State watch on ads that tease & trick

KOLKATA: Are you bowled over by a garment major that promises an unbelievable discount (off-season, festival, or whatever) of 90 per cent? Or, for that matter, the wonder cream that promises to transform an ugly duckling into a fair princess in a month, or a magic shampoo that makes hair-raising claims of turning your bad-hair day into a long winding dream?
Don''t worry.The fair business practices directorate is out to answer your doubts, sort the chaff from the corn, so to say. The department has recently launched a campaign against companies publishing misleading advertisements in the media (newspapers and electronic) so that you do not get tricked into temptation.
The department comes armed with the legal backing for such a crackdown. Misleading advertisements come under the ambit of unfair business practices as described by the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 (amended in 2002), explain senior officials.
"We have received a circular from the Union consumer affairs department to crack down on misleading ads. Some major corporates have been pulled up for issuing such commercials. Some have agreed to rectify the parts that can be construed as misleading but there have been others who have tried to justify their extraordinary claims," an official said on Monday.
A special team of officers of the fair business practices has been meticulously scanning newspapers for such cases. "We have received many complaints from consumers, most of whom been affected by such ads. There are also people who have spotted some anomalies and want us to act on it," one of them pointed out.
"Apart from settling grievances of consumers through the mediation route, this has become one of our main thrust areas," another official said.
The directorate is planning to involve voluntary consumers'' organisations in this mammoth exercise. "All companies that fail to take corrective action may be prosecuted, pending departmental clearance. But, by and large, most companies have been very cooperative," an official said.
Besides bringing such cases to the notice of the directorate, consumers have another option, an official said. They could always approach the consumer courts with their complaint.