Offshore Betting and Realty emerge as the most violative sectors in ASCI Annual Complaints Report 24-25, ads flagged off by consumers surge by 83%
● 56% ads were found to be misleading; 47.5% promoted harmful products or situations
● ASCI clocks 46% reduction in average complaints turnaround time, now at 16 days
Chennai, 28th May 2025: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has released its Annual Complaints Report for the year 2024-2025. Over the past year, ASCI looked into 9,599 complaints and scrutinized 7,199 advertisements. 98% of the ads scrutinized required some form of modification.
This year, offshore betting emerged as the most violative sector, contributing to 43% of cases, followed by realty (24.9%), personal care (5.7%), healthcare (5.23%), and food and beverage (4.69%). Influencer violations contributed to 14% of the ads processed. 3347 of the total ads belonged to categories that are prohibited from being advertised at all by the law. This included 3081 ads of offshore illegal betting platforms, including 318 ads that pertained to influencers promoting such platforms; 233 ads that potentially violated the Drugs and Magic Remedies Act; 21 ads that promoted alcohol brands; and 12 ads promoted by unauthorised forex trading apps, which have been banned by RBI.
ASCI investigated 1,015 influencer ads, of which 98% required modification. 121 violations were detected on LinkedIn, where professionals failed to disclose paid partnerships, prompting ASCI to issue a targeted advisory to ensure transparency on the platform.
Of the ads processed, 89% came from ASCI’s proactive work, and the remaining 11% were complaints received from external sources. ASCI processed 659 advertisements flagged by the general public, an 83.5 % increase from the previous year. As noted over the years, digital remained at the forefront of our complaint processing, with 94.4% of the ads processed from the medium, followed by 2.6% from television and 2.4% from print. ASCI also actively monitored social media tags to take up violations flagged by consumers. The rise in public complaints reflects growing consumer awareness and trust in ASCI’s redressal mechanisms.
ASCI continued efforts have resulted in 83% overall compliance, with TV and print showing near-perfect adherence at 98%.
During the 2024–25 period, ASCI achieved a significant reduction in turnaround time for complaint resolution, averaging 16 days—a 46% improvement from the previous year. This was made possible by a marked increase in uncontested claims, as 59% of advertisers promptly modified or withdrew their ads when contacted by ASCI, as well as processing efficiencies.
Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General, ASCI, said, “This year has been one of meaningful collaborations, as we expanded our efforts to address critical areas like offshore betting/gambling and real estate violations, which are high-impact violations. These initiatives reflect a renewed commitment by ASCI to keep the advertising landscape accountable and responsible.
Partha Sinha, Chairman, ASCI, said, “In a world where ads chase clicks and claims fly faster than facts, someone has to stay sober. That’s where ASCI comes in. The rise in public complaints—and more importantly, how many advertisers chose to quietly comply—says a lot about where trust still lives. We’re not here to police creativity. We’re here to make sure the consumer isn’t the punchline. In the chaos of the digital bazaar, our job is to keep one stall honest.”
Read the report here: (Link)
About the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
The ASCI, established in 1985, is committed to the cause of self-regulation in advertising, ensuring the protection of consumer interests. ASCI seeks to ensure that advertisements conform to its Code for Self-Regulation, which requires advertisements to be legal, decent, honest, and truthful and not hazardous or harmful while observing fairness in competition. ASCI looks into complaints across all media, such as print, TV, radio, hoardings, SMS, emails, the internet/website, product packaging, brochures, promotional material, point-of-sale material, etc. ASCI has collaboratively worked with various government bodies, including the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the Ministry of AYUSH, and the Ministry of Information and PRESS RELEASE Broadcasting (MIB). In August 2023, the ASCI Academy, a flagship program of ASCI, was launched to build the capacity of all stakeholders to create responsible and progressive advertising. ASCI Academy aims to raise standards of advertising content through training, education, outreach, and research on the preventive aspects of advertising self-regulation.
