ISA urges MIB to postpone implementation of ‘Self-Declaration Certificate’ mechanism

Given the complexities and practical challenges highlighted by various ad and media industry stakeholders in implementing the self-declaration certificate for every ad published on digital, radio, broadcast, or in print, the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) has written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to postpone the process until concerns are heard by the Supreme Court and a court order is passed.

On July 9 the Ministry will submit an affidavit on the actions taken so far on SDC in the top court. It will also have the opportunity to present reactions of stakeholders to the mandatory SDC directive and mechanism, and their representations.

In its letter on May 27 and then again in its representation on June 10, and in the meeting with MIB on June 11, ISA acknowledged the responsibility of advertisers to abide by the applicable laws and regulations and engage in truthful advertising but noted the challenges advertisers may face over SDC.

The MIB concluded the meeting of media and ad industry bodies and stakeholders, following the SC order that all advertisers/advertising agencies must submit SDC before publishing or broadcasting any advertisement, on June 11. The meeting saw no resolutions and provided no relief to stakeholders concerned about impact of the SDC mechanism.

The meeting saw the participation of representatives from the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation, Advertising Standards Council of India, Digital News Publishers of India (DNPA), Google and senior media executives.

In its letter dated June 12, ISA noted that the current upload/ platform provided by MIB to submit SDC is not secure, and it seems people could have access to all the materials you upload. Also, the portal is “laggy” and tends to hang a lot. ISA has raised various doubts as well including what happens if the upload is rejected by MIB, and validity period of the certificate. It also highlighted that the process of filling out, printing and scanning the application each time is cumbersome given the quantum of creatives.

Empathizing with the micro and small entities, it also noted that such individuals and entities may not have the capabilities or resources to provide for access to files on a private cloud. StoryBoard18