Gujarat FDCA acts on CERC’s call to curb misleading advts
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in Media, Press Releases
Issues show cause notice to advertisers; orders sale and marketing of 10 products to be stopped
Ahmedabad, 20 June 2017
In an encouraging development, the Food & Drugs Control Administration (FDCA), Gujarat has taken a decisive step to curb misleading and objectionable advertisements. Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad had alerted FDCA about such advts in the local media. FDCA has issued show-cause notices in 13 out of 15 cases.
FDCA has not only ordered the companies to stop publication of the objectionable advertisements with immediate effect, but also discontinue marketing and sale of the products being advertised. They have been asked to explain why any legal action or any other stringent measures should not be taken against them. Further, all the manufacturers/advertisers have to send detailed and specific explanation and compliance report to FDCA from the date of receipt of the show cause notice. A copy of the notice has been sent to the Director, AYUSH for information and necessary action and has also been sent to the relevant licensing authorities based in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, UP, Haryana, New Delhi, Mumbai and Uttarakhand to take action against the errant manufacturers.
The advts are of products that claim to cure cancer, impotence, obesity, diabetes, enhance bust size, increase height and increase energy. These advts contravene provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954. As per the Act, no person can take part in the publication of any advertisement referring to any drug which suggests or leads to the use of that drug for diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or cure of any disease mentioned in the schedule to the Act.
Over the years, CERC has been waging a relentless war against misleading advts. Misleading vernacular advts rarely come under the ambit of monitoring. Having spotted several such advts in the recently, CERC requested FDCA to take action to protect consumer interests. Given below is the list of advertisements sent by CERC to FDCA:
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List of advertisements with objectionable claims
| No | Product/Service | Claims |
| 1 | BT-361 (M/s Sunrise Remedies, Kalol) | Beautiful shape, new attitude, full of confidence – bust enhancement |
| 2 | Kad Vadhaaro2 (M/s Om Sai Ayurveda, Delhi) | Increases height |
| 3 | New Life Cancer Care – (M/s New Life Cancer, Ahmedabad) | Beneficial in cancer cases |
| 4 | Energic 31 (M/s Ayurveda Vikas Sansthan, Uttarakhand) | Removes weakness, makes you energetic |
| 5 | Freshiya (M/s Freshiya Healthcare, Ahmedabad) | Weight loss |
| 6 | Chemforce (M/s Chemical Resources, Panchkula) | Increases overall energy and vitality; solves sexual impotence problem |
| 7 | Va-Nari Vati Pills (M/s Shree Narayan Ayurvedic Pharmacy, Ahmedabad) | Energy Pills |
| 8 | Ayuway Herbal Noni (M/s Ayuway Herbal Products, Ahmedabad) | Control cancer, arthritis apart from
many others |
| 9 | Sanjivani – Sex Samasayo (M/s Sanjivan Ayurvedashram, Ghaziabad) | Solves sexual impotence problem |
| 10 | Sex Clinics – Vrax Vardhak Yantra (M/s Sanjivan Ayurvedashram, Ghaziabad) | Bust enhancement |
| 11 | BT 36 (M/s Soliel International, Rohtak) | Beautiful shape, new attitude, full of confidence – bust enhancement |
| 12 | Kad Vadharo (M/s Om Sai Ayurveda, Pune) | Increases height |
| 13 | Energic 31 (M/s Ayurveda Vikas Sansthan, UP) | Removes weakness, makes you energetic |
1 On enquiring about BT-36, the company said that it is useful for breast enhancement. It is recommended for women above the age of 14 years. It costs Rs. 1000 for a course of 1 month which can be extended if needed.
2 When we enquired about Kad Vadharo, it was found that the product is recommended for the age group 10-40 years! It is a 3 month course, cost of which is Rs. 7,000 (Diwali offer). Normal offer is Rs. 10,500.
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Misleading, false and objectionable advertisements are a menace in India luring gullible consumers into making unwise choices of goods and services. Some of the products making false and misleading claims are heavily priced. Worse still, the advts are seen by low literacy and low income populations in urban and rural areas which are more likely to be duped.
Informatively, CERC is currently working on a Consumers International (CI) Anne Fransen Fund project on “Creating Awareness on Misleading Advertisements to Enable Informed Choiceâ€. As part of the project, CERC is monitoring and analysing Gujarati advts in newspapers and magazines and on television and websites.
CERC has also been awarded a two year project by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, titled: ‘Study on Misleading Advertisement and Policy Intervention’. The overall objective of the project is to curb the menace of misleading advertisements and move towards a scenario of responsible advertising.
For further information please contact
Ms Pritee Shah (O) 079-27489945/46Â Â (M) +91 99048 63838
