Real estate sector biggest offender of ad code, MahaRERA penalises 628 developers: ASCI

Real estate emerges as the most violative category in terms of ads.

Real estate advertisements were the biggest offenders of the advertising standards and code during the April and September period followed by illegal betting, the ad industry’s self-regulatory body has said in a report.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) said it looked into 4,016 complaints and 3,031 were scrutinised for potential violations of its code.

Of all the advertisements processed by ASCI, all the real estate commercials were from the Maharashtra region.

Under realty, 1,027 commercials were shortlisted from 2,115 screened in Maharashtra for potential violations of regulatory requirements under the MahaRERA Act, ASCI said in the report.

These ads were reviewed for compliance with mandatory disclosure norms, including the presence of registration numbers, QR codes, and other essential information. Ninety-nine percent of the shortlisted ads were found to be in violation of MahaRERA Act.

ASCI received prompt compliance in 59 percent of the cases, where advertisers either modified their ads to include the missing information or withdrew them.

Non-compliant ads were flagged to MahaRERA for further action. MahaRERA penalised 628 real estate developers, imposing a penalty of Rs 88.90 lakh, for various violations.

The second most violative category was illegal betting and gambling. ASCI referred 890 ads to the information and broadcasting ministry for action. As many as 831 Instagram posts displayed betting tickers, which directed viewers to offshore betting platforms.

"These tags and tickers appear on fan and community pages on Instagram, with some page owners reportedly earning daily amounts between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 by featuring these logos. Additionally, 50 websites and social media pages were identified as promoting illegal betting apps and platforms, and nine influencer posts were found endorsing illegal betting services," ASCI said.

Greenwashing claims in ads turned out to be the third biggest violator.

ASCI reviewed 100 advertisements for potential violations of the ASCI Guidelines for making environmental/green claims versus 34 ads in 2023-24.

The majority of the ads were from the homecare sector, where products claimed to be eco or environment-friendly without adequate support data. Twenty-eight percent of these cases were reported to the government for non-compliance with the ASCI code and guidelines.