REDRESSAL MECHANISM FOR COMPETITORS AGAINST MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENTS

Abstract

Advertisements promote products and educate consumers to enable them to draw a comparison between similar products. They are a part of freedom of speech and are protected within the ambit of Article 19. However, such advertisements must have inherent qualities of being truthful and must not be fraudulent. Usually, there is a fine line between a “misleading advertisement” and an exaggerated advertisement to overtly sell one’s product. In cases where such misleading advertisements are detrimental towards consumers, the redressal mechanisms include a complaint to the ASCI or the Consumer Protection Act comes to his defence. However, with respect to competitors, there is a dearth of such exclusive platform for redressal. The need of a redressal mechanism for competitors is essential because there can be an irreparable injury that a competitor can face due to a misleading advertisement. The competitor cannot find shelter under the Competition Act as misleading advertisements do not fit into the ambit of “anticompetitive activities” or “abuse of dominance”. Moreover, ASCI, under which a competitor could file a complaint, lost its independence as it came under the control of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Therefore, its role changed from an independent redressal platform to a consumer protection unit.  Therefore, an independent and a regulated body of experts should handle such grievances of competitors and the ambit of competition act must be increased to include this issue which has been hushed for a long time.