MAM
ASCI upholds complaints against BBC, ET Now, Snapdeal, Ola, Airtel and Uber
MUMBAI: In December 2015, The Advertising Standards Council of India’s (ASCI) Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 42 out of 79 advertisements. Out of the advertisements against which complaints were upheld, eight belonged to the Healthcare category, nine to the Education category, followed by seven in the E-commerce category, three in Telecommunications and broadband category and fifteen advertisements from other categories.
Here below are a few of the ads against which complaints were upheld by the council:
In the case of television the following complaints were upheld:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC World News): The claim in the advertisement, ‘BARC says we are India’s No.1 English news brand’, violates the Guidelines of BARC under Measurement & Comparison and also contravenes the ASCI Code.
Times Broadcasting Ltd (ET Now): The advertisement claims, ‘No.1 Now an Undisputed leader’ and ‘No 1 Week after Week’. ET Now has used weekly data to claim leadership position. This is in violation of BARC India Ratings – Principles of Fair and Permissible Usage, which state that ‘The period of comparison must cover at least four consecutive weeks of data’. Thus, the advertisement promo also contravened Chapter I.3 of the ASCI Code.
In the ecommerce category, as per the council, the line ‘kahan se kharchega paise, baniye ka jo poot hai, aadhe khakhe diya dhaba jisme dry fruits hai’ used in an OLX India Pvt Ltd (OLX India) advertisement was deriding a certain caste of people (baniya). In another OLX India ad, the visual of ‘a police inspector riding a bike without a helmet’ as shown in its ‘Sell Scooter Buy bike’ advertisement promotes an unsafe practice. On the other hand Snapdeal’s claim of ‘free delivery’ advertised in its commercials was not deemed sustainable by ASCI.
Another ecommerce brand that failed to stay true to its advertisement claim was Uber India. The claim in the advertisement, ‘Switch to Uber @ Rs.9/-per km period’, was not substantiated and was also misleading by omission of any disclaimer that other additional charges are also being charged per minute/per trip.
Koovs advertisement which was also its first brand campaign displaying global fashion titled ‘Step Into Koovs’, also came under the radar. The scenes in the advertisement – ‘a girl jumping from a top floor of a building to a shirt which is hanging in the air, a girl jumping from a balcony and falling down a few floors down across the staircase, a boy jumping down from the balcony straight into the outfit’, without justifiable reasons show and encourage dangerous practices, manifest a disregard for safety and encourage negligence. Regardless of the disclaimer, the advertisement contravened the ASCI Codes due to the objected visuals being shown, shared ASCI.
In the telecommunications category, three complaints against Bharti Airtel were upheld.
The advertisement by Airtel showcasing a girl urging users to internet on their phone in the night because they will get 50 per cent cash back the next day, regardless of the disclaimer, the word ‘Cash Back’ in the claim ‘50 per cent cash back on night interne’” was upheld as incorrect and misleading.
Similarly, the Airtel advertisement that claimed ‘unlimited song downloads for free on Airtel’, is misleading by ambiguity as the data plan is required to be purchased and the ‘download activity’ for the unlimited music is also not free as there is an applicable data charge.
Another ad was the one from Airtel that claimed ‘50 per cent data offer’ during night time from 12am to 6am. The language of the super in the advertisement was not in Hindi and the hold duration of the disclaimer in the TVC was less than 4 seconds. Thus, the TVC contravened the ASCI Guidelines on Supers.
To see the full list of complaints upheld by ASCI in December 2015 click here.
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.
