Disciplinary Action against Patanjali Ayurved

for Misleading Advertisements

Presented ByP.ThoshibaT.Priyanka

VimalNithya

PATANJALI AYURVED LTDO Established by acharya balkrishna in 2006.O Founder-Baba RamdevO Headquarter-Haridwar(UK),IndiaO Chairman- Mr.babukaji shresthaO Managing director-Mr.raju shrestha

PATANJALI AYURVED LTD

O It’s a FMCG, Health Care Product.O Patanjali ayurveda has annual turnover of

around Rs 2000 crore.O Started by manufacturing medicinal product

and gradually they expanded their product from medicine to food items cosmetics.

O They are giving tough competition to foreign companies,all products are 10-40% cheaper.

PATANJALI AYURVED LTD

O Main purpose –curing and preventing ailments by ayurveda.

O The ayurvedic doctors were trained from haridwar and in-house for a minimum period of 2-3 months before being put into professional practice.

O Patanjali ayurveda hag made achievements in treating thousands suffering from diseases like osteoarthritis,rheumatoid arthritis,osteoporosis,low back ache,multiple sclerosis,age related mental stress and rheumatic diseases.

productsO The company manufactures 444 products

including 45 types of cosmetic products and 30 types of food products.

O It also launched beauty and baby products.O Manufacturing division has over 300

medicines.

People involvedO Swami ramdev jiO Acharya bal krishan jiO Dibya yogaO Patanjali yog samite

Issue O The Information and Broadcasting Ministry said that complaints against as

many as 33 advertisements of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved have been received during April 2015-July 2016. These complaints were made against the company’s advertisements appearing on TV, print as well as product packaging communications.

O Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said, “The Department of Consumer Affairs has informed that 17 advertisements out of 21 advertisements complained against were considered to be in violation of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Code for Self Regulation of advertising content as per the findings of Consumers Complaints Council (CCC) of ASCI.”

O “Further, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has informed that they have noted the complaints regarding misleading claims made by various Food Business Operators, including Patanjali Ayurved,”

Cont…

O ASCI ruled that ads by the Haridwar-based FMCG company “unfairly denigrates“ other products in the market.

O Patanjali Kesh Kanti Natural Hair Cleanser & Oil's advertisement's claim, “mineral oil is carcinogenic in nature and may cause cancer“ was false and misleading by ambiguity and by gross exaggeration,“ said ASCI.

Cont..O The company's Kachi Ghani Mustard Oil advertisement's

claim -Hexagon solvent extraction process, as many companies mix cheap palm oil in mustard oil, to make profits at the cost of consumers' health, was also not substantiated and was misleading, ASCI added

O Similarly, for its Herbal Washing Powder, Cake and Dishwash Bar, the claim of “herbal washing powder, cake and dishwash bar“ was not substantiated with data regarding which herbal ingredients in the product provide the cleaning benefit and was deemed misleading by ASCI.

Disciplinary ActionO Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has

encountered Patanjali Ayurved for “false and misleading” claims in its various advertisements, including for its hair oil and washing powder brands.

O Apart from Patanjali, ASCI upheld complaints against companies such as, ITC, Kalyan Jewellers, Johnson & Johnson and HUL, among others. Johnson & Johnson's advertising of Benadryl DR was pulled up.

O FMCG major ITC's advertising claim for Aashirvaad Multigrain Atta that said, “India's No. 1 Atta“, is misleading by ambiguity as the claim was for the mother brand Aashirvaad whereas the advertised product was only one variant -Aashirvaad Atta with multigrains.

 

Cont…O Kalyan Jewellers, the advertisement claim, “Kalyan Jewellers

is the biggest jewellery showroom in the world“, was not substantiated with comparative data of other similar showrooms and was misleading by exaggeration, said ASCI.

O ASCI's Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 90 out of 156 advertisements.

O 32 - education category , 30 -healthcare & personal care category ,10 - food & beverages category and 18- advertisements from other categories.

ResolutionOThe Department of Consumer Affairs had

earlier launched a portal to look into the grievances against misleading ads by consumers and ASCI has been assigned to process these complaints.

O In cases, where advertisers do not comply with ASCI directions, such complaints are then referred to the concerned Ministry or regulator to take appropriate actions