Confusion, website glitches mar first day of new ad rules

livemint.com:

decision last month in the Patanjali Ayurved case, the ministry of information and broadcasting mandated that beginning 18 June all advertisers had to declare compliance with cable TV rules and advertising codes for all their ads.The apex court also directed Union ministries and authorities to take action against fast-moving consumer goods companies indulging in false campaigns.Advertisers have complained that uploading hundreds of pages of documents daily would only result in bureaucracy, especially in the absence of any mechanism to evaluate or monitor the declarations. Industry bodies have been trying to engage with the government to find an alternative.

Also read | Patanjali pulled up by the SC: Truth matters in advertising“We are complying, obviously, but it increases the paperwork for us. The industry had proposed some alternatives but those were not considered.

The ministry’s own website crashed during the demonstration to the industry," said a senior executive with an advertising agency, declining to be identified. “It’s not easy for us because so many more people will be needed to keep filing declarations in our agency."Mint independently found the Broadcast Seva website frequently crashing on the evening of 18 June.“Problems will start if the portal cannot take the huge volume that will build up in the days ahead, which is most likely going to happen as it usually happens with most government sites," said Sandeep Goyal, chairman and managing director of advertising agency Rediffusion.“We have just created more bureaucracy.

I don’t see any mechanism for evaluation, monitoring or policing," Goyal added. “Of course, it is in compliance with court orders, but the executive arm of the government has to make sure