Celebrities Liable For Misleading Claims:- Now Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, PV Sindhu or even a Shahrukh Khan will now be under scrutiny for misleading campaigns under the Consumer Protection Bill, which includes constitution of a Central Consumer Protection Authority to ensure consumer’s rights are protected.
The Bill has seen acceptance by both the Houses of the Parliament, and the Bill would see celebrities being liable for fine for making misleading claims in advertisements.
The new Consumer Protection Bill makes the celebrities endorsing a product, liable for the claims made by the brand, and if found misleading, would be liable for fine. The initial fine would be up to ₹10 lakh and/ or an imprisonment of up to two years. The punishment would get graver in case of repeat offence, attracting a penalty as severe as a fine of up to ₹50 lakh and / or jail term upto five years.
Only if endorsers can prove to have done due diligence of the product to verify the claims they are making, they can be exempted from a punishment.
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (CDRCs) will be set up at the district, state and national levels to address consumer grievances, however, the final appeal for all disputes will lie with the Supreme Court.
This would ensure a case like the “Amrapali” one, where home buyers claimed to have fallen in the trap because of the company’s face being Dhoni, won’t be repeated as celebrities would now not be able to escape any sort of responsibilities and will be liable for such misconduct.
