The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has said that all ads for virtual digital assets may carry a disclaimer underlining their riskiness.
According to CNBC, all VDAs and exchanges featuring such products must carry a disclaimer saying ‘crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risk. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.’ The disclaimer must be prominent and unmissable by an average consumer.
The ASCI said the Guidelines for Virtual Digital Assets and Linked Services would be applicable to all ads released or published on or after April 1 of this year. Ads appearing after April 15 must be in compliance with the guidelines.
The guidelines underlined that no ad may show that VDA products or VDA trading could be a solution to money problems, also, the ASCI noted that every ad for VDA products must clearly give out the name of advertiser and provide an easy way to contact them.
In addition, the guidelines require advertisements to be truthful and not mislead consumers by implication, exaggeration, ambiguity or omission. Ads cannot be framed in a way that abuse consumer trust or exploit their lack of knowledge.
Words such as ‘currency’, ‘securities’, ‘custodian’ and ‘depositories’ in advertisements of VDA products can be used. Meanwhile, ads that offer information on cost and profitability of VDA products should contain clear, sufficient, accurate and updated information.
CNBC detailed, “No ad for VDA products or exchanges may show a minor directly dealing, or talking about the product, the norms state. No ad shall contain statements that promise or guarantee future increase in profits. The guidelines say VDA products may not be compared to any other regulated asset class and no advertisement shall contain statements that promise or guarantee a future increase in profits.”
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