Penalise fake food ads, says Parliamentary Panel

Coming down heavily on tall claims made by various brands on advertisements, a Parliamentary panel has asked the government to formulate a strict mechanism and penalise violators to curb the problem.

The Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution, led by TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, made the observation in the Nineteenth Report of the Demand for Grants of the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

The panel said that the ads of various products are launched on television channels and other electronic and print media without establishing their genuineness, thereby misleading consumers. The panel said that this is “an act of deceit being perpetrated with the innocent consumers of the country”.

“The Committee observe that most of the consumers are not literate and or residing in remote, hilly and far-flung areas, are misled and easily trapped and brain-washed by such advertisements and as such are inclined to purchase the items so advertised without thinking the pros and cons and have to suffer a lot in due course,” the report stated.

The panel also suggested that companies and agencies whose ads are found to be misleading should be de-listed for ads and that a hefty penalty is imposed on them. Any relevant laws which need to be changed must be amended to make the changes, the panel added.

The panel also pointed at the underutilisation of funds set aside for consumer protection. Only 20.2% of the allocation of Rs 42 crore was utilised till February 11 this year. The allocation for consumer protection for 2021-22 was Rs 44 crore, which was later revised to Rs 42 crore.

In addition to that, the amount allocated to the state-run quasi-judicial Consumer Commissions was brought down from Rs 600 lakh in budgetary estimates in 2019-20 to Rs 494 lakh in revised estimates. Eventually, only Rs 353.62 lakh was spent.

“The Committee, therefore, are of the opinion that unless and until the earmarked funds are utilised as per the allocation, the intended targets of these Schemes aimed at safeguarding the interests of the consumers in the country, will not be achieved,” the panel said.

“The Committee, therefore, are of the opinion that unless and until the earmarked funds are utilised as per the allocation, the intended targets of these Schemes aimed at safeguarding the interests of the consumers in the country, will not be achieved,” the panel said.

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