The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a directive to all telecom service providers asking them to refrain from misleading tariff advertisements so that subscribers can choose services and tariff plans, without being lured by attractive options that come with a fine print. Besides asking telcos to disclose all material information clearly in their ads,the regulatory body has also asked them to publish a URL to their website and customer care numbers. The same should be published in a vernacular language if the ad is in that particular language. They've also been asked to maintain an advertisement register to file specimens of all tariff related ads and to carry out internal audits to ensure compliance. the TRAI has said that every advertisement published by a telco should be transparent and non- misleading and the design, including paper size, color, font type and font size, tone and volume of the advertisement should be legible, audible and unambiguous. The tariff advertisements should disclose all material information which is likely to influence the decision of a subscriber in an unambiguous manner. The directives apply to all tariff advertisements, issued through any medium including printed media, pamphlets, radio, television, internet, e-mails and any other audio-visual electronic media. This is a welcome move since subscribers are often lured by telcos promising attractive tariffs with fine prints, that they do not convey to the subscribers in a transparent manner. So What qualifies as misleading? According to the TRAI, a tariff ad is misleading if:…
