INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
misleading, advertisers will now have to put a disclaimer while promoting the "highly risky" and unregulated cryptocurrencies from April 1,
pending, and profits from digital assets transactions will be taxed at 30 per cent, the government wanted to crackdown on cryptocurrency
assets (VDAs), which are commonly referred to as crypto or non-fungible tokens (NFTs), will have to put the disclaimer in a "prominent and
unmissable" way in campaigns for products and services.The announcement of the guidelines, done after consultations with industry
stakeholders, government and financial regulators, comes as the advertising for the controversial products and services is on the
upswing.The government is yet to come out with a law on such assets.Still, it has proposed a tax on gains made from such transactions, which
the crypto players have welcomed as a move to legitimise the industry.In contrast, the RBI has been firm in calling for a complete ban on
such activities, saying they threaten financial stability and the challenge of exchange management, monitoring and regulating such
assets."Advertising of virtual digital assets and services needs specific guidance, considering that this is a new and as yet an emerging
Hence, there is a need to make consumers aware of the risks and ask them to proceed with caution," said ASCI chairman Subhash Kamath.The
guidelines say advertisers will have to carry the disclaimer - "crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky
static ad should be devoted to the disclaimer, while in a video, it should be placed at the end against a plain background with a voice-over
reading out the text at average speed, the ASCI said.The disclaimer must remain on screen for at least 5 seconds in video ads, while for
long format ads of over two minutes, it should be placed both at the starting and end of the ad.Similarly, guidelines on putting the
disclaimers also cover audio, social media posts, disappearing stories or posts on social media, it said.In formats where there is a limit
on characters, the following shortened disclaimer must be used "crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and risky", followed by a link to
the full disclaimer, it said.Advertisers have also been barred from using the words "currency", "securities", "custodian", and
"depositories" in advertisements of VDA products or services as consumers associate these terms with regulated products.Information on past
performance shall not be provided, partial or biased
The guidelines said that returns for less than 12 months should not be included, adding that minors should not be shown in the ads.The ASCI
has said that no advertisement shall contain statements that promise or guarantee a future increase in profits.Nothing in the ad should
downplay the risks associated with the category, and the VDA products may not be compared to any other regulated asset class.The ASCI has
also asked celebrity endorsers to do due diligence about the statements and claims made in the advertisement not to mislead
consumers.Advertisers and media owners must also ensure that all earlier advertisements must not appear in the public domain unless they
comply with the guidelines, post-April 15, it said."We have seen a spate of advertising for virtual digital assets which could compromise
consumer interest in the absence of some guardrails
Use of celebrities and high decibel advertising would attract consumers to these offerings, without full disclosure of the risks," the
body's secretary-general Manisha Kapoor said.
