After weeks of negotiations and multiple meetings with industry stakeholders, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) finally issued a new advisory on Wednesday, restricting the self-declaration certificate (SDC) mandate to the Food and Health sectors. The fresh advisory also states that brands will have to provide the certificate annually and not every time an ad is published. The new directions have the industry breathing a sigh of relief while lauding the ministry for addressing the concerns of the sector.

Shared Rakesh Sharma, President, Indian Newspaper Society, “This is a big relief for the industry and we are very happy. The industry is very happy to see the proactive action taken by the MIB Secretary on the problems we expressed to him during our two personal meetings on June 11 and June 24.”

“The Supreme Court order specifically stated that the order is primarily for health & food products, but the ministry issued a blanket order for all advertising. However, later, the MIB secretary asked senior officials to read the court order and take inputs from the Solicitor General of India. Thereafter, a fresh order was issued,” he added.

The CMO of a leading news channel too lauded the order. “The MIB Secretary has been fantastic in understanding the industry’s concerns and this is great news for everyone. For sure Patanjali got everyone in trouble and the repercussions were bound to happen, but the MIB took into account everyone’s problems and came out with solutions that adhered to the Supreme Court’s ruling as well.

Varghese Chandy, VP of Marketing and Advertising Sales at Malayalam Manorama, shared that the new order is the “right thing to have happened.”

“It is definitely a relief,” he added.

According to Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General, Advertising Standards Council of India, commitment to honest advertising remains paramount and the industry must continue its commitment to being compliant with all applicable laws.  “Advertising is under increased regulatory scrutiny and advertisers and agencies should take the required steps to ensure compliance. This is true across sectors,” Kapoor expressed.

Shradha Agarwal, Co-founder, Grapes, calls it a “great start” by the new government. “It is a great start, because the food and health categories have products that go in or on your body. And taking responsibility for it is of utmost importance,” she said.  

Sajal Gupta, Chief Executive of Kiaos Marketing, too opines that it is a good move to restrict the SDC to two critical industries of health and food as these categories are most prone to misinformation. “Some of the operational concerns have also been heard and annual self- declaration has been allowed.  The advertising industry needs more such laws emphasising transparency."

The change underscores the commitment to responsible advertising practices and offers a clear way forward for advertisers to adapt to these new requirements, stated Ambika Sharma, Founder and MD, Pulp Strategy. “Advertisers must familiarize themselves with the updated process and ensure proof of submission to avoid any disruptions in their advertising campaigns," Sharma emphasized.

However, while the MIB’s decision to restrict the mandate to food & health categories has definitely brought cheer in the industry, it has also caused some confusion. Marketers say the order lacks clarity on which products are classified under the food & health categories. For instance, asked a marketer, “Will the beauty & personal care segment come under the health category considering the skin is involved?” 

Agarwal too agrees. “There still is some ambiguity as to what comes under which category. There needs to be clarity on which brands can be categorised under either of these sectors."

The CMO of the news channel, however, assuaged the concerns for now, saying, “Those who feel there is still ambiguity for health and food advertisers must know that the Supreme Court will take care of finer details and put more teeth into the law. The MIB just gives advisory and drafts, not the final verdict.”

Ever since the apex court issued the order in this regard on May 7, 2024, there has been a lot of discussion on the mandate between the ministry and industry stakeholders about the problems related to its implementation. The ISA had even sent a letter to the ministry highlighting the key challenges with the mandate and the portal.

The self-declaration certificate mandate was ordered by Supreme Court on May 7 while hearing the misleading ad's case of Patanjali. In accordance with the court order, the MIB on June 3 and mandated the requirement of self-declaration from all advertisements to be published on June 18.