govt move to override ASCI powers: Admen worried

India's advertising fraternity is concerned about the overriding powers that the draft Broadcasting Services a Regulation Bill, 2007 has envisaged for regulating content of promotional campaigns despite the Advertising Standard Council of India having its own model code of conduct.

"In a meeting with the information and braodcasting ministry officials on June 26, we had expressed our view that when ASCI has a code for self regulation, why should anybody from outside regulate us," an ASCI representative told PTI.

ASCI's unhappiness comes on the heels of the government taking a suo moto action to ban two undergarment advertisements Lux Cozy and Amul Macho claiming them to be indecent, vulgar and suggestive, which were cleared by the Consumer Complaints Council of

the apex body regulating advertisements in India.

"The CCC had cleared the two advertisements because they were not likely to cause grave and widespread offense," the ASCI representative said.

The draft Broadcasting Services and  Regulation Bill, 2007 has incorporated that it would override the deliberations of ASCI.

"The CCC has 21 members of which 12 are from non-advertising background from different walks of life such as education and social activists and they have been involved in clearing those advertisements," the ASCI official said, adding cleared ads could not have been biased.

Echoing similar sentiments, Advertising Agencies Association of India also said further discussions needed to be held with the industry and goverment to sort out the issue.