Consumer Dialogue

Vol. 8 No. 4 October—December 2015

IIPA

CCS Sponsored by

Department of Consumer Affairs

Government of India

Editorial Team Prof. Suresh Misra

Dr. Sapna Chadah

Dr. Mamta Pathania

Research and Design Virendra Nath Mishra

Pankaj Kr.Singh

Contact us : Indian Institute of Public Administration, Indraprastha Estate New Delhi - 110002 Tel : 011-23468347 23468434, Email : ccs.iipa@gmail.com, Website : www.consumereducation.in

bYksDVªWkfud mRiknksa ds LVSaMMZ ekdZ iznf”kZr

djuk gqvk vfuok;Z

vkWijs”ku ds nkSjku MkWDVj us isV esa NksM+h #bZ]

nsus gksaxs 8 yk[k #i;s

,Vh,e ls iSls fudys fcuk gh [kkrs ls dVs] cSadksa ij

yxk tqekZuk

jsyos fVdV jn~n djkuk gqvk egaxk] uoacj ls

u, fu;e ykxw

A Quarterly e-Newsletter of Centre for Consumer Studies (CCS)

1

Secretary (CA) Visits National Consumer Helpline The Inter- School Poster Competition on Consumer Awareness MoU between Department of Consumer Affairs and Indian Institute of Public Administration National Seminar on Consumer Protection and Consumer Welfare in India Two-Day National Seminar on “Consumer Justice in Globalizing India: Challenges and

Choices Seminar on Consumer Protection and Consumer Empowerment in India BEE Energy Efficiency Label for LED Lights coming soon Consuming only Non-Dairy Milk not wise, say Experts IT Ministry Resolved 200 Consumer Complaints Received on Facebook & Twitter

Inter- School Poster Competition on Consumer Awareness

The Centre in collaboration with the Rajkiye Pratibha Vikas Vidhalaya, Thyagraj Nagar, New Delhi organized a Inter– School Poster Competition on Consumer Protection and

Consumer Awareness on October 12, 2015. The Programme was inaugurated by Ms. Bharti Das, CCA & Joint Secretary,

Department of Consumer Affairs, GoI. Prof. Suresh Misra, Chair Professor and Coordina-tor CCS and Shri G. N Sreekumaran, Consultant were also present.40 students in Junior category and 43 students in Senior category from Delhi schools participated in the poster making competi-tion. The themes assigned to the Junior Group were “Jago Grahak Jago” and “Consumer Rights” whereas the topics for seniors were “Misleading Advertisements” and “Swatchh Bharat”. The objective of the competition was to create awareness among the students in the areas of consumer rights, duties and responsibilities of consumers and role of individuals as consumers in the society. It was an effort to make students understand the role and importance of Consumer Protection and motivate them to come forward to give an outreach to the consumer movement. The Centre brought out Calendar and New year Greeting Cards based on the posters. The calendar was released on the National Consumer Day on 22nd December, 2015 by the Hon‟ble Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan.

MoU between Department of Consumer Affairs and Indian Institute of Public Administration

Indian Institute of Public Ad-m i n i s t r a t i o n signed a MoU on 30th October, 2015 with the Department of C o n s u m e r Affairs, GoI to extend the Cen-tre for Con-sumer Studies for a period of five years (2015-2020). The DCA will provide a financial grant of Rs. 15 Crores to organize various activities The activities of the Centre for Consumer Studies will include capacity building of various stakeholders, seminars, workshops, research, documentation

Dr. T. Chatterjee, Director IIPA and Ms. Bharti Das, CCA

& Joint Secretary, DCA signing MoU

Shri C. Viswanath, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, GoI v i s i t e d N a t i o n a l Consumer Helpline (NCH) and State Consumer H e l p l i n e R e s o u r c e Management Portal at Centre for Consumer Studies, IIPA on October 1, 2015 to acquaint with overall functioning of NCH and SCHs. Mr. Viswanath also had a feel of the calls coming to the NCH.

Secretary (CA) Visits National Consumer Helpline

Shri C. Viswanath, Secretary (CA) listening a call at NCH

Ms. Bharti Das, CCA & Joint Secretary, DCA inaugurating Inter-School Poster Competition and Shri Ram

Vilas Paswan Hon’ble Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution releasing Calendar

Vol. 8 No. 4 October—December 2015

2

Two-Day National Seminar on “Consumer Justice in Globalizing India: Challenges and Choices”

The Centre in collaboration with Department of Sociology, University of Kalyani, organized a Two-day National Seminar on “Consumer Justice in Globalizing India: Challenges and Choices” (November 19-20, 2015). Professor Rattan La l Hangloo, the Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor, University of Kalyani, inaugurated the seminar. He said that India in terms of market economy is developing by leaps and bounds and bringing everybody in its grip. Now technocrats and management groups are engaged for capturing the market especially the rural market.

Seminar on Consumer Protection and Consumer Empowerment in India

The Centre in collaboration with Rajkot Saher Jilla Grahak Suraksha Mandal, Rajkot, organised Two Day Seminar on “Consumer Protection and Consumer Empowerment in India” on November 26-27, 2015 at Junagadh, Gujarat. The Seminar was inaugurated by Dr A R Pathak, Vice Chancellor, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh. Addressing the participants, Dr A. R. Pathak, emphasized on the need to strengthen the consumer movement in the State and highlighted the importance of consumer awareness to avoid exploitation at the hands of traders and manufacturers. The main objective of the Seminar was to enhance the knowledge and skill of the participants in the area of Consumer Protec-tion and Consumer Welfare and discuss the various

dimensions of Consumer Protection in different service sectors. More than 200 participants from various parts of Gujarat attended the Seminar. The Seminar was divided into various sessions covering Consumer Protection - An Overview, Consumer Protection: Education and Awareness, Working of Consumer Dis-pute Redressal Agencies, Misleading Advertisement and the Consumer, Food Safety and Service Sector and the Consumer, etc

and dissemination of information. The aim of the Centre is to facilitate consumer‟s interests and welfare. The MoU, was signed by Dr. T. Chatterjee, Director, IIPA and Ms. Bharti Das, Join Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India.

National Seminar on Consumer Protection and Consumer Welfare in India

The Centre in collaboration with Swami Vivekanand Government College, Ghumarwin, (H.P) organised a two day National Seminar on Consumer Protection and Consumer Welfare in India on November 2-3, 2015 at Ghumarwin,(H.P).The Seminar was inaugurated by Sh. Rajesh Dharmani, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Forest), Himachal Pradesh. Sh. A. K. Shori, Chief Post Master General, Himachal Pradesh and Prof. Suresh Misra, Chair Professor and Coordinator CCS, IIPA, were the Guest of Honour. Addressing the participants, Sh. Rajesh Dharmani, emphasized on consumer aware-ness and the prob-lems and complexi-ties faced by the consumers. He said that even after CP Act it is little difficult to redress con-sumer problems as consumers lack in-formation of the re-dressal procedure. He was of the view that spiritual and religious leaders can also make a difference by making common people aware through their preaching. He also emphasized to organize such programmes at grass root level to educate and aware consumers. He applauded the efforts of the college for organizing the National Seminar on such a topical theme. The objectives of the Seminar were (a) to elicit the need and importance of Consumer Protection in market economy, (b) to enhance the knowledge and skill of participants relating to products and services and (c) to understand the process of consumer grievance redressed and filing of complaints to get remedies.

Dignitaries on the dais

This has given rise to misleading ads, unethical and scrupulous practices. This shakes consumers confidence in the market and for that consumer must be educated and made aware. Professor Suresh Misra, Chair Professor and Coordinator, CCS in his address said that Globalization is there to stay. It has changed the way we think, eat, travel . The consum-ers are helpless compulsive buyers; consumers even after being cheated hardly get to know that they have been cheated. He stressed that the consumer them-selves must take the challenge to prevent deceptive practices in the market. There were five Thematic Sessions which were: Gender and Market; Real Estate, Capital and Consumers; Consumer Protection: Service Sector; Misleading Adver-tisement; and Consumerism, State and Society.

Dignitaries during Inaugural Session

Dignitaries lighting the lamp

Vol. 8 No. 4 October—December 2015

3

BEE Energy Efficiency Label for LED Lights coming soon

Immense benefits of LEDs have spurred people to switch from traditional lighting to energy-efficient LED lighting products. But the problem is, a large number of manufacturers are tapping this potentially lucrative market but all of them do not provide quality products. So, to help people choose quality energy-efficient products, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has come up with standards for LED Lights. Based on these standards, LED lights will get af-fixed with BEE Energy Star Rat-ing labels, so that purchasers can compare the energy efficiency of different mod-els. The two main parameters that determine the efficiency of LED lights are: „Watt‟ and „Lumen per Watt‟. Watt indicates the amount of energy used by a lamp, while lumen per watt denotes the amount of light generated by a lamp for each watt of electrical power consumed. However, when it comes to comparing the efficiency, lumen per watt is a better tool as the actual light output with same wattage can vary widely among different models. Under its labeling program for LED lights, BEE will consider lumen per watt as deciding factor to rate. Like any other product or appliance, these lights will also be rated in stars ranging from one to five. That means, more is the number of stars, more is the energy efficiency of the lamp. For Indian LED manufacturers initially these efficiency rating labels will apply on a voluntary basis till late December 2016 . Eventually, the labeling program for LED lights would make it mandatory for manufacturers to acquire efficiency labels for their products. The energy efficiency of the products will be rated on a five star scale, the more stars indicates the LED light is more energy efficient.

Consuming only Non-Dairy Milk not wise, say Experts

The dietary choices of people these days are dictated by the current fad across the world. One such fad that is catching up is about consuming non-dairy milk made from almonds, cashewnuts, soya, rice or coconut among other foods. Experts, however, warn that re-placement of dairy products with these products can lead to nutritional deficiencies or other health issues. Most nut milks are lower in calories, contain no dietary cholesterol and saturated fats. With weight loss and healthy eating being the norm, non-dairy milks are be-coming popular. It is still not a wise idea to replace dairy products in one's diet completely by these fad milks, add experts. With the increase in commercial farming,

more people are prone to allergic reactions to dairy. In addition, nut milk tend to be more delicious and are also a good alternative for those following a vegan diet or those on protein restricted diets. Experts have warned that nut milk do not contain the same amount of calcium and protein as cow's milk nor do the nutrients available in nut milk match up the nutrient profile of raw nuts. Die-tetic expert says, people who depend on the internet to design their own diets and assess their nutritional needs are those most prone to having these fad milks in their diets. These products are also easily available in supermarkets. What people don't realize is that they are harming themselves as they are consuming a lot of preservatives through them. Packaged and processed food, high in additives, is also linked to cancer. Nut milks are also not as healthy as advertised. Such products must only be included in a person's diet when recommended for some specific health reasons. Otherwise, instead of helping one lose weight, they can lead to nutritional deficiencies and weight gain as these people often forgets about balancing the other factors in the diet.

IT Ministry Resolved 200 Consumer Complaints Received on Facebook & Twitter

For resolving consumer complaints from across the country Social media is fast becoming a popular platform for Government service providers, departments like Communications and IT and Railways . The communica-tions and IT ministry has r e d r e s s e d about 200 complaints till now, as per official data. Until Decem-ber the minis-ter's office had forwarded 136 complaints received through social media to different departments for action. Of these 92 cases were success-fully redressed. The state run-BSNL separately received 326 cases, of which 111 cases had been resolved. A small team in the ministry attends to any specific complaint posted by citizens on minister‟s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Every complaint that the officers find tangible and specific is forwarded to the department concerned in writing and a time frame is given for attending to that complaint. Unlike the conventional channels of public grievance redressal, the advantage of using social media is that it enhances transparency and accountability of the organization. This is so because when an aggrieved citizen writes on an open platform like Facebook and Twitter, the world gets to read about his problem, officials said.

Vol. 8 No. 4 October—December 2015

4

bYksDVªWkfud mRiknksa ds LVSaMMZ ekdZ iznf”kZr

djuk gqvk vfuok;Z

Hkkjrh; ekud C;wjks us 30 bysDVªkfud mRiknksa ds fy,

LVSaMMZ ekdZ dh eqgj fMLkIys djuk vfuok;Z dj fn;k gSA

u, fu;e ds eqrkfcd vkbZ,lvkbZ dk izek.k&i= izkIr djus

okyh lHkh daifu;ksa ds fy, bls

iznf”kZr djuk vfuok;Z gksxkA

bysDVªkfud mRiknksa okyh

daifu;ksa dks lsYQ fMDy;js”ku

okyh txg ij bl fMtk;u dks

iznf”kZr djuk gksxkA bldk

Qk;nk miHkksDrkvksa dks ;g gksxk fd bysDVªkfud mRikn ysrs

le; mldh xq.koRrk dh ij[k vklkuh ls dj ldsaxsA

LVSaMMZ ekdZ ds uhps ,d vkB vadksa okyk jftLVªs”ku uacj Hkh

fy[kk gksxkA ftlds tfj, xzkgd mRikn ds jsQjsaLk ds :Ik esa

Hkfo’; esa fdlh rjg dh f”kdk;r gksus ij bldk mi;ksx

dj ldsaxsA Hkkjrh; ekud C;wjks us ftu 30 bysDVªkfud

mRiknksa ds fy, bls vfuok;Z cuk;k gS] mlesa 32 bap ;k

mlls T;knk lkbt okys ,ybZMh Vhoh] ,ylhMh] IykTek

Vhoh] ikWoj ,MkIVj] ,ybZMh ykbV] lsV VkWi ckDl] vks,l

VfeZyu] ySiVkWi] uksVcqd] VSoysV] ikWoj cSad] eksckby Qksu]

LekVZ dkMZ jhMlZ tSls 30 mRikn “kkfey gSaA

vkWijs”ku ds nkSjku MkWDVj us isV esa NksM+h #bZ]

nsus gksaxs 8 yk[k #i;s

,d ljdkjh fpfdRld dh ykijokgh ls efgyk ejht ekSr

ds eqgkus ij tk igqaphA efgyk ejht dk xHkkZ”k; fudkyrs

le; MkDVj us isV esa #bZ dk xqPNk NksM+ fn;k ftlls

mldh vrfM+;ka lM+ xbZa vkSj ladze.k QSy x;kA ekeyk

jk;iqj dk gSA ifjtuksa us ftyk

miHkksDrk Qksje esa f”kdk;r ntZ

djkbZA Qksje us bl ekeys esa

MkWDVj vkSj vLirky izca/ku dks

ykijokgh dk nks’kh ekurs gq, ml

ij ikap yk[k #i;s dk tqekZuk

yxk;k vkSj 11 yk[k #i;s ejht

dks bykt ds fy, nsus dk vkns”k

fn;kA Qksje ds bl QSlys ds f[kykQ MkWDVj us jk;iqj

miHkksDrk fookn fuokj.k vk;ksx esa vihy dhA vk;ksx us

bykt esa ykijokgh ds fy, MkDVj vkSj vLirky izca/ku dks

nks’kh Bgjkrs gq, 8 yk[k #i;s 9 izfr”kr C;kt lfgr ejht

dks nsus dk vkns”k ikfjr fd;kA vk;ksx us MkDVj dh vihy

dks vkaf”kd :Ik ls Lohdkj djrs gq, ekufld {kfriwfrZ ds

fy, Qksje }kjk yxk, x, ikap yk[k #i;s dh tqekZuk jkf”k

ugh nsus dh ckr Lohdkj dj yhA

,Vh,e ls iSls fudys fcuk gh [kkrs ls dVs] cSadksa ij

yxk tqekZuk

,Vh,e ls fcuk iSls fudys gh xzkgd ds [kkrs ls iSls dkVs tkus

ds ,d ekeys esa jk;iqj ftyk miHkksDrk Qksje us cSad vkWQ

cM+kSnk vkSj ,fDll cSad ij rhu

gtkj #i;s dk tqekZuk yxk;kA

lkFk gh rhu gtkj ikap lkS

#i;s 9 izfr”kr C;kt lfgr

ykSVkus dk vkns”k fn;kA bruk

gh ugha Qksje us lsok esa deh ds

fy, cSad izca/ku dks nks’kh Bgjkrs gq, nks gtkj #i;s okn O;;

ds :Ik esa miHkksDrk dks nsus dh ckr dghA njvly

f”kdk;rdrkZ vfuy “kekZ us ,fDll cSad ds eksok fLFkr ,Vh,e

lsaVj ls 9 fnlacj] 2013 dks nks ckj ,Vh,e dkMZ dk bLrseky

fd;k] ysfdu ,Vh,e ls iSls ugha fudysA ckotwn muds [kkrs

ls 1500 vkSj 3500 #i;s fudy x,A bl nkSjku ,Vh,e ls

iphZ Hkh ugha fudyh vkSj u gh ,l,e,l vk;kA f”kdk;rdrkZ

dk cSad vkWQ cM+kSnk esa cpr [kkrk gSA mlus cSad izca/kd ls

f”kdk;r dj vius jde dh okilh dh ekax dhA blds ckn

muds [kkrs esa 1500 #i;s ykVk, x,A nksckjk f”kdk;r ds ckn

Hkh 3500 #i;s dh jkf”k ugha ykSVkbZ xbZA varr% miHkksDrk

Qksje esa f”kdk;r ntZ djkbZ xbZA Qksje us f”kdk;rdrkZ }kjk

izLrqr fd, nLrkostksa ,oa lk{;ksa dks lgh ekuk rFkk cSd dks

blds fy, nks’kh ekuus gq, mijksDr vkns”k ikfjr fd;kA

jsyos fVdV jn~n djkuk gqvk egaxk] uoacj ls

u, fu;e ykxw

jsyos dk daQeZ fVdV jn~n djokuk vc egaxk gks x;k gSA

jsyos us lHkh Js.kh esa dSaflys”ku pktZ nksxqus dj fn, gaSA fjtoZ

fVdV ij yxus okys DydZ pktZ Hkh c<+ x, gSaA 12 uoacj]

2015 ls ykxw jsyos ds u, fu;e ds eqrkfcd Vªsu pyus ls

48 ?kaVs igys fVdV jn~n djokus ij izfr ;k=h izFke Js.kh

okrkuqdqfyr o ,XthD;wfVo Dykl esa 240 #i;s] f}rh; Js.kh

okrkuqdqfyr o QLVZ Dykl esa 200 #i;s] rr̀h; Js.kh

okrkuqdqfyr esa 180 #i;s] Lyhij Js.kh esa 120 #i;s vkSj lsdsaM

Dykl esa 60 #i;s dh dVkSrh dh tk,xhA ogha vc DydZ pktZ

lsdsaM Dykl esa 30 #i;s vkSj Lyhij o okrkuqdqfyr Js.kh esa

60 #i;s izfr ;k=h dVkSrh dh tk jgh gSA u, fu;e ds

eqrkfcd Vªsu ds jokuk gksus ds igys 48 ls 12 ?kaVs ds nkSjku

fVdV jn~n djok;k rks fdjk, esa 25 izfr”kr dh dVkSrh gksxhA

blh izdkj ls Vªsu jokuk gksus ls igys 12 ?kaVs ls 4 ?kaVs ds

chp esa dSfly djkus ij 50 Qhlnh fdjk;k gh okil fey

ldsxkA Vªsu pyus ds igys 4 ?kaVs ds nkSjku dksbZ fjQaM ugha

feysxkA vk,lh vkSj osfVax fyLV ds fVdV ij dsoy DydZ

pktZ dh dVkSrh gksxh] tks vc igys ds eqdkcys nksxquh dj nh

xbZ gSA lkFk bUgsa vc Vªsu jokuk gksus ds 30 feuV ckn rd gh

jn~n djok;k tk ldsxkA igys ;g vof/k nks ?kaVs fu/kkZfjr FkhA