Rs 50 lakh and a five-year jail term for advertising fairness cream: Health Ministry in draft bill
Under this act, brands endorsing pharmaceutical products for fairness of skin, hair loss, improvement of height or obesity, among others, will be faced with a penalty of Rs 50 lakh and will serve prison time up to five years.
In a country obsessed with fair skin, several brands have been promising both men and men solutions to make them look fairer.
Now, this kind of advertising will have severe repercussions. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has decided to amend the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. Under this act, brands endorsing pharmaceutical products for fairness of skin, hair loss, improvement of height or obesity, among others, will be fined with a penalty of Rs 50 lakh and will serve a prison time up to five years.
In the new version of the bill, the newly added terms include, drugs for improving sexual performance, skin tone, fixing premature age, AIDS, greying of hair, and few others, reports NDTV.
According to the government, for the first offence, the accused will have to pay Rs 10 lakh and serve two years in prison, as mentioned in the draft bill.
According to The Logical Indian, the definition further entails the following statement as well, which states, “any audio or visual publicity, representation, endorsement, or pronouncement made by means of light, sound, smoke, gas, print, electronic media, internet, or website and includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper, invoice, banner, poster, or such other documents: provided that label or wrapper is an advertisement only if it contains any information or claim other than provided in the rules.”
In the next 45 days, the government will listen and seek suggestions, comments, and objections from the public, and stakeholders, on the new version of the bill.
(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)
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