Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), stated, “The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has established new features to their portals to enable advertisers to obtain the self-declaration certificate to comply with the Supreme Court directives. Given the vast number of creatives that now need certification, this is a challenge that advertisers, agencies and media owners will need to gear up for.”
The Supreme Court had issued a directive in its Order dated May 7, 2024, that all advertisers/ advertising agencies must submit a ‘Self-Declaration Certificate’ before publishing or broadcasting any advertisement. Following the SC’s directive, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting introduced a new feature on the Broadcast Seva Portal of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for TV and Radio Advertisements and on Press Council of India’s portal for Print and Digital/Internet Advertisements. The certificate, signed by an authorized representative of the advertiser/advertising agency, needs to be submitted through these portals.
Kapoor said that ASCI’s Advertising Advice service can support advertisers be compliant with the ASCI Code, which forms a key part of the Advertising Code under the Cable TV Network (Regulation) Act. This would help advertisers be more confident of their self-declarations which are now mandated for print. TV and Internet ads. Whether it is small or big advertisers, no ads would now be permitted on any media and channel without such a certification.
She added, “To avoid any disruptions in their campaigns, advertisers and agencies are advised to familiarise themselves with the portals and the requirements during the buffer period provided until the 18th of June, 2024.”
The portal was activated on 4th June, 2024. The Self-Declaration Certificate is required to be obtained by all advertisers and advertising agencies for all new advertisements that will be issued/telecast/aired/published on or after 18th June, 2024.
A buffer period of two weeks has been kept for providing sufficient time to all stakeholders to familiarize themselves with the process of self- certification. Ongoing advertisements do not require the self-certification currently.