Regulator's Proposal to Ban Indian Celebrities From Endorsing Crypto Has Not Been Discussed by Ad Policy Body

2 years ago

Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory newsman covering India. He holds BTC and ETH beneath CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has said that currently, nary changes to the guidelines connected crypto advertisements are being discussed, clearing the aerial connected its presumption arsenic an important stakeholder connected a suggested prohibition connected Indian celebrities endorsing crypto products.

India's Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had suggested that nary salient nationalist figures, including celebrities and sportsmen, should endorse crypto products and that an advertisement disclosure should besides speech astir imaginable usurpation of laws, according to a report by The Hindu Business Line.

SEBI submitted a written study of its views to the Parliamentary Standing Committee connected Finance, the study said.

Manisha Kapoor, the CEO and Secretary General of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), said "this appears to beryllium the presumption of SEBI successful ongoing discussions wrong the government."

"ASCI has a circumstantial line connected celebrities. Plus determination is simply a clause successful the crypto guidelines arsenic well. We person ever maintained that celebrities request to bash their owed diligence connected the claims they endorse. And the Consumer Protection Act, too, lays down penalties for endorsers successful lawsuit the [ad] they diagnostic successful is recovered misleading, and if they person done nary owed diligence. Endorsers whitethorn not person domain expertise but they indispensable instrumentality the effort to bash owed diligence arsenic portion of their responsibilities," Kapoor said.

ASCI does not person the authorization to prohibition celebrities from endorsing immoderate products. That authorization rests with the authorities alone. However, ASCI guidelines are considered a blueprint to travel to support Indian consumers' interests successful the involvement of self-regulation successful advertising.

"ASCI needs celebrities to beryllium careful. Since banning oregon not is not successful our preview, it’s not a stance ASCI tin instrumentality oregon has taken," Kapoor said.

While the authorities whitethorn beryllium evaluating the anticipation of imposing a ban, it whitethorn not beryllium realistic and could perchance beryllium challenged, a root acquainted with the substance told CoinDesk.

In precocious 2021, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a gathering to see the regulatory prospects for cryptocurrencies. At that meeting, according to reports, a beardown statement was reached to halt "attempts to mislead the younker done over-promising and non-transparent advertising."

ASCI past released caller guidelines connected Feb. 23, 2022 and effectual April 1, 2022 aft discussions were held with antithetic stakeholders.

Under India's Consumer Protection Act, celebrities tin beryllium fined up to Rs 10 lakh (roughly $13,000 approx.) for a mendacious oregon misleading advertisement successful the archetypal lawsuit and Rs 50 lakh (approximately $65,000) for immoderate further instances, with the anticipation of a implicit prohibition connected endorsing immoderate merchandise for up to 3 years.

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Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory newsman covering India. He holds BTC and ETH beneath CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Amitoj Singh is CoinDesk's regulatory newsman covering India. He holds BTC and ETH beneath CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.


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