Lok Sabha Question No. 1724 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-16
Subject: Misleading Advertisement of AYUSH Products
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: Karti P. Chidambaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1724 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENT OF AYUSH PRODUCTS

## 1724. SHRI KARTI P. CHIDAMBARAM:

Will the Minister of AYUSH be pleased to state:

(a) the details of complaints against misleading advertisements of AYUSH products and services registered with the Government since 2014-15 till present, year-wise;

(b)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  no  action  has  been  taken  against  some  companies  publishing misleading  advertisements  of  AYUSH products  contravening  Drugs  and  Cosmetics  Act,  1940 and Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954;

(c) if so, the details of such companies and the reasons for inaction by the Government thereon; and

(d)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  measures  to  curb  objectionable  advertisements  of AYUSH products and services and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AYUSH (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

(a)  to  (c):  No  Sir.  As  prescribed  in  Drugs  and  Cosmetics  Act  1940  and  Rules  1945  made thereunder,  enforcement  of  the  legal  provisions  pertaining  to  Quality  Control  and  issuance  of drug license of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathic drugs, is vested with the State drug Controllers/  State  Licensing  Authorities  appointed  by  the  concerned  State/  Union  Territory Government. State/UT Governments are empowered to enforce the provisions of Drugs & Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 & Rules there under and Rule 170 of the Drugs &  Cosmetics Rules, 1945 pertaining to control and prohibition of misleading advertisements and exaggerated claims of drugs. Accordingly, directives have been issued to the States/UTs for appointing Officers to enter, search any premises or examine or seize any record related to the alleged misleading or improper advertisements and initiate action against the cases of default.

As  per  the  information    received  from  State/UTs,  the  details  of  complaints  against misleading advertisements of Ayush medicines registered with the Government since 2014-15 till present is at Annexure -I.

(d) Central Government has notified insertion of Rule 170 in the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, 1945 on 24 th December, 2018 specifically for controlling inappropriate advertisements of Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani medicines.

Ministry  of  Ayush  has  implemented  a  Central  Sector  Scheme  for  Ayush  Oushadhi Gunavatta evam Uttpadan Samvardhan Yojana (AOGUSY) has been implemented for the year 2021-2026.  The  components  of  the  AYUSH  Oushadhi  Gunvatta  Evam  Uttpadan  Samvardhan Yojana (AOGUSY) Scheme are as under;

A.  Strengthening  and  up-gradation  of  Ayush  Pharmacies  and  Drug  Testing  Laboratories  to achieve higher standards.

B. Pharmacovigilance of ASU&H drugs including surveillance of misleading advertisements.

C.  Strengthening  of  Central  and  State  regulatory  frameworks  including  Technical  Human Resource & Capacity Building programs for Ayush drugs.

D. Support for development of standards and accreditation/ certification of Ayush products & materials  in  collaboration  with  Bureau  of  Indian  Standards  (BIS),  Quality  Control  of  India (QCI) and other relevant scientific institutions and industrial R&D centres.

Pharmacovigilance  Centres  for  Ayurveda,  Siddha,  Unani  and  Homoeopathy  (ASU&H) Drugs set up in different parts of the country under the Central Scheme of Ministry of Ayush are  mandated  to  monitor  and  report  the  misleading  advertisements  to  the  respective  State Regulatory Authorities. A three tier structure comprising of a National Pharmacovigilance Coordination  Centre  (NPvCC),  Intermediary  Pharmacovigilance  Centres  (IPvCs)  and  Peripheral Pharmacovigilance Centres (PPvCs) is established. All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi  under  Ministry  of  Ayush  is  the  National  Pharmacovigilance  Co-ordination  Centre (NPvCC)  for  the  implementation  of  the  National  Pharmacovigilance  program  for  Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani & Homoeopathy drugs.  Objectionable advertisements are being reported to the respective State Licensing Authorities by PPvC at regular intervals. The identified centers under this  program  report  instances  of  misleading  advertisements  to  the  respective  state  licensing authorities for suitable action against the defaulters. The numbers of misleading advertisements reported are as below:

| Year   |   No. of misleading advertisement |
|--------|-----------------------------------|
| 2018   |                               411 |
| 2019   |                              4395 |
| 2020   |                              6032 |
| 2021   |                              8187 |
| 2022   |                              6632 |
| Total  |                             25657 |

*******

## Annexure-I

The  state-wise  information  received  regarding the no. of  complaints  against  misleading advertisements of Ayush products registered with Government since 2014-15 till present -

21

| S.no.   | Name of the State/UT   | Year -wise number of complaints received   | Year -wise number of complaints received   | Year -wise number of complaints received   | Year -wise number of complaints received   | Year -wise number of complaints received   | Year -wise number of complaints received   | Year -wise number of complaints received   | Year -wise number of complaints received   | Year -wise number of complaints received   |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| S.no.   | Name of the State/UT   | 2014- 15                                   | 2015- 16                                   | 2016- 2017                                 | 2017- 2018                                 | 2018- 2019                                 | 2019- 2020                                 | 2020- 2021                                 | 2021- 2022                                 | 2022 (till date )                          |
| 1.      | Uttarakhand            | 06                                         | 17                                         | 19                                         | 17                                         | 08                                         | 11                                         | 27                                         | 17                                         | 06                                         |
| 2.      | Kerala                 | 01                                         | -                                          | 07                                         | 01                                         | 01                                         | 03                                         | 04                                         | 01                                         | 01                                         |
| 3.      | West bengal            | -                                          | -                                          | -                                          | -                                          | -                                          | -                                          | 16                                         | 21                                         | -                                          |
| 4.      | Gujarat                | 68                                         | 98                                         | 43                                         | 22                                         | 26                                         | 34                                         | 18                                         | 21                                         | 21                                         |
| 5.      | Manipur                | Nil                                        | Nil                                        | Nil                                        | Nil                                        | Nil                                        | Nil                                        | 17                                         | 03                                         | -                                          |
| 6.      | Arunachal Pradesh      |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 7.      | Andhra Pradesh         |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 8.      | Odisha                 |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 9.      | Delhi                  |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 10.     | Rajasthan              |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 11.     | Sikkim                 |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 12.     | Uttar Pradesh          |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 13.     | Lakshadweep            |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 14.     | Tripura                |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |
| 15.     | Nagaland               |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                            | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        | NIL                                        |