During the period August 2018 to June 2021, 14,876 instances of misleading advertisements of Indian indigenous and homoeopathic drugs were reported by vigilance centres, which were forwarded to the authorities concerned for relevant regulatory actions.

“About 268 advertisements in the year 2019-20 and 339 advertisements in the year 2020-21 have been forwarded to the respective State Licensing Authorities for taking appropriate action as per extant rules,” Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said in Lok Sabha (Lower House) Friday, adding that these were based on reports received on the GAMA portal (a government website for reporting misleading ads).

The Minister further said in a written reply that Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules made under the parent law provides for prohibition of misleading advertisements and exaggerated claims of drugs and medicinal substances, including AYUSH medicines.

As per Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 and the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, the State Governments have powers to enforce the provisions Act.

According to Sonowal, Ministry of AYUSH was implementing a federal scheme of Pharmacovigilance of indigenous drugs, which aims at inculcating the reporting culture among the consumers as well as practitioners. Besides monitoring and reporting adverse drug reactions, the present Pharmacovigilance scheme also undertakes surveillance and reporting of objectionable or misleading advertisements of drugs for regulatory actions.

For the period April 2015 to January 2018, about 809 such complaints pertaining to AYUSH (including herbal) products and services were registered on the GAMA portal. Total complaints that have been resolved numbered 274, and about 585 such complaints were forwarded by the Ministry to concerned State authority for taking appropriate action.

The Ministry of AYUSH, according to Sonowal, in order to address the veracity of misleading advertisements with respect to indigenous drugs had also signed an agreement with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) for monitoring of such advertisements made in print and electronic media.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has also issued instructions/guidelines to all media channels to abstain from publishing and telecasting such misleading advertisements, which are in contravention of provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, the Minister said.