SUPREME COURT ORDERS MINISTRY OF AYUSH TO LAUNCH DASHBOARD FOR TRACKING MISLEADING ADS COMPLAINTS
Category: Legal News
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The move was in regard to increasing transparency whereby consumers are kept aware of the steps being taken regarding their complaints.
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The direction came while hearing a plea by the Indian Medical Association, which had expressed concern over misleading advertisements, mainly about health products. But the IMA's plea demanded proper and stricter regulation and better awareness to combat such false claims that could prove harmful to consumers.
A bench led by Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Sandeep Mehta held that data regarding complaints has to be in the public domain. The court opined that if proper data pertaining to the complaints and the action taken is not available, consumers are left in dark and their confidence in the regulatory mechanism gets eroded.
The court has also pointed out that most complaints against misleading advertisements are simply forwarded to other states, where the firms behind such advertisements are located, outside these states. This results in decentralization of data whereby it becomes difficult for consumers to know the fate of their complaints.
The new dashboard is a single window mechanism through which information on details of complaints and action taken on them will be shared with the public. This move is likely to throw up a number of key issues related to transparency, accountability, and efficiency. When the complaint data are open to everybody, not only the redressal taken on their grievances but consumers will also get to know the actions viewed, thereby enhancing faith in the regulatory process. The dashboard would make firms accountable for their advertisements, since the public can monitor the status of complaints and action against misleading claims. It will make processing of the complaints easier and aid the Ministry of Ayush in monitoring the problems and resolving them quickly if all the data gets centralized.
The Supreme Court has also specified the stricter implementation of existing laws, including the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. With this direction, the court desires that such misleading advertisements should be effectively plugged so that consumers may not fall prey to baseless claims, hazardous to their health and welfare.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court ordering that the Ministry of Ayush will have a dashboard tracking misleading advertisement complaints is a huge gain in transparency and consumer protection. This move is, therefore, going to empower the consumer against the firms and ensure that such advertisements get actionable redress at the shortest notice. Through this, the Ministry shall ensure effectiveness on the dashboard in bringing about these expected results.
OLQ is a Pan-India basis law firm connecting legal expertise nationwide.
WRITTEN BY: MARIA THERESE SYRIAC
GUIDED BY: ADVOCATE ANIK
