The Advertising Standards Council Of India (ASCI) announced guidelines for all virtual digital assets (VDA)-related marketing on Wednesday in an effort to crackdown on dangerous crypto ads in India. The recommendations will be effective on or after April 1.
ASCI Issues Crypto Ad Guidelines to combat misleading advertisements
ASCI Issues Crypto Ad Guidelines on Wednesday in an effort to crack down on dangerous crypto ads in India. The recommendations will be effective on or after April 1.
According to the advertising watchdog, no advertisement for crypto/digital asset products or exchanges may feature a kid, or someone who appears to be minor, directly engaging with or talking about the product.
The ASCI stated that “celebrities or significant persons that participate in crypto/NFT marketing must take great care to ensure that they have done their due diligence about the assertions and claims made in the campaign, so as not to mislead customers.”
Even while the Indian government works on a framework for virtual digital assets (VDA), sometimes known as crypto or NFT products, advertising for these items has been quite aggressive on TV, radio, and internet media in recent months.
Several of these commercials, according to the ASCI, fail to fully explain the risks connected with such items. Because this is a new and still-emerging manner of investing, it is necessary to provide special instructions when advertising virtual digital assets and services.
As a result, customers must be made aware of the risks and advised to proceed with caution “ASCI Chairman Subhash Kamath stated. To develop standards for virtual digital asset advertising, the ASCI met with a variety of stakeholders, including the government and the virtual digital asset industry.
“Every advertisement for VDA products must disclose the advertiser’s name and provide a simple means to contact them (phone number or email). This information should be presented in a way that the average consumer can understand “according to the new rules
“No advertisement may claim that VDA products or VDA trading may solve money problems, personality issues, or other concerns.” According to the council, no crypto/NFT commercial may contain comments that promise or guarantee future profit increases.
“No commercial can claim that understanding VDA products is so simple that customers will invest without hesitation. Nothing in the advertisement should minimize the category’s hazards “
It went on to say that the VDA products could not be compared to any other regulated asset class. Advertisers and media owners must also ensure that, after April 15, 2022, all previous advertising does not appear in the public domain unless they comply with the criteria.
“In the absence of appropriate safeguards, we’ve witnessed a rash of advertisements for virtual digital assets, which could jeopardize customer interest. Consumers would be drawn to these services if celebrities and loud advertising were used, but without full disclosure of the hazards “ASCI Secretary-General Manisha Kapoor remarked.
“Given that this is an unregulated market right now,” Kapoor said, “it’s even more crucial for advertising to be clear about the risks connected with these goods.” Despite the lack of a crypto bill, the government suggested a 30 percent tax on digital assets in the Union Budget.
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