What are the penalties for false advertising?
Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, residing in Dien Chau district, asks: What are the penalties for false advertising and exaggerating the effects of a product?
Reply:
False advertising practices may be subject to administrative penalties as stipulated in Clause 5, Article 34 of Decree 38/2021/ND-CP.,Specifically: a fine of VND 60,000,000 to VND 80,000,000, except in cases stipulated in Clause 4, Article 51; Point b, Clause 4, Article 52; Clause 1, Article 60; Point c, Clause 1, Article 61 of Decree 38/2021/ND-CP.
For acts of false advertising that meet the elements of a crime, criminal penalties may be imposed under Article 197 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) on the crime of fraudulent advertising, with the following penalties:
“1. Any person who makes false advertisements about goods or services, has been previously fined for this administrative violation or has been convicted of this crime and has not had their criminal record expunged, and continues to violate the law, shall be fined from VND 10,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 or sentenced to non-custodial correctional labor for up to 3 years.
2. Offenders may also be fined from 5,000,000 to 50,000,000 VND, and prohibited from practicing a certain profession or doing a certain job for 1 to 5 years.
Therefore, if an organization or individual has already been penalized for administrative violations related to false advertising as stipulated in Government Decree No. 38/2021/ND-CP on administrative penalties in the fields of culture and advertising, and continues to violate the regulations, they may be subject to criminal prosecution.