Guidelines for Advertisement and Promotion of Crypto Currency: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has issued new guidelines regarding the advertisement of cryptocurrency, which will come into effect from April 1, 2022.
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has issued new guidelines regarding the advertisement of virtual digital assets and cryptocurrencies, which will come into effect from April 1, 2022.
The new guidelines for advertising of crypto were being discussed with the government for a long time and it has been prepared after consultation with the government and other stakeholders. According to the new guideline, now in the advertisements of crypto, customers will have to clearly inform about the risks associated with the investment.
It is important to state the risks associated with investing
According to ASCI, risk information will be given with crypto ads. This is being done so that the customers are kept away from any kind of misleading claims. Also, alerts can be made on exaggerated claims of profits. Let us tell you that ASCI is a self-regulatory body to control advertisements in the country.
What are the guidelines?
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- Applicable to all Virtual Digital Asset-related advertisements from 1 April 2022. All advertisements featuring VDA products and VDA exchanges or VDAs must contain the following disclaimer. To be clear, crypto and NFTs are unregulated products and can carry heavy risks.
- The terms “currency”, “securities”, “custodian” and “depository” may not be used in advertisements for VDA products and services, as consumers associate these terms with a regulated product.
- Clear information will have to be given about how much the cost will be. Clear information has to be given about who is giving the advertisement. Celebrities have to understand the risk before advertising.
- The information contained in the advertisements shall not contradict the information or warnings that regulated entities may from time to time communicate to customers for the marketing of VDA Products.
- Clear information has to be given about the cost or profit of the VDA product. Ads must contain clear, accurate, adequate and updated information. For example, ‘Zero Cost’ must include all those costs so that the consumer can get complete information related to the offer or transaction.
- Information about past performance will not be given in any partial or biased manner. Returns for a period of less than 12 months will not be included.
- Every advertisement for a VDA product must clearly state the name of the advertiser and provide an easy way to contact them (phone number or email). This information should be presented in a way that is easily understood by the consumer.
- No advertisement shall contain statements that promise or guarantee an increase in future profits.
The VDA product cannot be compared with any other regulated asset.
is a risky category, celebrities or prominent figures appearing in VDA advertisements should take special care to ensure that they have done their due diligence regarding the statements and claims made in the advertisement, so as to mislead consumers could not be done.
Big changes have been made in the budget
In Budget 2022, the most discussed was about Virtual Digital Assets (VDA). It has been proposed in the budget that 30 percent tax will be levied on the income from sale/transfer of virtual digital assets. Also, during the transfer of virtual digital assets, one percent TDS will also be levied on transactions exceeding a limit. Since then there was a discussion about its framework as well.
