Health Ministry Draft to Curb Misleading Health Ads Remains in Cold Storage

New Delhi: Five years have passed since the Union Health Ministry proposed amending the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954, to take strict action against instances of misleading advertisements. While the Draft in this regard was put in the public domain on 03.02.2020, the proposal has been kept on hold, as there has been no development in this regard after November 2022, the Union Health Ministry informed in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application.

The RTI was filed by Dr. KV Babu, a Kerala-based health activist. Filing the RTI, Dr. Babu had sought to know the status of the Draft of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) (Amendment) Bill, 2020. He also sought the file notings on the draft.

In response, the Drugs Regulation Section of the Union Health Ministry informed on 15.05.2025, "As per available records, no noting has been recorded after 09/11/2022 in File No A.11035/133/2014-DFQC."

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The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 is one of the regulations controlling the advertising of drugs and therapies in India. It prohibits advertisements of drugs and remedies that claim to have magical properties and makes doing so a cognizable offence. The Act lays a statutory provision, wherein, the penalty carries a maximum sentence of 6 months imprisonment with or without fine on the first conviction. In case of any subsequent conviction, the term may be up to a year. If the convicted party is a company, all members of the company will be deemed guilty.

Back in February 2020, the proposal to amend the existing Act was put in the public domain, inviting stakeholder feedback. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the proposed amendments aimed to expand the scope of the 1954 Act by including 24 additional diseases and conditions, such as claims about skin fairness, height enhancement, anti-ageing, and improved sexual performance.

In the amendment, stricter penalties were also proposed as the amount of fine was increased and prescribed jail terms had been extended for violators. The outdated penalties under the current Act, which include short imprisonment and minimal fines, were to be replaced with harsher punishments.

As per the draft, offenders could face fines of up to Rs 10 lakh and imprisonment of up to two years for the first conviction. Subsequent violations would invite fines as high as Rs 50 lakh and jail terms extending to five years. However, since the last five years, the Draft has been kept on hold.

Previous RTI responses from the Ministry have acknowledged the limitations of the current Act and the need for revisions. However, the response to an RTI dating back to October 2023 revealed no movement in the file since November 9, 2022. Consequently, in November 2024 also, the Ministry informed that the status of the proposal was "still pending".

Speaking to Medical Dialogues on the delay in implementation of the proposed amendment, Dr. Babu said, "Because of the weak DMR act enacted in 1954, many pharma companies, both ayurveda and modern medicine, are advertising about commonly used drugs, making tall claims, as pointed out by the PSC in 2018. It necessitates the need of a stringent law to control such advertisements. It is very disappointing that the government is sitting over the draft law for more than 5 years."

Also Read: Rising Misinformation But No Action: Govt's Moves On Misleading Health Ads In Limbo