New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that consumers often stay in the dark, as they are unable to access information regarding misleading advertisements while suggesting that the Ministry of Ayush must set up a dashboard, providing details regarding complaints filed on misleading advertisements. The apex court said the dashboard should also show progress made on these complaints.
A bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta observed that in the absence of proper information in connection with the action taken on the complaints received, the consumers' are left in the dark. The bench said that the Ministry of Ayush must set up a dashboard citing complaints received, then the data would come in the public domain, which could address the issue of prosecution under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
The top court made these observations while hearing a plea filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against the misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd against Covid vaccination drive and modern systems of medicine.
The bench noted that the number of complaints made by the consumers have gone down to around 130 from 2500. It observed that the reason appears that the grievance redressal mechanism for dealing with such complaints has not been properly publicised. The apex court asked the ministry concerned to look into this issue and file an affidavit within two weeks.