New Delhi: Last week, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) released its draft guidelines for preventing misleading coaching institute ads and greenwashing and invited public feedback.
CCPA’s move came over a fortnight after the body had imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on the edtech major Unacademy for misleading advertisements for civil service examination.
Greenwashing refers to the use of unsubstantiated environmental claims by advertisers such as the use of terms like “environmentally friendly” or “clean” without adequate evidence.
Set up under Section 10 of the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the CCPA is the regulatory authority in matters that pertain to consumer rights. Penalties for a misleading ad campaign range from Rs 10 lakh for the first offence to Rs 50,000 for subsequent offences.
But the Unacademy case wasn’t the first time the consumer body cracked down on advertising malpractices. From issuing notices to actors allegedly endorsing pan masalas to pulling up an e-commerce giant, the Central Consumer Protection Authority — India’s apex consumer interest forum — has been cracking the whip on such practices this past year. Here are some instances.
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Pan masala, surrogate advertisements
In October 2023, three of India’s most well-known actors — Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Ajay Devgn — were issued notice from CCPA for surrogate promoting tobacco products. In his petition, advocate Motilal Yadav said that celebrities — including “Padma awardees” — were promoting ‘Vimal Eliachi’, a product he claimed was a “surrogate” for actual tobacco products such as zarda, gutka, and khaini.
Surrogate advertising refers to ads of an alternate and lesser-known product where advertising is not restricted as a proxy to promote the actual intended product.
Despite being recipients of high-profile awards, they were promoting “injurious products”, the petition said.
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 bans advertisement of such products bans companies from hiring celebrities to promote tobacco products.
The CCPA’s action came a year after it issued notices to pan masala brands such as Kamla Pasand, Vimal, and Rajnigandha for similar “surrogate” products.
Cracking down on ‘dark patterns’
As a regulator, CCPA has also issued guidelines to prevent “dark patterns” — a term meant to describe manipulative practices that range from disguised advertising, bait and click, choice manipulation, creating false urgency, and privacy concerns.
Issued in December 2023, the CCPA guidelines aim to regulate deceptive design practices that mislead or subvert consumer choices. It lists 13 dark patterns, including creating a false urgency by claiming that the product will soon go out of stock or making additions to products or services without consent, and “confirm shaming” — a practice of guilting consumers.
The guidelines came months after the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) and Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) held consultations with stakeholders on “dark patterns”.
Recall of pressure cookers, order against Amazon subsidiary
Another case involves Cloudtail India, a subsidiary of Amazon India. In August 2023, CCPA pulled up Cloudtail India for selling pressure cookers in violation of prescribed norms.
The pressure cookers in question were without whistles, a violation of India’s quality standards. CCPA had ordered Cloudtail to “recall” more than a thousand units and refund customers. It also imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh for a breach of quality standards and violation of rights.
Cloudtail appealed the order at the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, India’s apex consumer adjudicatory body, but it was dismissed.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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