Self-disclosure for advertisers limited to the food and health sector

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has decided to relax the Self-Declaration Certificate (SDC) norms for advertisers, in a major relief for them. In a notification issued on Wednesday, the ministry said that advertisements of products related to food and health sector will have to upload a self-certificate on the Broadcast Seva portal and Press Council of India every year.

As indicated by industry sources, this recommendation supersedes all previous recommendations of the Ministry, meaning that the SDC’s mandate has been limited to the food and health sector only.

SDC Proof

“In view of the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and in lieu of previous advisories dated 03.06.2024 and 05.06.2024, advertisers/advertising agencies publishing advertisements for products and services related to food and health sectors are advised to upload the annual self-declaration certificate” on the portals, the I&B Ministry said in a statement. It added that advertisers and ad agencies must “share the proof of uploading the self-declaration with the concerned media entities such as television channels, newspapers, entities engaged in publishing advertisements on the internet etc. for documentation purposes.”

Until now, advertisers and advertising agencies across sectors were required to submit a self-declaration certificate before publishing any new ads. These standards came into effect on June 18.

However, various advertising and media industry organisations have urged the Ministry to limit the SDC mandate to the health and food sectors only. They have also suggested that SDC submission should be required only once a year, rather than for every advertisement published.

“It is clarified that advertisers/ad agencies are responsible to ensure that every advertisement published by them complies with the letter and spirit of the applicable Indian laws, rules and regulations,” the I&B Ministry added in its advisory.