The ASCI Code

For the purpose of this Code:

1. An advertisement is defined as a paid-for communication, addressed to the public or a section of it, the purpose of which is to promote, directly or indirectly, the sale or use of goods and services to whom it is addressed. Any communication which in the normal course may or may not be recognised as advertisement by the general public, but is paid for, or owned or authorised by the advertiser or their advertising agency would be included in the definition.
2. A product is anything which forms the subject of an advertisement, and includes goods, services and facilities.
3. A consumer is any person or corporate body who is likely to be reached by an advertisement, whether as an ultimate consumer, in the way of trade, or otherwise.
4. An advertiser is anybody, including an individual or partnership or corporate body or association, on whose brief the advertisement is designed, and on whose account the advertisement is released.
5. An advertising agency includes all individuals, partnerships, corporate bodies or associations, who or which work for planning, research, creation or placement of advertisements, or the creation of material for advertisements for advertisers, or for other advertising agencies.
6. Media owners are organisations or individuals in effective control of the management of media, or their agents. Media are any means used for the propagation of advertisements and include press, cinema, radio, television, hoardings, hard bills, direct mail, posters, internet, digital etc.
7. Children are defined as persons who are below the age of 12 years
8. Any written or graphic matter on packaging, whether unitary or bulk, or contained in it, is subject to this Code in the same manner as any advertisement in any other medium.
9. To publish is to carry the advertisement in any media, whether by printing, exhibiting, broadcasting, displaying, distributing, etc.

To ensure truthfulness and honesty of representations and claims made by advertisements, and to safeguard against misleading advertisements

1. Advertisements must be truthful. All descriptions, claims and comparisons, which relate to matters of objectively ascertainable fact, should be capable of substantiation. Advertisers and advertising agencies are required to produce such substantiation as and when called upon to do so by The Advertising Standards Council of India.
2. Where advertising claims are expressly stated to be based on, or supported by independent research or assessment, its source and date should be indicated in the advertisement.
3. Advertisements shall not, without permission from the person, firm or institution under reference, contain any reference to such person, firm or institution, which confers an unjustified advantage on the product advertised or tends to bring the person, firm or institution into ridicule or disrepute. If and when required to do so by The Advertising Standards Council of India, the advertiser and the advertising agency shall produce explicit permission from the person, firm or institution to which reference is made in the advertisement.
4. Advertisements shall neither distort facts nor mislead the consumer by means of implications or omissions. Advertisements shall not contain statements or visual presentation, which directly, or by implication or by omission or by ambiguity or by exaggeration, are likely to mislead the consumer about the product advertised or the advertiser, or about any other product or advertiser.
5. Advertisements shall not be so framed as to abuse the trust of consumers, or exploit their lack of experience or knowledge. No advertisement shall be permitted to contain any claim so exaggerated as to lead to grave or widespread disappointment in the minds of consumers.
   For example:
   1. Products shall not be described as `free` where there is any direct cost to the consumer other than the actual cost of any delivery, freight, or postage. Where such costs are payable by the consumer, a clear statement that this is the case shall be made in the advertisement.
   2. Where a claim is made that if one product is purchased, another product will be provided ‘free’, the advertiser is required to show, as and when called upon by The Advertising Standards Council of India, that the price paid by the consumer for the product which is offered for purchase with the advertised incentive is no more than the prevailing price of the product without the advertised incentive.
   3. Claims which use expressions such as “up to five years guarantee” or “Prices from as low as Rs. Y” are not acceptable if there is a likelihood of the consumer being misled, either as to the extent of the availability, or as to the applicability of the benefits offered.
   4. Special care and restraint has to be exercised in advertisements addressed to those suffering from weakness, any real or perceived inadequacy of any physical attributes such as height or bust development, obesity, illness, impotence, infertility, baldness and the like, to ensure that claims or representations, directly or by implication, do not exceed what is considered prudent by generally accepted standards of medical practice and the actual efficacy of the product.
   5. Advertisements inviting the public to invest money shall not contain statements which may mislead the consumer in respect of the security offered, rates of return or terms of amortisation; where any of the foregoing elements are contingent upon the continuance of, or change in existing conditions, or any other assumptions, such conditions or assumptions must be clearly indicated in the advertisement.
   6. Advertisements inviting the public to take part in lotteries or prize competitions permitted under law, or which hold out the prospect of gifts, shall state clearly all material conditions as to enable the consumer to obtain a true and fair view of their prospects in such activities. Further, such advertisers shall make adequate provisions for the judging of such competitions announcement of the results and the fair distribution of prizes or gifts according 11 to the advertised terms and conditions within a reasonable period of time. With regard to the announcement of results, it is clarified that the advertiser’s esponsibility under this section of the Code is discharged adequately if the advertiser and results in the media used to announce the competition, as far as is practicable and advises the individual winners by post.
6. Obvious untruths or exaggerations intended to amuse or to catch the eye of the consumer are permissible, provided that they are clearly to be seen as humorous or hyperbolic, and not likely to be understood as making literal or misleading claims for the dvertised product.
7. In mass manufacturing and distribution of goods and services it is possible that there may be an occasional and unintentional lapse in the fulfilment of an advertised promise or claim. Such occasional and unintentional lapses may not invalidate the dvertisement in terms of this Code. In judging such issues, due regard shall be given to the following:
   1. Whether the claim or promise is capable of fulfilment by a typical specimen of the product advertised.
   2. Whether the proportion of product failures is within generally acceptable limits.
   3. Whether the advertiser has taken prompt action to make good the deficiency to the consumer.

To ensure that advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards of public decency. Advertisements should contain nothing indecent, vulgar, especially in the depiction of women, or nothing repulsive which is likely, in the light of generally prevailing standards of decency and propriety, to cause grave and widespread offence.

To safeguard against the indiscriminate use of advertising in situations or of the promotion of products or services which are regarded as hazardous or harmful to society or to individuals, particularly children, to a degree, or of a type which is unacceptable to society at large.

1. No advertisement shall be permitted which:
   1. Tends to incite people to crime or to promote disorder and violence or intolerance.
   2. Derides any individual or groups on the basis of race, caste, colour, religion, gender, body shape, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental conditions, or nationality
   3. Presents criminality as desirable, or directly or indirectly encourages people – particularly children – to emulate it, or conveys the modus operandi of any crime.
   4. Adversely affects friendly relations with a foreign State.
2. Advertisements addressed to children shall not contain anything, whether in illustration or otherwise, which might result in their physical, mental or moral harm, or which exploits their vulnerability
   For example, advertisements:
   1. Should not encourage children to enter strange places or converse with strangers in an effort to collect coupons, wrappers, labels, or the like.
   2. Should not feature dangerous or hazardous acts which are likely to encourage children to emulate such acts in a manner which could cause harm or injury.
   3. Should not show children using or playing with matches or any inflammable or explosive substance; or playing with, or using sharp knives, guns or mechanical or electrical appliances, the careless use of which could lead to their suffering cuts, burns, shocks or other injury.
   4. Should not feature children for tobacco or alcohol-based products.
   5. Should not feature personalities from the field of sports and entertainment for products which, by law, require a health warning such as “………….. is injurious to health” in their advertising or packaging.
3. Advertisements shall not, without justifiable reason, show or refer to dangerous practices, or manifest a disregard for safety, or encourage negligence.
4. Advertisements should contain nothing which is in breach of the law, nor omit anything which the law requires.
5. Advertisements shall not propagate products or services, the use of which is banned under the law.
6. Advertisements for products or services whose advertising is prohibited or restricted by law or by this Code must not circumvent such restrictions by purporting to be advertisements for other products or services, the advertising of which is not prohibited or restricted by law, or by this Code. In judging whether or not any particular advertisement is an indirect advertisement for a product or service whose advertising is restricted or prohibited, due attention shall be paid to the following:
   1. Whether the unrestricted product, which is purportedly sought to be promoted through the advertisement under the complaint, is produced and distributed in reasonable quantities, having regard to the scale of the advertising in question, the media used and the markets targeted.
   2. Whether there exist in the advertisement under complaint, any direct or indirect clues or cues which could suggest to consumers that it is a direct or indirect advertisement for the product or service whose advertising is restricted or prohibited by law orby this Code.
   3. Where advertising is necessary, the mere use of a brand name or company name that may also be applied to a product or service whose advertising is restricted or prohibited, is not a reason to find the advertisement objectionable, provided the advertisement is not objectionable in terms of (a) and (b) above. Last updated: April 29, 2024

To ensure that advertisements observe fairness in competition such that the consumer’s need to be informed on choice in the marketplace and the canons of generally accepted competitive behavior in business are both served.

Guidelines

1. Advertisements containing comparisons with other manufacturers or suppliers, or with other products, including those where a competitor is named, are permissible in the interests of vigorous competition and public enlightenment, provided:
   1. It is clear what aspects of the advertiser’s product are being compared with what aspects of the competitor’s product
   2. The subject matter of comparison is not chosen in such a way as to confer an artificial advantage upon the advertiser or so as to suggest that a better bargain is offered than is truly the case.
   3. The comparisons are factual, accurate and capable of substantiation.
   4. There is no likelihood of the consumer being misled as a result of the comparison, whether about the product advertised or that with which it is compared.
   5. The advertisement does not unfairly denigrate, attack or discredit other products, advertisers or advertisements directly or by implication
2. Advertisements shall not make unjustifiable use of the name or initials of any other firm, company or institution, nor take unfair advantage of the goodwill attached to the trademark or symbol of another firm, its product or the goodwill acquired by its advertising campaign.
3. Advertisements shall not be similar to any other advertiser’s earlier run advertisements in general layout, copy, slogans, visual presentations, music or sound effects, so as to suggest plagiarism.
4. As regards matters covered by sections 2 and 3 above, complaints of plagiarism of advertisements released earlier abroad will lie outside the scope of this Code, except in the under-mentioned circumstances:
   1. The complaint is lodged within 12 months of the first general circulation of the advertisements/campaign complained against.
   2. The complainant provides substantiation regarding the claim of prior invention/usage abroad.

Chairman

Board of Governors, ASCI April 21^st2012