Govt to bring new Consumer Protection law to check misleading ads

Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has said that the government will bring a new Consumer Protection law in the upcoming Parliament session, that will have strong provisions against celebrities endorsing misleading advertisements as well as adulteration. 

He said, a group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will soon meet to finalise the amendments to the new Consumer Protection Bill, 2015, based on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. Mr Paswan was talking to media persons on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi yesterday. 

The GoM had in late August, asked the Consumer Affairs Ministry to look at laws of other countries related to misleading ads by celebrities before finalising the Bill. The Consumer Affairs Ministry had proposed



stringent provisions to tackle misleading advertisements as well as to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities. 

For the first time offence, a fine of 10 lakh rupees and jail term of up to two years, while for second and subsequent offences, a fine of 50 lakh rupees and imprisonment of five years has been proposed for brand ambassadors.Mr Paswan said, Centre is working on a plan to provide fortified rice and wheat- flour through the public distribution system to enhance nutritional values in food intake.

Fortification means increasing the content of essential micro-nutrients in food items.Earlier, Mr Paswan and Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel released the draft Food Safety and Standards (Foritification of Foods) Regulation, 2016 during the National Summit on Fortification of Food.