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Consumer Dialogue
Vol. 9 No. 1 January—March 2016
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 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
Nutraceuticals no longer a Proprietary Food
Cancelling train tickets to be just a phone call away
Now, you can book only 6 Rail Tickets per Month online
Mobile app ‘Kishan Suvidha’ Launched for Farmers to take the Technology to farm fields
Big win for Net Neutrality: Telecom Regulator Prohibits Discriminatory Tariffs for Data
68% of Milk Adulterated, contains ‘Very Hazardous’ Caustic Soda, White Paint : Govt
Government Bans over 344 Medicines, including 2 popular Cough Syrup
A Quarterly e-Newsletter of Centre for Consumer Studies (CCS)
1
Seminar on Consumer Protection and Consumer Welfare
Rural Awarness Camp in Magh Mela
National Seminar on ‘Empowering Consumers in Globalizing India : Problems, Strategy and Prospects’
National Seminar on ‘Consumer Justice, Market and Globalization’
National Seminar on ‘Consumer Protection: New Age Challenges’
90th OTP for the Presidents and Members of the Districs Consumer Forums
9th Training of Trainers for Heads and Members of VCOs/NGOs in Consumer Protection and Welfare
Workshop on World Consumer Rights Day
Interaction with Industry Associations
Joint Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs visits NCH
The Centre for Consumer Studies, IIPA, New Delhi in
collaboration with Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur, District
Vellore, Tamil Nadu, organised a two day Seminar on ―Consumer
Protection and Consumer Welfare‖ on Jan 7-8, 2016. The
Seminar was inaugurated by Rev. Dr. C. Antonyraj, SDB, Secre-
tary and Rector, Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur, Vellore. The
other dignitaries
present on the occa-
sion were Rev. Dr. D
Maria Antonyraj,
SDB Principal, Sa-
cred Heart College,
Tirupattur and Dr V.
N. Viswanathan,
Principal, Periyar
Government Arts
College, Cuddalore
who delivered the
Keynote Address. Prof. Suresh Misra, Chair Professor and
Coordinator CCS, IIPA delivered the Presidential Address. The
main objectives of the Seminar were to enhance the knowledge
and skill of the participants in the area of Consumer Protection
and Consumer Welfare; understand the need and importance of
Consumer Protection and Welfare and the role of various
stakeholders and discuss the legal dimensions of Consumer
Protection in different service sectors. More than 100 participants
from various parts of Tamil Nadu, including teachers, members
of NGOs and students from different departments of the host
college and other colleges attended the Seminar. The Seminar
was divided into various sessions covering Consumer Protection
& Empowerment, Consumer Protection: Education and
Awareness, Consumer Protection Act, Food Safety and the
Consumers, Media and Consumer, Insurance and Consumer,
Banking and Consumers and Telecom Services and Consumer.
Seminar on Consumer Protection and
Consumer Welfare
Dignitaries during the Inaugural Session of Seminar
Rural Awareness Camp at Magh Mela, Allahabad
The issues of Consumer Protection Act, Misleading
Advertisement, Food Adulteration, Environment
Protection and Buying of electrical and electronic goods
were widely discussed. On this occasion Prof. R.P Misra,
Former VC, Allahabad
University chairing the
session, emphasized on
the need to create
awareness among rural
consumer. He mentioned
that moral values and
ethical dimensions are
important for holistic
e d u c a t i o n . 1 1 5
participants participated
mainly from rural areas
in the camp. During the camp nearly 5000 copies of
pamphlets on consumer awareness were distributed to
the consumers at the Mela.
A three day awareness camp was organized under the aegis of
Centre for Consumer Studies, IIPA on the Holy Ganges Ghat,
Allahabad during the Magh Mela from January 30 to February 1,
2016. The camp was organized with an objective of spreading
awareness. During the camp, a two day workshop on ―Upbhokta
Sanrakshan : Disha Evam Sambhawna‖ was organized.
The Centre in collaboration with the Cordia Group of
Educational Institutes, Sanghol, organized a National
Seminar on ―Empowering Consumers in Globalising
India: Problems, Strategies and Prospects‖ on February 05
-06, 2016. The deliberations during the Seminar centered
around consumer
empowerment and
promotion of con-
sumer rights in the
c o n t e m p o r a r y
times confronted
with the chal-
lenges of globaliz-
ing market, unfair
trade practices and violation of consumer rights. More
than 70 participants which included academicians , busi-
nessmen, and policy-makers attended the seminar. The
Seminar was inaugurated by Shri Alok Nigam, Additional
Chief Secretary, Govt. of Haryana. He emphasised the
need for all stakeholders, academicians, businessmen,
policy makers to play an active role to educate and aware
the consumers about their rights.
Prof. R.P. Mishra, Former VC Allahabad
University addressing to the participants
National Seminar on „Empowering Consumers in
Globalising India: Problems, Strategies and
Prospects‟
Dignitaries during the Inaugural Session of the Seminar
Vol. 9 No. 1 January—March 2016
2
They should work for the protection of consumers. He said
that globalisation has both positive and negative aspects. It has
increased variety and choice for consumers. But at the same
time has posed new unforseen challenges for him which have
made him more vulnerable. In this scenario the consumers
should be vigilant and empowered to fight for their rights.
Various research scholars and academicians participated
in the seminar and presented their papers. Three books written
by Prof. Randeep Singh Dhillon, Prof. Harjinder Singh, Prof.
AmanjotKaur, and Dr. Manjit Kaur were also released during
the Seminar.
National Seminar on „Consumer Justice, Market and
Globalization‟
The Centre in collaboration with National Law University
Delhi organized a two day National Seminar on February 19
-20, 2016. The Seminar was organized with an aim to pro-
vide a platform to generate awareness amongst stakeholders
on various new challenges being posed by globalization and
liberalization, for consumers to face and what is needed for
the redressal agencies to deal with these challenges more
effectively. The seminar was attended by more than 100
participants which included academia, research-scholars,
The 90th Orientation Training Programme for the Presidents
and Members of the District Consumer Forums was organised
by the Centre. Twenty Nine Presidents and Members of the
District Forums from Maharashtra attended the programme.
The objective of the programme was to build the capacity of
the Presidents and
Members of the
District Forums to
enable the redressal
mechanism func-
tion effectively.
The Programme
was inaugurated by
Shri Anil Bahu-
guna, Joint Secre-
tary, Department
of Consumer Affairs. He said that the pupose of Consumer Pro-
tection Act is to provide better protection to the interests of the
consumers. He said that members of the District Forums have
been given a divine duty to help the society especially disad-
vantaged sections of the society. In case the Forums are not
able to fulfill people‘s expectations and achieve the pupose of
the Act; the consumers would loose confidence in the system.
He advised the Members to endeavor to provide time bound
quick redressal to the complainants to make the machinery
effective. He also highlighted the major features of the new
Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 and the initiatives being un-
dertaken by the Department for the welfare of consumers.
There were a number of thematic sessions on various issues of
consumer protection. The programme was interactive and
involved presentations by the participants.
90th OTP for the Presidents and Members of the
District Consumer Forums
National Seminar on “Consumer Protection:
New Age Challenges”
students, legal practitioners, Government officials and members
of VCOs/ NGOs. The programme was inaugurated by Hon‘ble
Justice (Dr.) B.S. Chauhan, Chairman, Cauvery Water Dispute
Tribunal and Former Judge, Supreme Court of India. In his
address, he highlighted the plight of Indian consumers and
how their rights are violated
especially focusing on the
consumers of e-transactions
and real estate sector. He also
referred to the standard form
contracts where the consum-
ers are duped by one sided
unfair terms in contracts. He
emphasized on the need for
the redressal mechanism
to be more efficient to build
consumer confidence. He stressed on need for reducing the
pendency of the cases and time taken by consumer fora in
disposing of the cases. He said that no legislation is successful
without proper implementation and will of enforcement
agencies. During the two days, there were 11 technical sessions
wherein more than 100 participants presented their papers. The
papers highlighted key issues pertaining toe-commerce,
misleading advertisements, role of sectoral regulators, food
safety, the legislative changes & reforms and other related
aspects.
Participants with Dr T. Chatterjee, Director IIPA
The Centre for Consumer Studies in collaboration with P.G.
Department of Public Administration, Utkal University, Od-
isha organized a Two Day National Seminar on ―Consumer
Justice, Market and Globalisation‖ on February13-14, 2016.
The Seminar was inaugurated by Prof. Krishna Dev Rao, Vice
-Chancellor, National Law University, Cuttack. Prof. Rao
emphasized the need to organize such seminars in various
educational institutions. He said in a globalized market the
nature of problems faced by the consumers has also changed.
Our laws are not designed to cater to e-commerce and cyber
frauds. About 150 participants consisting of academicians,
students, researchers and professionals participated in the
programme. The Seminar was divided into six thematic
sessions. Papers were presented by the participants which
ended with a lively discussion on the theme. The focus was on
how to give justice to the consumer in a globalized market.
The Valedictory Address was delivered by Ms. Sashi Prava
Bindhani, Member, State Information Commission. Drawing a
comparison between RTI and Consumer Protection Act, she
said that both aim to redress the grievances of the citizens in a
time bound manner. The redressal mechanisms are simple and
transparent. She also highlighted the role of activists in
effective implementation of the Act.
Hon‘ble Justice (Dr.) B.S. Chauhan
delivering the Inaugural Address
Dignitaries during Inaugural Session of Seminar releasing Book
Vol. 9 No. 1 January—March 2016
3
9th Training of Trainers for Heads and Members of
VCOs/NGOs in Consumer Protection and Welfare
The Centre organised 9th Training of Trainers Programme for
the Heads/ Presidents/ Secretaries/ Directors of NGOs /VCOs
on Consumer Protection and Consumer Welfare from March
7-11, 2016 at
IIPA, New
Delhi. The
objectives of
the training
programme
were to:
enhance
their knowl-
edge and
skill in the
area of Consumer Protection and Consumer Welfare; under-
stand the need and importance of Consumer Protection and
Welfare; acquaint with the national and international di-
mensions of Consumer Protection and the role of various
stakeholders; explain the various provisions of the Consumer
Protection Act and other legislations having a bearing on Con-
sumer Protection; discuss the legal dimensions of Consumer
Protection in different service sectors such as, medical, bank-
ing etc and develop training skills. 19 Heads and Members of
consumer organizations, representing different States at-
tended the programme. In the Inaugural session, Shri G N
Sreekumaran, Consultant, SCHKRMP, IIPA, New Delhi and
Former J S, DCA, GoI addressing the participants high-
lighted the initiatives of the DCA for the welfare of consum-
ers. But he stressed that these initiatives would only be useful
if consumer organizations come forward and avail the bene-
fits of these schemes. Prof. Suresh Misra, Chair Professor and
Coordinator, CCS, IIPA while addressing the participants said
that for betterment of the nation, the role of NGOs is quite
instrumental as they serve as an independent source of infor-
mation to the consumers and further inspire confidence in
general consumers that they are there for them if anything
goes wrong.
Participants with Dr T. Chatterjee, Director IIPA
Interaction with Industry Associations
An interaction with Industry Associations was organised to
familiarise the Industry Associations FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM
and PHD Chamber of Com-
merce about the functioning of
National Consumer Helpline
and its convergence pro-
gramme. This was done with a
view that Industry Associa-
tions can facilitate their mem-
bers to enrol in the NCH con-
vergence programme so that
companies can redress com-
plaints that are received at
NCH, under the grievance han-
dling system branded as Con-
vergence. The meeting was chaired by Joint Secretary, Mr. Anil
Bahuguna. There were a total of 23 Participants from Industry
Associations, officials of the Dept. of Consumer Affairs , mem-
bers of CCS, NCH and SCHKRMP of IIPA.
Prof Suresh Misra welcomed all participants and briefly
described the objective of the meeting - to understand the
Convergence process of the NCH and enlist cooperation from
the four Industry Associations to actively encourage their mem-
bers to enrol under the Convergence process, so that the existing
200 partners can go up to 400. Mr. Anil Bahuguna, Joint Secre-
tary started the discussion, referring to the earlier two meetings
and highlighting that one of the major concerns was that Indus-
try Associations should be able to persuade their members to
come forward in assisting NCH, and thereby the DCA, to in-
crease the number of convergence companies as it is in the mu-
tual benefit of corporates, government and consumers.
Participants from Industry organizations understanding the functioning of NCH.
Workshop on World Consumer Rights Day
To commemorate the World Consumer Rights Day, a
Workshop on Consumer Education was organized by the
Centre on 15th March 2016 wherein discussion on two
topics - ―Safe & Healthy Food: Antibiotics off the Menu‖
and ―Consumers & Financial Market: Risk & Returns‖
was organized. The first
session was on “Safe and
Healthy Food: Antibiotics
off the Menu” highlighting the
importance and need for eating
safe and healthy food and how
adulterated food is affecting
our life and health to such an
extent that antibiotics for simple infections may not be
effective on human beings in the years to come. Ms.
Deepika Sur, Project Manager, NCH in her presentation
outlined the rationale for the World Consumer Rights
Day-2016 - “Antibiotics off the Menu” the existing
guidelines – Advisory and voluntary, the Interventions needed to
make this theme effective, the importance of cultivating organic
foods and the recommendations to protect and promote healthy
diets.
The next session was on the theme “Consumer and
Financial Market: Risk and Returns”. In this session Shri
Uttam Agarwal, Executive Vice President & Head-La
Premier-,Bajaj Capital spoke in
detail about Financial Plan-
ning. He remarked that the
financial product guidance is an
Art as well as a Science. How-
ever, it needs to be customized-
keeping in mind the personal
need, resources available and
objectives and goals of the
individual consumer. He also
stressed on a very important
trait of a Financial Advisor, that
one should always be ethical and adopt the right approach. He
also highlighted the consumer grievance redressal mechanism
available to investors in case there is some mis-selling or fraud.
He elaborated the functioning of two regulators of the financial
services Industry – the Reserve Bank of India, which covers all
Banking transactions and the Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI), which regulates the securities market activities.
Shri Uttam Agrwal, Business Head from Bajaj
Capital addressing to the participants
Vol. 9 No. 1 January—March 2016
4
Joint Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs
visits NCH
Shri Anil Bahuguna (CSS-1998) has
been appointed as Joint Secretary,
Department of Consumer Affairs. He
joined the Department in January
2016. To acquaint with the system of
consumer grievance redressal he
visited the National Consumer
Helpline at Indian Institute of Public
Administration New Delhi on February 12, 2016.
Ms. Deepika Sur, Project Manager, National Consumer
Helpline gave a presentation on the NCH functioning, the suc-
cess of the convergence programme till date, and the benefits
it accrues to companies, emphasizing on the various aspects
of the convergence programme. Participants from these indus-
try organizations gave their valuable suggestions and concerns
about enriching the convergence programme. They also
brought out that Associations can create a platform to deliver
the message to corporates, but Govt. needs to make policy
interventions so that this process of partnering is mandatory
for corporate.
Shri Anil Bahuguna, JS, DCA
listening calls at NCH
Nutraceuticals no longer a Proprietary Food
Nutraceuticals, health and dietary supplements such as for-
tified foods and energy drinks will no longer be considered
proprietary food by India's regulator, according to revised
rules, they will have to be approved as a separate category.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
has amended regulations to fix loopholes in the definition
of proprietary food, under which approval had been sought
for several nutraceutical and health supplements as
proprietary foods.
According to the FSSAI's new regulations uploaded on its
website on January 25, proprietary food is now defined as
"...an article of food that has not been standardised under
these (Food Safety and Standards) regulations, but does not
include any novel food, food for special dietary use,
functional food, nutraceutical, health supplement and such
other articles of food which the Central Government may
notify in this behalf." The regulations specify that "the
Food Business Operator shall be fully responsible for the
safety of the proprietary food." Proprietary food shall use only
such additives as specified for the category to which the food
belongs and such category shall be clearly mentioned on the
label along with its name, nature and composition," according to
the regulations known as the Food Safety and Standards (Food
Products Standards and Food Additives) Amendment
Regulations, 2016.
Nutraceuticals and food supplements will now have to be
approved under the regulations for nutraceuticals. The food
regulator recently uploaded a list of 8,000 approved additives
after setting new standards for them, the food categories in
which they can be used and their permissible limits. It is also
preparing new standards for product approval.
Cancelling Train Tickets to be Just a Phone Call Away
Cancelling a confirmed train ticket will be only a phone call
away from April. The Railways is set to launch a facility for
passengers who find it hard to reach its counters within the
stipulated time to cancel their confirmed tickets and claim
refund. To access this
service one has to dial
139 giving details of
the confirmed ticket for
cancelling it and the
sender will get a one-
time password (OTP).
The passenger has to
reach the counter the
same day and reveal the OTP to claim refund. After the
change in refund rules, a number of passengers are now
finding it difficult to reach counters to cancel the reserved
tickets within the stipulated time and as a result are losing
money. The tickets which are booked online can be cancelled
on the ticketing websites. The 139 facility is for those who
bought tickets from counters. The software is ready and the
facility is likely to be formally launched in the second week of
April.
Now you can Book Only 6 Rail Tickets Per Month
Consumer can now buy only six online train tickets a month
from one user ID. The decision was taken as it was suspected
that 10 percent users who booked 10 tickets every month — the
current limit — might be in-
volved in touting. "The move
(to limit number of online
tickets) is aimed at deterring
touts and facilitating genu-
ine passengers," a railway
official said. Among other
measures already in force are
debarring of all types of tick-
eting agents from booking
tickets during the first 30 minutes of opening of booking,
i.e. from 8am to 8.30am for general bookings, and from 10am
to 10.30am and 11am to 11.30am for Tatkal booking in AC and
non-AC classes, respectively. Booking is not allowed through e
-wallet and cash cards from 8am to 12 noon and there is only
one booking in one user login session except for return/onward
journey between 8am to 12 noon.
Vol. 9 No. 1 January—March 2016
5
Mobile app „Kishan Suvidha‟ Launched for Farmers
to take the Technology to Farm Fields
Ministry of Agriculture has launched Kisan Suvidha mobile
application for farmers to provide agricultural relevant
basic information quickly. Kisan Suvidha is an omnibus
mobile app that will provide basic information on subjects
such as market prices, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, weather
and agriculture machinery. The app has a simple interface
and the information will be available in Hindi and English.
It will provide information on five critical parameters
weather, market price, input dealers, plant protection and
expert advisories. To begin with, a farmer has to register
the mobile number, choose a language and also must enter
details of the state, district and block or sub-district.
Big Win for Net Neutrality: Telecom Regulator
Prohibits Discriminatory Tariffs for Data
Telecom regulator TRAI has prohibited discriminatory tar-
iffs for data services on the basis of content. The move is a
big blow to Facebook's
highly-controversial
'Free Basics' platform
and Airtel's zero-rated
platform 'Airtel Zero'. In
an order, 'Prohibition of
Discriminatory Tariffs
for Data Services Regu-
lation', TRAI said, "no
service provider shall
offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the
basis of content." The regulator further said that "no service
provider shall enter into any arrangement, agreement or
contract, by whatever name called, with any person that has
the effect of discriminatory tariffs for data services being
offered or charged to the consumer on the basis of content."
68% of Milk Adulterated, contains „Very
Hazardous‟ Caustic Soda, White Paint : Govt
Government Bans over 344 Medicines, including 2 popular Cough Syrup
Over 68% of milk in the country does not conform to
standards laid down by the food regulator and the most
common adulterant found in it is detergent, caustic soda,
glucose, white paint and refined oil considered "very
hazardous" which could cause serious ailments, the Lok
Sabha was informed on Thursday. Science and Technol-
ogy Minister Harsh Vardhan said during Question Hour
that a new scanner has been developed which can detect
adulteration in milk in 40 seconds and can even pinpoint the
adulterant. Earlier, for every type
of adulteration, a separate chemi-
cal test was required. But now a
single scanner can do the job, he
said. There were murmurs among
members when the minister sug-
gested that these scanners could
be purchased by MPs through
their constituency funds. Though
the scanners are costly as of now, each test costs a mere 10
paisa, he said. Vardhan said in the near future, GPS-based
technology could be used to track the exact location where the
milk supplied in the cold chain has been tampered with. There
are two lakh villages in the country from where milk is col-
lected.
Government of India has banned 344 fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs, including several antibiotics and analgesic (such as codeine-containing cough syrups), as they ‗involve risk to humans‘ and safer alternatives are available. The banned medicines, which combine several active ingredients in a single formulation, are listed in a government gazette notification dated 10 March. The ban came into effect immediately. According to the notification, the govern-ment‘s expert advisory panel found the drugs had ‗no therapeutic justification.‘ The ban is aimed at curbing the misuse of such medicines. India is flooded with hundreds of FDC formulations that con-tain banned, restricted or never-approved drugs. This is due to inconsistent enforcement of laws between state and central regulators. In 2014, India set up a committee to review more than 6000 combinations that had entered the market based only on state regulators' approval. Several manufacturers of affected products, including Pfizer, Abbott, Macleods Pharma and Glenmark Pharmaceuti-cals have appealed to the High Court and received interim order lifting ban on fixed dose combination (FDC) medicines of some pharmaceutical companies, which had got relief, till March 28. however, the appeal is pending with Supreme Court.
Spicejet Asked to Pay Rs. 60,000 for Losing
Passenger‟s Luggage
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
(NCDRC) has asked SpiceJet airline to pay compensation and
penalty of Rs. 60,000 to a Tripura resident for losing his lug-
gage in one of its flights whose one out of five registered
'check-in' baggages was lost during his flight and could not be
found. Both the lower fora had granted compensation
of Rs. 50,000 in favour of Dr Ghosh. Thereafter, the airline
approached the NCDRC against the orders of the fora and
claimed that the amount awarded to Dr Ghosh was on the
higher side. However, NCDRC said that "the compensation
already granted by the fora is on the lower side" and dismissed
the airline' petition with additional costs of Rs. 10,000, to be
given to Dr Ghosh.
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