Endorsing a misleading ad can now put the celebrities behind the bars. Celebrities can be jailed for 5 years and a fine of Rs 50 Lac under the new proposed law.
The government introduced the Consumer Protection Bill in Lok Sabha in August last year. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with his troop will be discussing the proposed law by the Consumer Affairs Ministry on Tuesday before taking it ahead for the Cabinet approval.
According to the sources, the Consumer Affairs Ministry accepted few major recommendations like rigid penalty for misleading. Nearly the entire ministries are to be confronted on the proposed provision to enforce heavy penalty and 5 years jail to celebrities whoever found endorsing a misleading advertisement.
The ministry also imposed the similar fine and imprisonment for the ones who are involved in adulteration including license suspension or cancellation.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Heath Minister J P Nadda, Transport Minister Nitin Gakari are also part of the informal GoM.
According to the sources, ‘For the first time offence, a fine of Rs 10 lac and imprisonment of 2 years, and for subsequent offenses, a fine of Rs 50 lac and jail for five years has been proposed for endorsers’.
The ministry has also agreed to enable provision to make rules to ensure E-commerce regulation along with direct selling.
The ministry has removed a provision for fine on the consumers for frolicsome complaints.
It is clear that the ministry has proposed rigid provisions to deal with the misleading ads and to ensure accountability on endorsers.