Celebrities from films, sports,modelling may soon land in trouble and may even find themselves in trouble if Government has its way regarding misleading endorsements. Celebrities may soon get endorsements shock. Union Government headed by PM Modi is contemplating new draft law which will land celebrities in jail up to five years and a fine of Rs 50 lakhs for misleading advertisements.
GOM is taking up the new draft law today. It is known that Union Government introduced Consumer Protection Bill in 2015 in Lok Sabha. The bill repeals the 30 -year-old Consumer Protection Act. A Parliamentary Standing Committee submitted its recommendations in April.
Consumer Affairs Ministry after studying the panel's report accepted the important recommendations like provisions for fixing liability on celebrities and stringent punishment for adulteration etc. Department of Consumer Affairs has received comments from other ministries on the draft law and it is comingout that almost all the ministries are in agreement with the provision to impose hefty penalty and imprisonment to celebrities for endorsing misleading advertisements and also those involved in adulteration.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will chair the meeting of GOM today and discuss the changes in the draft law proposed by the Consumer Affairs ministry before sending for the cabinet approval. GOM include Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Heath Minister J P Nadda, Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Transport Minister Nitin Gakari and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
A source speaking to scribes revealed "For the first time offence, a fine of Rs 10 lakh and jail term of up to two years, while for second and subsequent offenses, a fine of Rs 50 lakh and imprisonment of five years has been proposed for brand ambassadors,"
The new law is planning to remove overlap of powers of Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) and the Consumer Fora. An investigating wing will be set up at CCPA, while limiting the role of a district collector to support CCPA in investigation. The law also removed penalty on consumers for frivolous complaints. It has to be seen how celebrities will react to the new law.
