Is the law adequate to prevent unfaircomparative advertising practices

Maruti Udyog Ltd recently served a legal notice on arch rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd alleging that the latter had printed incorrect information about its latest car Swift in an advertising brochure. With the liberalisation and globalisation of the Indian economy, firms have been aggressively and vigorously promoting their products and services.In a competitive environment, every representation of a product or service is about what ‘others are not’. These practices raise questions about truthfulness and fairness of representation of products and services.The paper extracted from Vikalpa - the journal of IIM, Ahmedabad - explores regulations on comparative advertising in the context of globalisation and liberalisation in India.

Is the law adequate to prevent unfaircomparative advertising practices? In the Indian context, should the balance in interpreting the law not be tilted against such an ad? The opening up of the economy, on its own, is not going to create and sustain competition. An appropriate law, adequate enforcement, strong infrastructure, and a quick dispute settlement mechanism would be needed to sustain competition. Retreat of the State, in the context of free economy, is not to be misunderstood as the State not regulating the economy. The State would need to develop adequate knowledge of the working of businesses in a free economy, enact laws, and create infrastructure and mechanisms for sustaining competition. In its absence, we would only be regressing from a ‘license permit raaj’ to the ‘jungle rule of the market’. The processes of liberalisation and globalisation are nascent. It is not too late to begin.