Consumer watchdog breached broadcasting laws

THE new National Consumer Agency (NCA) breached broadcasting laws by running a radio advertisement on below-cost selling which tried to influence public opinion.

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) announced yesterday that it had upheld a complaint submitted by the independent grocers organisation, RGDATA, about the content of an ad for the NCA which was broadcast on both RTÉ Radio 1 and Today FM last July.

RGDATA director general Tara Buckley claimed the ad, which invited consumers to make submissions for proposed changes to the Groceries Order, was one-sided, misleading and factually incorrect.