The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has released its Half-Yearly Complaints Report 2024-25, revealing a significant presence of misleading and illegal advertisements in the real estate and offshore betting sectors.
Between April and September 2024, ASCI reviewed 4016 complaints and investigated 3031 ads; 98% of these ads reviewed needed some modification. ASCI’s continued vigil on digital platforms saw a total of 2830 ads being processed, representing 93% of the total ads taken up.
Of the ads investigated, 2087 ads were in violation of the law. Of these, 1027 were reported to the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) under an MoU between ASCI and MahaRERA. Realty (34%), illegal betting (29%), healthcare (8%), personal care (7%), and food & beverage (6%) featured as the top five categories with the highest code violations. Manisha Kapoor, CEO of ASCI, remarked, “Our work in partnership with government regulators in sectors such as betting and realty is creating an impact.” For consumers, this report underlines ASCI’s role in providing a trusted mechanism to fight objectionable advertising.
