The Indian government has said while no complaints were received about misleading advertisements on State-funded Doordarshan, several complaints were received from other media segments, including private TV channels.

Responding last week to a queries from fellow parliamentarians in Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) whether the government was aware of misleading advertisements broadcast on Doordarshan and other media, which give wrong and incomplete information to the consumers, Minister for Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said, “Prasar Bharti (parent of DD) has informed that no complaint about misleading advertisement on Doordarshan has been received during the last three years.”

Thakur, however, added data from Press Council of India, which is a regulatory body for newspapers and magazines, and his own ministry indicate notices were sent to and action taken against several print medium products and TV channels, respectively

“PCI has informed that in 6 such cases punitive action has been taken during January 2020-January 2021. Further, PIB (Press Information Bureau under MIB) Fact Check Unit has responded to over 25, 000 actionable queries. Besides, action has been taken against 12 TV channels for telecasting false, defamatory programmes etc.,” the Minister observed.

According to Thakur, the Election Commission, which conducts elections in India, has informed that during Lok Sabha Elections 2019 and all legislative assembly elections held after that, 167 cases of fake news/ misinformation have been reported from social media platforms for removal of content.

In India, all advertisements telecast on TV channels are regulated in accordance with the Advertising Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994.

The Department of Consumer Affairs manages an online portal called GAMA (Grievance Against Misleading Advertisements), started in 2015.

During the last three years, 2,939, 3,416 and 1,790 grievances, respectively, were received on the GAMA portal in the year 2018, 2019 and 2020, Thakur informed.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issues advisories from time to time to broadcasters for ensuring compliance to the Advertising Code.