SC mandates advertisers to ‘self-declare’ that their ads not misleading before releasing them

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued an order that all advertisers/advertising Agencies must submit a ‘Self-Declaration Certificate’ before publishing or broadcasting any advertisement. 

Following the court’s directive, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has introduced a new feature on the Broadcast Seva Portal of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for TV and Radio Advertisements and on the Press Council of India’s portal for Print and Digital/Internet Advertisements. 

The certificate, signed by an authorised representative of the advertiser/advertising agency, needs to be submitted through these portals.

The portal will be activated on June 4, 2024. The Self-Declaration Certificate is required to be obtained by all advertisers and advertising agencies for all new advertisements that will be issued/telecast/aired/published on or after June 18, 2024. 

A buffer period of two weeks has been kept to provide sufficient time for all stakeholders to familiarise themselves with the process of self-certification. Ongoing advertisements do not require self-certification.

The self-declaration certificate is to certify that the advertisement (i) does not contain misleading claims, and (ii) complies with all relevant regulatory guidelines, including those stipulated in Rule 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 and the Norms of Journalistic Conduct of Press Council of India. Advertisers must provide proof of uploading the Self-Declaration Certificate to the relevant broadcaster, printer, publisher, or electronic media platform for their records. 

As per the Supreme Court’s directive, no advertisement will be permitted to run on television, print media, or the internet without a valid Self-Declaration Certificate.