Mudrex - Mudrex INC

Recommendation: Upheld | Medium: Suo Motu - NAMS (TAMS)

In the absence of required action on or before the prescribed due date, Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) considered this complaint exparte. Advertisement shows an Influencer promoting a cryptocurrency investment platform. The advertisement does not carry a disclosure label that clearly identifies it as an advertisement. The influencer / advertiser have not disclosed details regarding any material connection, monetary or non-monetary between the advertiser and the influencer nor does it indicate whether or not the influencer was paid to post the details of the advertiser’s services. The influencer has not mentioned any disclosure labels such as "Advertisement", "Ad", "Sponsored", "Collaboration", “Partnership”, "Employee", "Free Gift", “Paid Partnership”, “Affiliate”, at the start of the advertisement. The influencer (Shatakshi Dwivedi) appears to be a financial influencer but has not disclosed her SEBI registration or relevant qualifications, such as an IRDAI insurance license, CA, or CS certification. Since she is promoting services in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector, it is essential for her to have the necessary qualifications and certifications to provide accurate and reliable information to consumers. Moreover, she has not provided proof of these qualifications and have not disclosed them upfront in the advertisement. In the absence of such disclosure labels, the advertisement is misleading by omission and exploits consumers' lack of knowledge. Since necessary disclosures were not inserted in the captioned advertisement, this advertisement is in Chapter I, Clauses 1.4 and 1.5 of the ASCI Code, and Clause 1, 1.1(a), and 1.3(a) of ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media, and Clauses 1 and 2 (2) of Addendum II For Health and Financial Influencers of the ASCI Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media. Complaint was Upheld.