Media and Advertising Quarterly Milestones (April-June 2025) 

Partner: Jyotsna Jayaram, Senior Associate: Prabal De, Associate: Anushka Gupta

Key Developments

Advertising Standards Council of India updates influencer advertising guidelines for health, nutrition and BFSI sectors

In April 2025, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) updated its existing “Influencer Advertising Guidelines”, introducing changes impacting influencers operating in the health and nutrition, banking, financial services, and insurance (NH-BFSI) sectors.

Previously, all influencers providing advice or promoting or commenting on the merits or demerits of commercial goods in the fields of NH-BFSI were required to have the necessary qualifications and certifications to provide such advice. The revised guidelines differentiate between general product promotion and the dissemination of technical advice (which consumers may interpret to be expert opinions), requiring influencers to be qualified and declare their qualifications only where technical information or advice is being provided. Where the advertisement is of a generic nature in the form of a public service message, such qualifications and declarations are not necessary (for example, where an influencer talks about the need for an annual health check-up). This development is a welcome change for influencers as it allows them to continue creating general content that increases awareness about health, nutrition, and financial services, as well as pursue generic brand endorsements—while reducing the risk of spreading misinformation.

Read the ASCI update here and the guidelines here.

Central Consumer Protection Authority issues advisory mandating self-audit by e-commerce platforms to detect and eliminate dark patterns

In June 2025, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (CPA), issued an advisory calling upon all e-commerce platforms to conduct self-audits for detecting and eliminating deceptive user interface practices, commonly referred to as “dark patterns”, in a move to foster a fair, ethical, and consumer-centric digital marketplace.

The advisory draws on the CCPA’s powers under Section 18(1) of the CPA and reiterates the provisions of the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 (Dark Pattern Guidelines), which define and prohibit several types of manipulative design practices. The advisory comes at a time when, despite the issuance of the Dark Patterns Guidelines, the CCPA has observed ongoing instances of dark pattern usage by various e-commerce platforms.

Consequently, the advisory calls upon e-commerce platforms to take necessary steps to ensure their compliance with the Dark Pattern Guidelines, conduct self-audits to identify dark patterns within three months of the advisory and provide self-declarations that their platforms are not engaging in dark patterns. The advisory signals that the CCPA is looking to actively combat dark patterns, and accordingly, e-commerce platforms should consider assessing various touchpoints on their platform against the Dark Pattern Guidelines, and making changes as may be required to demonstrate compliance.

Read the CCPA advisory here.

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