The Advertising Standards Council of India’s (ASCI) Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) has upheld complaints (pdf) against 200 advertisements during October 2017. Out of which, 82 complaints were upheld in healthcare category, 75 in education, 11 in personal care, eight to the food & beverages category and 24 from other categories. The personal care category includes hyperlocal deals marketplace Nearbuy. An ad of a salon claiming a service at discounted rate of Rs 199 was found false, as the actual original rate for the service offered is Rs 200. The ASCI said that the ad distorts facts and is misleading the consumers about the actual discount being offered. The ‘others’ category includes companies like Uber India and Goibibo. The cab aggregator’s ad claiming, ‘save Rs 500 on your next 10 Uber rides’ and ‘ride Uber and the discount will auto apply”, were found misleading by ASCI since the ad did not mention the validity period of the offer, and was subjected to terms and conditions. ASCI called out on online travel company Goibibo for an ad of Fab Hotels on the platform, which was found misleading. ASCI said that the website showed images of the hotel having gym bar, snooker pool, dining area restaurant 24x7, dining service and tea coffee maker in room, which are false, misleading and misrepresentation of facts since it is a false information about the facilities being provided at the hotel. Our coverage on previous ASCI reports here
