Lens on misleading ads promoting cryptos: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: The government is checking the advertising monitor's guidelines to see what can be done to address concerns over misleading commercials promoting cryptocurrency, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha.

She didn't respond directly to a question on whether the government will ban such advertising.

The government will introduce a bill on cryptocurrency in parliament soon after it's approved by the cabinet, she said.

"About the misleading advertisements and about whether we are banning them... Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI ), which governs all advertisements--their guidelines are being studied and the regulations that they have are all being looked into so that we can take, if necessary, some kind of position to a decision to say how we are going to handle this," Sitharaman said in response to a question from lawmaker Sushil Kumar Modi, former Bihar deputy chief minister.

Cryptocurrency advertisements without any disclaimer or caution for investors had also figured in the meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in early November.