This Code has laid down the following general rules of conduct in advertising:
o Advertising should be so designed as to confirm to the laws of the country and should not
offend against morality, decency and religious susceptibilities of the people.
o No advertisement should be permitted:
* Which derides any race, caste, colour, creed, nationality except wherein such usage would be for the specific purpose of effective dramatization, such as combating prejudice;
* Which is against any of the objectives, principles, or provisions of the Constitution of India;
* Which will tend to incite people to crime or to promote disorder, violence or breach of law;
* Which presents criminality as desirable, or furnish details of crime or imitation thereof;
* Which would adversely affect friendly relations with foreign states;
* Which exploits the national emblem, or any part of the Constitution, or the person or personality or national leader or State dignitary;
* No advertisement shall be permitted the objects whereof are wholly or mainly of a religious or political nature; advertisements must not be directed towards any religious or political end or have any relation to any industrial dispute;
* Advertisement for services concerned with the following are not acceptable;
(a) Moneylenders;
(b) Chit Funds and Saving Schemes other than those conducted by nationalized
or recognized banks;
(c) Matrimonial agencies; (d) Unlicensed employment services;
(e) Fortune-tellers or sooth-Sayers, etc., and those with the claims of hypnotism would be
excluded from advertising on T.V.;
Betting tips and guide books, etc., relating to horse racing or other games of chance shall
not be accepted;
* No advertisement shall contain references, which are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients has some special property or quality, which is incapable of being established, or proved, e.g., care for baldness;
* Scientific or statistical excerpts from technical literature, etc., must be used only with a proper sense of responsibility to the ordinary viewer. Irrelevant data and scientific jargon must not be used to make claims appear to have a scientific basis they do not possess.
Statistics of limited validity should not be presented in such a way as to make it appear that
they are universally true;
* Advertisers or their agents must be prepared to produce evidence to substantiate any claims or illustrations;
Advertisements should not contain disparaging reference to another product or service;
* Imitation likely to mislead viewers even though it may not be of such a kind as to give room for legal action or be deemed, as breach of copyright must be avoided;
* Visual and verbal representation of actual and comparative prices and costs must be accurate and should not mislead on account of undue emphasis or distortion; and
* Testimonials must be genuine and must not be used in a manner likely to mislead the viewers. Advertisers or the agencies must be prepared to produce evidence in support of any testimonial and any claims it may contain.
o In all other respects, the Director General, AIR or DD be guided for purposes of commercial broadcasting and telecasting on AIR or DD by the Code of Ethics for Advertising in India issued by the Advertising Council of India, as modified from time to time.
o Notwithstanding anything contained herein, this code is subject to such modification or direction as may be made or issued by the Government of India from time to time.
