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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • The job puzzle

    Context

    The government has assured the creation of one million jobs over the next one-and-a-half years. This may be optimistic, but if it does materialise, the employment landscape will change dramatically.

    Background

    • What is the unemployment rate? Expressed in percentage, the unemployment rate is defined as the share of people who are without any job.
    • Joblessness in the country essentially relates to educated young adults seeking jobs in the formal economy.
    • The government recently announced it would recruit 10 lakh people in “mission mode” over the next one-and-a-half years.
    • The announcement came at a time when the unemployment rate for youth (aged 15-29 years) in urban areas has been hovering at over 20 per cent for the last several quarters.

    What is the employment situation in India today?

    • If jobs are being created on a progressive basis, there will be an increase in income generation, which in turn, should spur consumption.
    • Therefore, if consumption picks up – this can be indicated by the growth in the consumer goods segments — then one can be confident of jobs being created.
    • What is the situation in India? Consumer durable goods have been registering negative or slightly positive growth for the last five years or so — this is a reflection of the purchasing power of the people that ultimately can be linked to job creation.
    • There have been talks of start-up economy in the country and their achievements.
    • Interestingly, it is a well-known fact that, globally, 80-85 per cent of start-ups fold up in the first couple of years mainly due to non-viable models that fail the scaling-up challenge.
    • Therefore, while start-ups sound exciting, job creation at scale cannot be part of these experiments, unless there is an assured flow of funds.

    Challenge in recruiting 10 lakh people

    • It will be a really big task given that presently the central government offices house around 3.45 million personnel as per the budget for 2022-23.
    • Short time frame: The first challenge is in recruiting such a large number in this short period of time considering that there are fairly lengthy processes involved in hiring people to government departments.
    • Finding meaningful role: Hiring such a number is good for the country, but finding meaningful roles for them in various departments needs to be seriously examined.
    • Quite clearly, plans need to be in place to provide work to this set of new employees.
    • Increase in cost for the government: The third issue that would have to be kept in mind is the increase in cost for the government.
    • As per the budget for 2022-23, the average outgo per employee was around Rs 12.20 lakh.
    • Assuming the new set earns half of the existing average, the additional cost would be at least Rs 60,000 crore.
    • The salary outlay for the year was Rs 4.22 lakh crore.
    • These provisions would have to be made in subsequent budgets.

    Conclusion

    The overall unemployment picture looks complex today. While the government’s intent to add over a million jobs in the next 18 months is laudable, the task is audacious and challenging from both an administrative and financial point of view.

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  • Enemy Property in India

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered some cases on allegations that huge losses to the exchequer was caused by leasing out prime-value land under the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI) on forged documents.

    Why in news?

    • Hectares of commercial land located in Uttar Pradesh were leased out at nominal rates in favour of the lessees through manipulation.

    What is “Enemy Property”?

    • In the wake of the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, there was the migration of people from India to Pakistan.
    • Under the Defence of India Rules framed under The Defence of India Act, 1962, the Government of India took over the properties and companies of those who took Pakistani nationality.
    • These “enemy properties” were vested by the central government in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
    • The same was done for property left behind by those who went to China after the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
    • The Tashkent Declaration of January 10, 1966 included a clause that said India and Pakistan would discuss the return of the property and assets taken over by either side in connection with the conflict.
    • However, the Government of Pakistan disposed of all such properties in their country in the year 1971 itself.

    Dealing with enemy property

    • The Enemy Property Act, enacted in 1968, provided for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI).
    • The central government, through the Custodian, is in possession of enemy properties spread across many states in the country.
    • Some movable properties too, are categorised as enemy properties.
    • In 2017, Parliament passed The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amended The Enemy Property Act, 1968, and The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.

     

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  • Extending the Aspirational District Programme (ADP)

    The PM has hoped to extend the Aspirational District Programme (ADP) to block and city levels.

    Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP)

    • Launched in January 2018, the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ initiative aims to remove this heterogeneity through a mass movement to quickly and effectively transform these districts.
    • The broad contours of the program are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts driven by a spirit of mass Movement.
    • With States as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.

    Behind the name

    • PM then negated the idea of naming any scheme based on their backwardness.
    • Rather the name ‘Aspirational’ presents a more affirmative action-based execution of the scheme.

    Selection of districts

    • A total of 117 Aspirational districts have been identified by NITI Aayog based upon composite indicators.
    • The objective of the program is to monitor the real-time progress of aspirational districts based on 49 indicators (81 data points) from the 5 identified thematic areas.

    Weightage has been accorded to these districts as below:

    • Health & Nutrition (30%)
    • Education (30%)
    • Agriculture & Water Resources (20%)
    • Financial Inclusion & Skill Development (10%)
    • Basic Infrastructure (10%)

    Strategy of the ADP

    The core Strategy of the program may be summarized as follows.

    • Making development a mass movement in these districts
    • Identify low hanging fruits and the strength of each district, to act as a catalyst
    • for development.
    • Measure progress and rank districts to spur a sense of competition.
    • Districts shall aspire to become State’s best to Nation’s best.

    Features of the ADP

    • It has transformed into a Jan Andolan.
    • The ADP is different in trying to monitor the improvement of these districts through real-time data tracking.
    • The programme seeks to develop convergence between selected existing central and state government programmes.
    • District performance in the public domain and experience building of the district bureaucracy is another notable feature.
    • The programme is targeted, not towards any single group of beneficiaries, but rather towards the population of the district as a whole.

    What makes this program special?

    The program reflects what has become of the development project in India under neoliberalism, especially after the end of planning.

    • Long overdue sectors have been given more emphasis.
    • It is not a tailor-made program with one-size-fit strategy. More onus has been laid on the districts. It has a district-intervention strategy.
    • It works on the principle of SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity and threats) model and comparison with national best parameters for effective resource management.
    • It is the most reviewed programme by the Prime Minister.
    • A general idea behind the idea is that a good work never goes un-noticed. It is duly appreciated on social media as well as by the officials.

    Programmatic Strengths

    • A key strength of the ADP is the collection of baseline data and follow-ups at regular intervals.
    • Sustaining this effort would create a robust compilation of statistics for use by both researchers and policy-makers.
    • In doing this, the government also brings much-needed attention to human development and a willingness to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
    • Incremental progress being made in the chosen districts as reflected in the rankings.
    • The programme also claims to be “non-partisan and unbiased” and geared towards all-India growth.
    • The selection of districts indeed suggests that the programme has not favored any bias either regional, political or any other.
    • The programme seeks convergence of central and state schemes anchored around specific activities.

    Issues with the programme

    • Using the case of Bihar, they argue that the programmes selection of districts itself is problematic.
    • In fact, it actually excludes the most backward districts because per capita income, the most basic measure of development, has not been considered.
    • There seems to be some ambiguity around the issue of whether the programme is concerned only with improved access or also with the quality of service provided.
    • The indicators used are not defined relationally, rather they are static human development indicators that do not see people mired in dynamic social relations.
    • It is also accused that the state is not making any new or focused public investment (except for possible use of Flexi-funds) into these districts, on the other hand, it is moralizing about their inability to improve (through rankings).
    • The programme is carrying the burden of proving the government’s “developmental” work without addressing any of the fundamental issues around achieving equitable development.
    • Yet, the NITI Aayog justifies the overall approach as capitalizing on “low-hanging fruit.”

    Way forward

    • The program has been able to make difference in the lives of citizens of India, in education, health, nutrition, financial inclusion, skill development and this has made a difference to some most backward and most geographically far-flung districts of the nation.
    • ADP is ‘aligned to the principle of “leave no one behind—the vital core of the SDGs. Political commitment at the highest level has resulted in the rapid success of the program the report said.
    • UNDP has recommended revising a few indicators that are slightly close to reaching their saturation or met by most districts like ‘electrification of households’ as an indicator of basic infrastructure.

     

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  • Child Marriage in India

    Context

    There has been an ongoing debate on whether increasing the age of marriages can solve the problem of child marriage in India.

    Background

    • It is defined as a marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 and refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with a partner as if married.
    • The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, fixes 21 years as the marriageable age for women.

    Prevalence of child marriage in India

    •  NFHS-5 data show that about 25% of women aged 18-29 years married before the legal marriageable age of 18.
    • Marginal decline: The proportion has declined only marginally from NFHS-4 (28%).
    • Higher in rural India: Expectedly, the prevalence is higher in rural than urban India (28% and 17%, respectively).
    • West Bengal has the highest prevalence (42%), followed by Bihar and Tripura (40% each).
    • Oddly, the decline in child marriage has been paltry at best in these high-prevalence States.
    • At the other end of the spectrum are Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala (6% to 7%).
    • 39% of child marriages in India take place among Adivasis and Dalits.
    • The share of advantaged social groups is 17% and the remaining share is of Other Backward Classes.

    Role of structural issues in adverse health and educational outcomes

    • Impact: Studies associate early marriage of women with early pregnancy, lower likelihood of accessing ante-natal care, higher risks of maternal morbidity and mortality, poor nutritional status of women and poor nutritional and educational outcomes of children.
    • These studies seem to provide a rather compelling case for increasing the age of marriage of women from 18 to 21 years, as a delayed marriage might offer significant public health dividends.
    • Structural factors at play: But a closer reading of the evidence shows that the association between child marriage and adverse health outcomes does not emerge in a vacuum. 
    • Rather, it is abetted by structural factors, including social norms, poverty, and women’s education.
    • Role of social norms: It is because of social norms in many regions and cultures that parents begin preparations for a girl’s marriage once she has reached menarche.
    • Role of poverty: A large proportion of child marriages take place primarily because of poverty and the burden of the huge costs of dowry associated with delayed marriages.
    • Role of education:  The NHFS-5 data confirm that a significant proportion of child marriages takes place among women with less than 12 years of schooling and households that are socially and economically disadvantaged.
    • The average age at marriage increases from 17 years among women who are illiterate and have had up to five years of schooling to 22 years among women who have had more than 12 years of schooling.
    • This indicates that an increase in years of schooling goes hand in hand with an increase in age at marriage.
    • While an increase in education is most likely to delay marriage, the increase in age at marriage may or may not increase women’s education.

    Why the age of marriage of women matters

    • Age of marriage has bearing on maternal mortality rates, fertility levels, nutrition of mother and child, sex ratios, and, on a different register, education and employment opportunities for women.
    • It is also argued that other factors — such as poverty and health services — were far more effective as levers for improving women’s and children’s health and nutritional status.
    • Child marriage curtail a girl’s opportunities to continue her education.
    • And in turn, the lack of educational opportunities plays an important role in facilitating child marriage.

    Way forward

    • The fact that about one-fourth of women (18-29 years) in India have married before 18 years despite the law tells us that legally increasing the age of marriage may not fully prevent child marriages. 
    • 1] Ensure education for at least up to 12 years: Much of the benefits can be reaped by ensuring that women complete education at least up to 12 years.
    • Bangladesh shows that improving women’s education and imparting modern skills to them that increase their employability reduces child marriage and improves health and nutrition.
    • 2] Educational attainment criteria in schemes: Schemes which ease the financial burden of marriage but the eligibility criteria of which should essentially link to educational attainment in addition to age demand attention.
    • The lessons from Janani Suraksha Yojana and the zeal demonstrated in ending open defecation might provide valid insights here.

    Conclusion

    A legalistic approach to increasing the age at marriage will produce positive results only if it leads to an improvement in women’s education and skill acquisition for employability. In the absence of an enhancement in women’s schooling or skills, a legalistic approach to ending child marriage might become counterproductive.

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  • ASI Act to be made more flexible

    Union Culture Minister said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was working on an amendment to make the law that provides for the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites “more flexible and people-friendly”.

    What is the news?

    • The ASI is working to amend Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act 1958.
    • It particularly seeks to change the current 100-metre prohibited area around protected monuments to site-specific limits.

    What is the AMASR Act?

    • The AMASR Act provides for the preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance.
    • It also provides for the regulation of archaeological excavations and for the protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects.
    • The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) functions under the provisions of this act.
    • The rules stipulate that area in the vicinity of the monument, within 100 metres is prohibited area.
    • The area within 200 meters of the monument is regulated category. Any repair or modifications of buildings in this area requires prior permission.

    About Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

    • The ASI is an attached office of the Ministry of Culture.
    • It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General.
    • Under the provisions of the AMASR Act of 1958, the ASI administers more than 3650 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance.
    • These can include everything from temples, mosques, churches, tombs, and cemeteries to palaces, forts, step-wells, and rock-cut caves.
    • The Survey also maintains ancient mounds and other similar sites which represent the remains of ancient habitation.
    • The ASI is headed by a Director-General who is assisted by an Additional Director General, two Joint Directors General, and 17 Directors.

     

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  • Nanhi Pari Programme

    The ‘Nanhi Pari’ programme was recently launched by the Northwest Delhi district administration.

    Nanhi Pari Programme

    • Nanhi Pari programme aims to provide a one-stop solution to parents, eliminating their need to visit various offices to obtain documents.
    • Under the programme, essential services such as the provision of a birth certificate, Aadhaar card registration and opening a bank account for girls are completed and delivered in government hospitals in the district before the mother and baby are discharged.
    • The programme will help in getting registration of baby girls and mothers under various schemes such as the Sukanya Samriddhi Account scheme, the Ladli scheme and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana at the hospital itself.

    Significance of the Programme

    • The programme makes the processes for schemes as simple as possible for all children and mothers.
    • Parents would not have to go from here to there, trying to avail themselves of the essential schemes.
    • Apart from ensuring that schemes reach target beneficiaries and protecting the interests of girl children, the programme also aims to promote institutional deliveries.

     

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  • Upholding the right to repair

    Context

    The U.S. state of New York recently passed the Fair Repair Act, which requires manufacturers to supply repair information, tools, and parts to independent repair shops and not just their own stores or partners.

    What is the right to repair?

    • It refers to proposed government legislation that would allow consumers the ability to repair and modify their own consumer products (e.g. electronic, automotive devices).
    • The idea behind “right to repair” is in the name: If you own something, you should be able to repair it yourself or take it to a technician of your choice.
    • People are pretty used to this concept when it comes to older cars and appliances, but right-to-repair advocates argue that modern tech, especially anything with a computer chip inside, is rarely repairable.

    Why is such right significant?

    • Lifespan enhancement: The goal of the movement is to increase the lifespan of products and to keep them from ending up in landfills.
    • Against planned obsolescence: The electronic manufacturers are encouraging such culture so that devices are designed specifically to last a limited amount of time and to be replaced.
    • Scarcity of natural resources: Obsolescence leads to immense pressure on the environment and wasted natural resources.
    • Mitigating climate change: Manufacturing an electronic device is a highly polluting process. It makes use of polluting sources of energy, such as fossil fuel.
    • Boost to repair economy: Right to repair advocates also argue that this will help boost business for small repair shops, which are an important part of local economies.

    Why we need the right to repair?

    • Exorbitant repair price: Often, manufacturers reduce the durability of the product, compelling consumers to either repurchase the product or get it repaired at exorbitant prices affixed by the manufacturers.
    • Violation of rights: This tramples upon the right to obtain information about the quality of the product, the right to procure products at reasonable prices, and the right to seek redress against unscrupulous practices.
    • Implicit in Consumer Protection Act: The ‘right to repair’ can be said to be implicit in Section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
    • Right to repair provides consumers with the right to repair and refurbish their purchased goods.
    • Providing livelihood to repair technicians: An entire repair class is, in effect, denied its right to conduct business as it does not have the tools, parts, guidelines and technical know-how to repair these high-tech products.
    • In addition to protecting their right to livelihood, it may also prove beneficial as tech companies are required to share their repair manuals with certified technicians.

    What are the concerns of the manufacturers?

    • IP rights, security and quality concers: While right to repair is a victory for consumer rights, privacy, security and quality concerns along with blatant intellectual property (IP) rights violations of the manufacturers cannot be sidelined.
    • Impact on quality and functioning: Manufacturers claim that the quality and functioning of the product might be adversely affected if they allow repairs by consumers and third parties.
    • The fear of manufacturers is so potent that they incorporate warranty clauses which lapse when the product is repaired by a third party.

    Way forward

    • Avoiding blanket waiver: While necessary clauses to maintain the quality of the product can be included, a blanket waiver should be avoided.
    • For instance, the quality assurance clause can be incorporated for use of company-recommended spare parts and certified repair shops.
    • Making available the repair manual: Making repair manuals available to certified business owners could go a long way in balancing the rights of consumers and manufacturers.
    • Sign non-disclosure agreement to protect IP rights: Manufacturers can sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect the IP with the certified repairers/businesses.
    • Alloting certification/license: Further, the lack of certification/licensing of repair workers is seen as a reflection of their lack of skills.
    • But a repair certification/licence can be allotted to those who pass certain criteria and skill tests.
    • Insert right to repair in Consumer protection Act: The ‘right to repair’ can be said to be implicit in Section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
    • Its apparent disregard merits an explicit insertion of a ‘right to repair’ clause in the said provision.
    • This would make consumers more aware, provide tooth to an already implicit right, and aid in advancing repair-related liability on various stakeholders.
    • Reparability parameter: The product liability clause under Section 84 can be amended and expanded to impose product liability concerning various reparability parameters of the product.
    • France requires manufacturers to display a repairability index on their products which consists of five parameters.
    • Duration of product liability: The duration of imposing product liability may vary depending on the product and its longevity.
    • Here, we can rely on the EU’s guidelines on Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information Regulations, 2021, which mandate manufacturers to provide spare parts for up to 10 years to avoid premature obsolescence.

    Conclusion

    The New York legislation is a reminder that it is time to not only acknowledge the right to repair of consumers but also respond to the corresponding rights of the manufacturers.

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  • Managing Type 1 Diabetes

    Last week, the Indian Council of Medical Research (IMCR) released guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and management for type-1 diabetes.

    Why such move?

    • India is considered the diabetes capital of the world, and the pandemic disproportionately affected those living with the disease.
    • Type 1 or childhood diabetes, however, is less talked about, although it can turn fatal without proper insulin therapy.
    • Type 1 diabetes is rarer than type 2. Only 2% of all hospital cases of diabetes in the country are type 1.

    What is Diabetes?

    • Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy.
    • Most of the food you eat is broken down into sugar (also called glucose) and released into your bloodstream.
    • When your blood sugar goes up, it signals your pancreas to release insulin.

    What is Type 1 Diabetes?

    • Type 1 diabetes is a condition where the pancreas completely stops producing insulin.
    • Insulin is the hormone responsible for controlling the level of glucose in blood by increasing or decreasing absorption to the liver, fat, and other cells of the body.
    • This is unlike type 2 diabetes — which accounts for over 90% of all diabetes cases in the country — where the body’s insulin production either goes down or the cells become resistant to the insulin.

    How lethal diabetes is?

    • Type 1 diabetes is predominantly diagnosed in children and adolescents.
    • Although the prevalence is less, it is much more severe than type 2.
    • Unlike type 2 diabetes where the body produces some insulin and which can be managed using various pills, if a person with type 1 diabetes stops taking their insulin, they die within weeks.

    How rare is it?

    • There are over 10 lakh children and adolescents living with type 1 diabetes in the world, with India accounting for the highest number.
    • Of the 2.5 lakh people living with type 1 diabetes in India, 90,000 to 1 lakh are under the age of 14 years.
    • For context, the total number of people in India living with diabetes was 7.7 crore in 2019.
    • Among individuals who develop diabetes under the age of 25 years, 25.3% have type 2.

    Who is at risk of type 1 diabetes?

    • The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, but it is thought to be an auto-immune condition where the body’s immune system destroys the islets cells on the pancreas that produce insulin.
    • Genetic factors play a role in determining whether a person will get type-1 diabetes.
    • The risk of the disease in a child is 3% when the mother has it, 5% when the father has it, and 8% when a sibling has it.
    • The presence of certain genes is also strongly associated with the disease.

     

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  • CoWIN as a repurposed digital platform

    Context

    Seeing its success, other nations have also expressed interest in availing CoWIN and using it as a bridge for erecting their digital health systems. Responding to this incoming interest, our prime minister has offered CoWIN as a digital public good, free of cost, for all nations globally to adopt.

    About CoWIN

    • In late 2020, even before the Covid-19 vaccines had arrived, the Government of India had commenced preparations for launching the world’s largest vaccination drive.
    • This led to the beginning of the CoWIN journey in January 2021.
    • Scalability, modularity, and interoperability: CoWIN, or the Covid-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network, was developed in a record time, with consideration given to scalability, modularity, and interoperability.
    • The platform has been made available in English and 11 regional languages to allow citizens across multiple states to access the platform with ease.
    • To circumvent the lack of digital access, the platform allows for up to six members to be registered under one mobile-number linked account.
    • CoWIN has scaled every 100 million milestone faster than any other platform.
    • It reached the coveted one billion registered user mark which only a handful of platforms have been able to achieve globally, and none in such a short time.
    • A key feature of the platform has been its modularity and evolvability.
    • The CoWIN team has been adept at keeping pace with the changing policy environment and scientific research and developments in the administration of vaccines.
    • It was never that CoWIN became the bottleneck or delayed the implementation of our vaccination policies or drive.
    • Time and again, CoWIN has proved itself as one of the most secure and robust platforms with minimal data input and zero risk of personal data hacks. 

    Major phases of CoWIN

    • The journey of CoWIN was staggered across three major phases, with multiple additions subsequently.
    • In phase 1, the registration process went online where healthcare workers and frontline workers were sent system-generated notifications about their vaccination schedule.
    • In subsequent phases, beneficiaries were allowed both walk-in and online vaccination registration, along with the choice of location and time slot as per their convenience.
    • An assisted mode was also made available through the 240,000+ Common Service Centres (CSCs) and a helpline number.
    • After ensuring successful orchestration using scalability and agile features of the platform to vaccinate individuals over 45 years of age, the APIs of the platform were made available to private players at the beginning of Phase III of the vaccination drive.
    • Once access to its services was opened through APIs, more than 100 applications integrated with CoWIN for providing search, booking and certification facilities to their users.

    Way ahead

    • The inevitable question is what will we do with CoWIN when no further Covid-19 vaccines are to be administered?
    • Repurpose the platform: The decision is to repurpose the platform as a universal immunisation platform.
    • The credentialing service of DIVOC, used in CoWIN, has proven to be a game-changer in the world of digital certificates.
    • CoWIN service is being implemented in five other countries after India and receiving global acceptance for its veracity and sound architecture.
    • There is a proposal for opening the credentialing service for more use cases in health.

    Conclusion

    The story of CoWIN has truly been one of national impact and importance. And while the story started during the pandemic, it won’t end with the pandemic: it will segue into a repurposed digital platform for more health use-cases.

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  • New Guidelines Against Misleading Advertisements

    The Centre has announced a new set of guidelines for advertisements preventing misleading ads by Celebrities.

    Guidelines on Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022: Key takeaways

    (1) Conditions for non-misleading and valid advertisement

    An advertisement shall be considered to be valid and not misleading:

    • If it contains truthful and honest representation;
    • Does not mislead consumers by exaggerating the accuracy,
    • Scientific validity or practical usefulness or capability or performance or service of the goods or product;
    • Does not present rights conferred on consumers by any law as a distinctive feature of advertiser’s offer.

     (2) Bait Advertisement

    • A bait advertisement shall not seek to entice consumers to purchase goods, products or services without a reasonable prospect of selling such advertised goods, products or services at the price offered.
    • The advertiser shall ensure that there is adequate supply of goods, products or services to meet foreseeable demand generated by such advertisement.

    (3) Prohibition of surrogate advertising

    • No surrogate advertisement or indirect advertisement shall be made for goods or services whose advertising is otherwise prohibited or restricted by law.
    • No circumventing of such prohibition or restriction and portraying it to be an advertisement for other goods or services shall be allowed.

    (4) Free claims advertisements

    • A free claims advertisement shall not describe any goods, product or service to be ‘free’, ‘without charge’ or use such other terms if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable costs.
    • Seller must make clear the extent of commitment that a consumer shall make to take advantage of a free offer.

    (5) Children targeted advertisements

    • An advertisement that addresses or targets or uses children shall not condone, encourage, inspire or unreasonably emulate behaviour that could be dangerous for children or take advantage of children’s inexperience, credulity or sense of loyalty.

    (6) Limitations on Celebrity Endorsers

    • The government has tightened norms for endorsers, including celebrities and sportspersons.
    • They are now required to make material connection disclosures and undertake due diligence while doing advertisements.
    • Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, belief or experience of the endorsers.
    • The endorsers have to make material connection disclosures and failing to do so will attract penalty under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
    • Material disclosures mean any relationship that materially affects the weight or credibility of any endorsement which a reasonable consumer would not expect.
    • Violation of these guidelines will attract a penalty of ₹10 lakh for the first offence and ₹50 lakh for the subsequent offence, under the CPA.

    (7) ASCI rules

    • The latest guidelines will also apply to government advertisements.
    • Moreover, the advertising guidelines for self-regulation issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will also be in place in a parallel manner.

     

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