairs ministry has come out with a list of such provisions in its draft guidelines to protect consumers from misleading advertisements and violation of the guidelines would face action by the recently established Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).
“Disclaimer should be clearly visible to a normally-sighted person reading the marketing communication once, from a reasonable distance and at a reasonable speed,” it says.
The draft guidelines also specify that where an advertisement is endorsed by an expert, the endorsement shall be supported by an actual exercise of that expertise in evaluating product features or characteristics with respect to which he is an expert.
It also proposes that an advertisement should not describe a good or service as free, without charge or other similar terms, if a consumer has to pay anything other than the cost while buying the product or paying for delivery of the item.
On the issue of bait advertisement, the proposed guidelines say an advertisement shall not seek to entice consumers to purchase a good or service without a reasonable prospect of selling the advertised good or service at the price offered. “An advertiser shall ensure that there is adequate supply of goods or services to meet foreseeable demand generated by such advertisement…if the estimated demand exceeds supply, advertisements shall make clear that the stock of the good or service is limited; if the purposRead More – Source

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