Module: General Practice
Q10: Consider the following statements regarding telemarketing and influencer endorsements for financial products:
Statement 1: The Consumer Education and Protection Department (CEPD) of the RBI oversees the framework for fair lending and marketing practices by REs.
Statement 2: The draft directions mandate that any telemarketing call selling financial products must begin with a clear, upfront disclosure of the caller's identity and the financial purpose of the call.
Statement 3: Unsolicited commercial communications (cold calls) for selling financial products are strictly restricted to the operational time window of 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Statement 4: Influencers engaged by REs for financial promotions are required to prominently display an "Ad" or "Sponsored" label covering at least 5% of the screen area in video formats.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
Statement 2: The draft directions mandate that any telemarketing call selling financial products must begin with a clear, upfront disclosure of the caller's identity and the financial purpose of the call.
Statement 3: Unsolicited commercial communications (cold calls) for selling financial products are strictly restricted to the operational time window of 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Statement 4: Influencers engaged by REs for financial promotions are required to prominently display an "Ad" or "Sponsored" label covering at least 5% of the screen area in video formats.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
✅ Correct Answer: D
🎯 Quick Answer:
All statements are correct. (Option D)Regulation ensures these channels do not become vehicles for harassment or unlicensed financial advice.
Structural Breakdown: The rules dissect marketing into direct outreach (telecalling) and third-party promotion (influencers). Both channels now hold the engaging bank legally liable for misrepresentation.
Historical / Static Context: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) runs the Do Not Disturb (DND) registry, but financial entities often bypassed this through third-party call centers.
Finfluencers were entirely unregulated until SEBI and RBI began tightening the noose recently.
The Dynamic Update (NEW) & Data: The new draft introduces stringent qualitative rules requiring upfront telecaller identification (Statement 2). The hard data strictly restricts cold-calling hours to 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM to prevent harassment (Statement 3). Furthermore, it quantitatively restricts influencer deception by mandating that "Sponsored" tags must cover at least 5% of the screen area in video ads (Statement 4).