Mumbai Feb 23 PTI Advertisers will have to prominently carry a disclaimer for crypto products and non-fungible tokens mentioning that these products are unregulated and can be highly risky according to the Advertising Standards Council of India ASCI Besides the self-regulatory has said that such advertisements should mention that there may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions All Virtual Digital 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 as well 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 but has proposed a tax on gains made from such transactions which has been welcomed by the crypto players as a move to legitimise the industry while the RBI has been firm in calling for a complete ban on such activities saying they are a threat to financial stability Advertising of virtual digital assets and services needs specific guidance considering that this is a new and as yet an emerging way of investing Hence there is a need to make consumers aware of the risks and ask them to proceed with caution ASCI chairman Subhash Kamath said The guidelines say advertisers will have to carry the disclaimer --crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions -- in a prominent way A fifth of the advertising space in print or 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 normal speed the ASCI said The disclaimer must remain on screen for at least five seconds in video ads while for long format ads of over two minutes it should be placed both in 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 in any partial or biased manner Returns for periods of less than 12 months shall not be included the guidelines said adding that minors should not be shown in the ads No advertisement shall contain statements that promise or guarantee future increase in profits the ASCI has said Nothing in the ad should downplay the risks associated with the category and the VDA products may not be compared to any other asset class which is regulated The ASCI has also asked celebrity endorsers to do due diligence about the statements and claims made in the advertisement so as 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 the 15th of April 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 bodys secretary general Manisha Kapoor said On February 10 RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said cryptocurrencies were a threat to macroeconomic and financial stability PTI AA RAM MKJ

New Delhi Nov 30 PTI Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government is working out a new Bill on cryptocurrency which will be placed in the ongoing session of Parliament after approval of the Union Cabinet The ongoing winter session is scheduled to end on December 23 Replying to a series of questions in the Rajya Sabha she said the new Bill takes into account the rapidly changing dimensions in virtual currency space and incorporate features of the earlier Bill that could not be taken up The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021 has been included in the Lok Sabha Bulletin-Part II for the introduction in the ongoing winter session The Bill seeks to create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India RBI the Bulletin said It also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India however it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses Yes last time monsoon session there was a Bill but subsequently because there were other dimensionsThat Bill has been reworked And in a way the bill which is coming now is a new Bill But never mind the work done on that Bill have all been taken on board here the minister said Sitharaman the government had genuine intent to bring the Bill even during the last session Now we are coming up with a new Bill So its not as if the last time we just put it there we did not want to come up with one So leading to a suspicion that this time also we are putting a Bill we may not come up with one No lets be clear on that the earlier attempt was definitely to come up with a Bill which the house can consider she added The government she said started working on a new Bill as a lot of things had to come into play This Bill once the Cabinet clears it will come here into the House the finance minister said and added the proposed legislation is likely to be introduced soon On asked if the government proposes to ban misleading advertisements in media she said the guidelines of Advertising Standards Council of India are being studied and their regulations are also being looked into so that we can take if necessary some kind of a position or a decision to see how we are going to handle it The minister also said cryptocurrencies are unregulated in India and the government does not collect data on transactions in cryptocurrency Sitharaman also said the government RBI and Sebi have been cautioning people about the cryptocurrencies that could be a high risk area and more can be done to create awareness A study was conducted by the government through a research firm on Virtual Currencies An Analysis of the Legal Framework and Recommendations for Regulation in July 2017 Thereafter the government constituted an interministerial committee IMC in November 2017 under the chairmanship of the secretary economic affairs to study the issues related to virtual currencies and propose specific action to be taken in this matter The committee inter-alia recommended that all private cryptocurrencies be prohibited in India The panel also recommended that it would be advisable to have an open mind regarding the introduction of an official digital currency in India Meanwhile to a question if craze of cryptocurrencies has increased among Indian investors and unlawful activities have increased through cryptocurrencies in the country Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Yes RBI has been cautioning users holders and traders of virtual currencies VCs vide public notices on December 24 2013 February 1 2017 and December 5 2017 that dealing in VCs is associated with potential economic financial operational legal customer protection and security related risks he said The RBI in a circular dated May 31 2021 has also advised its regulated entities to continue to carry out customer due diligence processes for transactions in VCs in line with regulations governing standards for Know Your Customer KYC anti-money laundering Combating of Financing of Terrorism obligations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 he added PTI MJH NKD DP CS MJH HRS hrs

New Delhi [India], August 26 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked authorities concerned to treat as a representation a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to make school authorities aware that Johnson and Johnson Private Limited's ORSL, ORSL Plus, ORSL Rehydrate and Amrutanjan Health Care Ltd's Fruitnik Electro+ORS are not to be administered to children as an 'ORS' (oral rehydration solution) option.

New Delhi [India], August 23 (ANI): A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was moved in the Delhi High Court on Monday seeking to make school authorities aware that Johnson and Johnson Private Limited's ORSL, ORSL Plus, ORSL Rehydrate and Amrutanjan Health Care Ltd's Fruitnik Electro+ORS are not to be administered to children as an 'ORS' (oral rehydration solution) option.