Centre cracks down on establishments running misleading ads, to ‘name and shame’ companies on website
Central authority CCPA has decided to crack down on the establishments that are publishing misleading advertisements, and will be issuing a public notice.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is planning to publish public information soon on the establishments and brands that are running misleading advertisements in an effort to crack down on misinformation among citizens.
The consumer protection authority, which is run by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution - has said in a statement that they will soon be "naming and shaming" companies which are publishing misleading ads to discourage such practices, Mint reported.
The orders and notices issues against establishments that are running misleading ad campaigns, such as coaching institutes and service providers, will soon be displayed on the official website of the CCPA soon.
According to the current workings of CCPA, the information regarding companies that run misleading ads is not available in the public arena. By displaying their names on the CCPA website, consumers will be alerted to make informed decisions.
Apart from this, the Ministry is also planning to conduct a study on the new guidelines of CCPA to assess the impact on the public. These measures are being taken to eliminate misinformation spread by certain corporations regarding their services, the Mint report added.
Centre cracks down on misleading ads by IAS coaching centres
Earlier, the CCPA had issued 20 notices to IAS coaching centres for running misleading advertisements. A warning was issued to all coaching centres, while heavy penalties were imposed on eight of these institutes.
In an official statement accessed by Mint, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said, "The Department of Consumer Affairs is continuously working for consumer protection and empowerment of consumers by enactment of progressive legislations. With a view to modernise the framework governing the consumer protection in the new era of globalization, technologies, e-commerce markets etc Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was repealed and Consumer Protection Act 2019 was enacted."
However, the names and locations of these IAS coaching institutes has not been revealed to the public yet.