Ad Council Agrees on Complaints By Bharti Airtel Over Misleading Ads by Jio

Ad council’s fast-track panel has upheld the complaint by Bharti Airtel on Reliance Jio, in which the largest telco alleged that Jio was falsely claiming over its advertisements that their network was the best and the largest. Bharti Airtel said that the ads were misleading by “ambiguity” and “implication”. The Fast Track Complaints Panel (FTCP) of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) showed agreement with the complaints on the basis that Reliance Jio’s claims of “best entertainment” which it was portraying through YouTube Ads and Television ads. The council established that the ads were not supported by proof.

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Reliance Jio, however, stayed silent over the justification and only said that the ad council was yet to give its final decision on the matter. The telco said that the complaint by Airtel over its advertisements was ‘frivolous’. The telco’s official statement read “This is another instance of an incumbent dominant operator thwarting every initiative of a new entrant to offer state-of-the-art digital services to Indian consumers.”

This is not the first time that the two telcos have fought over advertisements. It is not doubted that both the telcos are in cut-throat competition for not only subscribers but also for content-based services. In a market like this, advertisements play a vital role, as such every telco wants to have the edge over the other and they are not letting other players slide out.

It was Airtel’s claim that Reliance Jio had violated ASCI codes, the telco said in mid-May. Airtel also added that Reliance Jio’s claims should be considered futile since there were other telcos in the world with a bigger network, who provided much more benefits and were also providing users with higher speed. The largest telco in the country further added to the allegations by saying Jio was resorting to misinterpretation for luring the users.