MAM
Subhash Kamat: “We are looking for government collabs for ASCI”
NEW DELHI: Last week, BBH & Publicis Worldwide India CEO Subhash Kamat was unanimously elected as chairman of the board of governors of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), an independent industry body that works towards protecting the consumers' interests by containing the menace of misleading ads. The veteran ad man replaced the outgoing chairman Rohit Gupta who served in that the position for a year. Kamath has been an active member of The Ad Club in the past and has been serving on the board of governors of Asci since 2010.
Kamat has his work cut out for him: ASCI is not the only body which can crack the whip on advertising: there’s the Central Consumer Protection Authority which apparently has powers to penalise errant advertisers. There’s a huge surge in political advertising, which does not come under its remit. Then there’s the continuing explosion in digital advertising, online and on OTT platforms.
Indiantelevision.com’s Dolly Mahayan got into a conversation with Kamat on the challenges before Asci, how it is dealing with them, what is he going to immediately focus on, and what kind of a legacy he would like to leave behind. He also spoke about the industry watchdog's guidelines on big and small brands to curb misleading advertisements and what lies in the future around the celebrity influencer guidelines. Excerpts from the interview:
What will be your immediate role and responsibilities? What are your top priorities?
We must continue to build on our past milestones, as well as work hard to take our work to the next level. Collaborations across different stakeholders, making ourselves technologically savvier, will be some key objectives so that we are able to address the opportunities of the future stronger and better. In terms of the regulatory context, we have a new consumer protection law and the Central Consumer Protection Authority. Therefore, the context in which ASCI functions has also been transformed. All this makes it imperative for us to think hard about codes, guidelines, regulations, etc. We will build on our past work. The question is what should we do to take this work to the next level? I’d love to see the Consumer Complaints Council and board members working more closely together. The intellectual debate that would follow would raise the quality of decisions and the standards of internal working.
How do you plan to further strengthen the teeth of ASCI?
With the digital revolution influencing brand messaging and engagement with consumers, advertising is evolving rapidly. And with the recent formation of the Central Consumer Protection Authority constituted by the government, self-regulation will be even more crucial in promoting consumer confidence and trust. Our industry today is at a crucial stage.In addition to the above, we will look for more close collaborations with government departments.
How do you plan to regulate the brands and agencies to stop coming up with misleading ads?
We already have a clear code in place that is continuously evolving. Our processes have kept pace too. For instance, we now monitor 3,000 digital platforms in addition to print and TV through the national advertising monitoring service. We now cover 80 per cent of India’s ad spend. We have a transparent and easy complaints redressal process and we offer fast-tracking of it too. Because we’re self-regulated, we have consistently had a compliance rate of well over 90 per cent.
What is the way forward on celebrity influencer guidelines?
The world over, people follow celebrities and get influenced by them. The ASCI code clearly states that celebrities must do due diligence to ensure that the advertisements they appear in do not violate ASCI codes so that they don’t land up misleading consumers. It’s reasonable to expect that celebrities be mindful of what they attach their name to because they have the trust of millions of consumers.
A lot of small agencies across different pockets of the country are less aware of the role and functionality of ASCI. How do you intend to aware of them?
We already have a robust awareness creation mechanism. We do this through regular interaction with the media and also through very active social media channels. That is why consumers know and agencies know about us and approach us in such large numbers.
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While we see big and small brands coming up with misleading ads across categories, which are the top five categories with the most misleading ads?
Last year, the food and beverage, healthcare, and education sectors accounted for 79 per cent of the complaints processed by ASCI. These are sectors we’re looking at closely, especially given the claims about Covid2019 preventions and cures.
What will be the key milestone that you would want to achieve in this position?
To be completely in sync with the new digital reality.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
