Advertising Standards Council of India issued guidelines to promote crypto assets and other related services. “These guidelines were developed after several rounds of consultation with regulators from the finance and government sectors.”
India’s Crypto Ad Guidelines Published
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) published Wednesday “guidelines for advertising and promotion of virtual digital assets and services.”
The guidelines are applicable to all advertisements related to virtual digital assets (VDA) which are “commonly referred to as crypto or NFT [non-fungible token] products,” ASCI explained.
ASCI Chairman Subhash Kamath described:
We had several rounds of discussion with the government, finance sector regulators, and industry stakeholders before framing these guidelines.
Firstly, all crypto-related ads must carry the disclaimer that states: “Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.” The guidelines explain how the disclaimer must be made to ensure that “it is prominent and unmissable by an average consumer,” India’s advertising authority noted.
Second, please refer to the following guidelines:
The words ‘currency,’ ‘securities,’ ‘custodian,’ and ‘depositories’ may not be used in advertisements of VDA products or services as consumers associate these terms with regulated products.
Advertisements may also not include a minor, or someone that appears to be one.
Advertisements should not claim to solve money problems or promise future profits. “Information on past performance shall not be provided in any partial or biased manner. Returns for periods of less than 12 months shall not be included,” ASCI added.
Noting that ads should not downplay the risks associated with the asset class, the advertising watchdog wrote: “VDA products may not be compared to any other asset class which is regulated.”
Guidelines also cover celebrity endorsement. “Celebrities or prominent personalities who appear in VDA advertisements must take special care to ensure that they have done their due diligence about the statements and claims made in the advertisement, so as not to mislead consumers,” ASCI said, elaborating:
All advertisements published after April 1st 2022 will fall under the scope of these guidelines.
“Advertisers and media owners must also ensure that all earlier advertisements must not appear in the public domain unless they comply with the guidelines, post the 15th of April 2022,” ASCI noted.
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