The National Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (CONAR) added a new annex to the Brazilian Self-Regulating Advertising Code, the Exhibit V, which establishes specific rules for the advertisement of mobile internet services.
We highlight the most important points of Exhibit V bellow:
- The Advertiser shall use clear and simple language to the consumer and shall make available all information as regards prices, term of validity of the promotion, service covered, rules, restrictions, and payment methods;
- Information as regards limited data caps and conditions applicable after consumed all data cap by the user;
- Information on the average volume of data consumption by apps, social media, video providers and/or e-mails;
- Information on rates of transmission speed in data connections;
The Exhibit V shall become effective on 1st July and the compliance of pleaded requirements shall take into account the details and limitations of each communication way where the advertising is being broadcast.
Read bellow the entire text of Exhibit V:
This Annex aims to establish rules for the advertisement of telecommunication services, to initially and specifically regulate communication of mobile internet services, in addition to the general rules of this Code, and without prejudice to compliance with the sector laws and regulations.
I. Mobile Internet Communication:
1. In Mobile Internet service advertisement, the advertiser shall use clear language, accessible to the consumer and shall make available the following essential information regarding the service:
a. When mentioning price, it shall delimit the service covered, inform its rules, restrictions and manners of collection;
b. When mentioning the object of the offer/promotion of the service, it shall inform the limited data caps, according with in this Annex;
c. When mentioning any applications that use Mobile Internet, it shall provide general clarification on the operation of such applications, specifically regarding the form of data consumption and the average volume of data consumed, per type of access; and
d. It shall provide clear and precise information, avoiding confusion between products and providers.
2. The following information shall be explicit in the communication:
a. The essential information provided in item 1 above and other specific information on the offer/promotion and its benefits;
b. The term of validity of the offer/promotion;
c. Criteria and term of eligibility of the offer/promotion
d. Applicable prices and rules for readjustment of the offer/promotion of the services to cellular phone.
3. In the communication of the Mobile Internet offer, the following information shall also be provided:
a. Scope of the service offer dealt with in this Annex as well as the address where to find the coverage map of the telecommunications service provider;
b. Restrictions to the use of the service;
c. Limited data caps and conditions applicable after consuming the data cap referred to in this Annex;
_d. Rates of transmission speed in data connections, in accordance with current regulations, including, without being limited to, reference speeds for downloading files and uploading files, according to the technology used.
e. Average volume of data consumption on social media, video providers and/or e-mails;_
f. Possibility for the provider to change its product grid and replace the package contracted with another equivalent, in compliance with the applicable rules.
4. Ads shall be balanced. Accordingly, when emphasizing benefit, if there is a relevant condition or restriction (applicable in most situations and/or that considerably affects the supply of the service), this shall also be clarified to the consumer in the same advertisement. The complete details of the service supply may be made available through other communication channels of the Advertiser.
a. In order to comply with the provisions of this Annex, the details and limitations of each medium where the ads of offers/promotions announcements of the services covered by this Annex will be broadcast (radio, TV, web, stores and service centers of authorized agents, or printed media, contact centers, SMS, among others. Accordingly, it is recommended to indicate in the text of the advertisement any other form of communication where the consumer can access the complete information of the offer/promotion, as for instance: “see regulation and more information of this offer/promotion at the indicated address”.