MAM
ASCI reports 732 complaints of misleading AYUSH ads
MUMBAI: Ministry of AYUSH had signed a memorandum of understanding with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), for suo moto monitoring of Ayush advertisements appearing in print and TV media and reported 732 complaints in the period 20 January 2017 to 19 January 2018. The ministry has been receiving written and online complaints of misleading advertisements of Ayush medicines including herbal medicines/products.
Six states/UTs including Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka and Chandigarh have reported 573 instances of such misleading advertisement during the last three years, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Such complaints are also registered in the GAMA (Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements) portal maintained by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA). About 809 complaints of advertisements pertaining to Ayush and herbal medicines/products have been received during the period from April 2015 to March 2018.
The provisions of Rule 158-B of the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, 1945 provide for pilot studies for generating proof of safety and effectiveness for grant of licence to manufacture for sale certain categories of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani drugs. As such the terms ‘herbal medicines’ and ‘clinical trials’ are not provided or prescribed in the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules thereunder pertaining to ASU drugs but certain complaints received in the Ministry referred to these aspects.
Two incidents of death have come to the notice of Ministry of AYUSH after consuming herbal medicines/products, one in Tamil Nadu and one in Kerala.
In order to check the veracity of misleading advertisements and claims of AYUSH products, the government has taken following steps-
I. State governments have been directed for appointing Gazetted Officers under section 8 (1) of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 to enter, search any premises or examine or seize any record which contravenes any provisions of the Act. About 621 Gazetted officers for this purpose are reported to have been appointed in 22 states.
II. Complaints of misleading advertisements of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathic medicines are forwarded to the concerned State Licensing Authorities for action in accordance with the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules thereunder and Drugs & Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules thereunder. Out of the 809 complaints reflected on GAMA portal, about 274 complaints have been resolved and 585 complaints forwarded to concerned state authorities for appropriate action in accordance with the legal provisions. States have reported action taken by them against the defaulters.
III. Ministry of AYUSH signed MoU with Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to undertake monitoring of the misleading AYUSH –related advertisements appearing in print and TV media and bring the instances of improper advertisements to the notice of the State Regulatory Authorities for taking necessary action. ASCI reported that 233 alleged advertisements were rectified or withdrawn by the advertisers and about 456 complaints were escalated to the state regulators for appropriate action.
IV. On the request of Ministry of AYUSH, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting issued an advisory to all media channels to ensure strict compliance of the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Drugs & Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 in respect of AYUSH health products/drugs being advertised. TV channels have been advised to advertise only those AYUSH products, which have valid manufacturing license.
V. Provision of surveillance of AYUSH advertisements has been kept in the central scheme implemented for safety monitoring of ayurvedic, siddha, unani and homeopathy drugs under the pharmavigilance initiative.
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
