MUMBAI: The newly appointed Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) chairman of the board of governors Rohit Gupta will be putting a strong emphasis on the process of improving the digital advertisements. He made his thoughts known to Indiantelevision.com moments after his appointment was formally announced at the board meeting following the 33rd AGM of the council on Thursday in Mumbai.

“We will be bringing in a very strong process for monitoring digital advertisement as we did for traditional media, as digital today is the fastest growing medium in India,” he said.

Rohit Gupta is the president of Sony Pictures Network India (SPNI) and is also a director at several industry bodies in India like the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IFB), Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), and Media Research Users Council (MRUC).

Gupta also shared that the council is going to continue working towards increasing consumer awareness about the advertising norms. He hailed the government for introducing the Consumer Protection Bill and showed positivity that the brands and endorsers today are being more responsible towards the advertising process.

“I want to continue increasing consumer awareness towards ASCI. Last year, I am proud to say, that the council did a great job in doing that. We saw a 30 per cent rise in the overall complaints filed at ASCI, crossing the 6000 mark. We want to keep building on that,” he mentioned.

Gupta added that for this, he will be putting a strong emphasis on strengthening the social media presence of the council on channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

ASCI did a commendable job last year in raising consumer awareness. As highlighted at the board meeting, the council saw a 37 per cent rise in complaints received on its GAMA portal, and a 30 per cent rise in the total complaints received. The council is receiving more than 50 complaints every day on WhatsApp after the rollout of ASCI complaint scroll on TV channels, a handbook issued by it reveals.

After getting the compliance of TV partners, Gupta is now willing to get INS on-board to curb the menace of misleading and fake advertisement. He also wants the brands to monitor their own ads and be responsible for their conduct.