National Seminar on Consumer Protection in India Lessons Learnt and Future Challenges (19-20 November, 2009)

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1 National Seminar on Consumer Protection in India Lessons Learnt and Future Challenges (19-20 November, 2009) A National Seminar on Consumer Protection in India- Lessons Learnt and Future Challenges was organized by the Centre for Consumer Studies, from November 19-20, 2009 at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. The Department of Consumer Affairs, GoI sponsored the Seminar. More than hundred delegates from different parts of the country and areas of interest participated in the seminar and presented the papers. The participants represented a cross section of the society consisting of Academicians, Researchers, Administrators and Consumer Activists. The seminar was coordinated by Prof. Suresh Misra, Ms. Sapna Chadah and Dr. Mamta Pathania. The seminar opened with a brief welcome note by Prof. Suresh Misra, Chair Professor and Coordinator, Centre for Consumer Studies. He extended a warm welcome to all the distinguished guests and delegates who had come to participate in the seminar. In his Introductory remarks, Shri B. S. Baswan, Director IIPA, said that our democracy is an evolving democracy and as we continue to evolve, apart from the three pillars, we need more pillars, and the fourth one being the Press, which is required for a stronger consumer movement. He emphasized that during the licence permit raj the consumer always came last and in the name of state

2 control and protection, the industrialist produced sub-standard goods, using second hand imported technology for a captive market at a high price. It is only after 1991 and even a few years later that the consumer movement actually picked up. He said that we have a long way to go and a strong consumer movement would strengthen our democracy. The seminar was presided over by Shri T. N. Chaturvedi, Chairman, IIPA and former Governor, Karnataka. In his Presidential address, Shri Chaturvedi Ji emphasized that apart from strengthening the evolving democracy of ours, which naturally needs assertiveness, the awareness on the part of citizens in all spheres of life is equally important. He referred to a particular period when a situation was created where a group of people took advantage of the so-called sheltered market; i.e. the protected market. As far as consumer movement is concerned the consumer has always been at a disadvantage all through the history. He stressed that it is the citizens who have been disorganized and as democracy means the protection of the people in various situations some assistance, guidance and help is required. Further he highlighted some of the papers to be presented in the seminar and talked about the relevance of the subjects selected for the paper presentation. He was of the view that the seminar represented cross section of scholars with experience which has a bearing on the totality of the consumer movement. He stressed that in this seminar the scholars will share their own experiences and exchange interaction and deliberation of various issues facing the consumer movement. This is the strength of this seminar as it exhibits knowledge, ability and experience of various disciplines.

3 Shri Rajiv Agarwal, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs GoI, in his Inaugural Address, emphasized on the importance of consumer movement. He said that in our country, consumer interests were neglected for quite some time. According to him the first major initiative in the direction of consumer protection was the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act in He stressed that Universities and Colleges which are working in this field can contribute greatly for strengthening the consumer movement in the country. Highlighting the various rights of the consumers he emphasized that the Consumer Protection Act provides for a simple, inexpensive and speedy redressal of grievances of consumer. But it is equally important to ascertain as to what extent these objectives have been achieved. The Government of India is making all efforts to strengthen the basic infrastructure of the consumer fora in the districts as well as the states, but it is necessary that equal efforts are required to be made by the states to strengthen the institutions. He emphasized on some of the areas of major concern, such as delays and expenses in consumer fora and recent judgments which have reduced the scope of the Act, etc. Shri Agarwal also gave a brief overview of the activities of the Department of Consumer Affairs and shared with the delegates that there are three basic pillars of Consumer Welfare; Consumer Complaint Redressal System, Consumer Awareness and Standards. He stressed that although GoI is doing a lot in disseminating information and spreading awareness, but still one has to go a long way as awareness cannot be achieved overnight. He also appreciated the role of IIPA in promoting consumer education through Capacity Building Programme and Publications.

4 Prof. S. S. Singh, Director, National Law Institute University, Bhopal delivered the Keynote Address for the Seminar. Initiating the address, Prof. Singh talked about the way he was associated with the consumer protection movement in the initial years. He stressed that that no consumer protection research will be completed by any organization without citing the literature and research done by IIPA and this reveals the real strength of IIPA. The partnership with Department of Consumer Affairs was possible because of the trust and confidence reposed by the Department of Consumer Affairs and GoI in IIPA. Emphasizing on the last right i.e. Right to Consumer Education Prof. Singh said that this right is the foundation of all the other rights. Unless this right is achieved, the other rights have no meaning. Quoting the teaching of the Guru of Management, Peter Drucker, Really Reinventing Government he said that he would like to rephrase it by saying Really Reinventing Anything. If someone is interested as an individual, as a family, as a society, as a state, as a nation, or any other organization, this is the best clue to proceed for reforms which matter, and which contribute positively. This can be achieved only if one has an ability to ask questions. Applying this questioning method on consumer protection one can find end number of drawbacks which are in practice and efforts need to be made to remove these drawbacks. He highlighted that linkage with the movement which is being emphasized on promoting the cultures and values relating to the good governance culture and values if the consumer are not satisfied in that society. Consumer Protection is there to promote the level of satisfaction, the degree of satisfaction with the quality of goods and services, which are being provided either by Govt. or in partnership by the Govt. and the Private sector. Therefore the linkage of the consumer protection and the good governance is

5 inseparable. No system can succeed in achieving good governance without focusing strongly on consumer satisfaction or the Consumer s point of view. A formal vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Mamta Pathania, Assistant Professor, CCS, IIPA. She thanked the Chairman IIPA, Secretary DCA, and Prof. S.S. Singh for sparing their valuable time to grace the inaugural session. She also thanked the participants and Director, IIPA for his support. During the two day seminar, various themes were covered under the six thematic sessions. The First Thematic Session was on Consumer Protection: Law and Policy and was chaired by Prof. S.S. Singh, Director, NLIU, Bhopal and Co- Chaired by Dr. Renji George Amballoor, Government College, Goa. Six papers were presented in this session. The presentation were on Consumer Protection Laws: Emerging Issues and Challenges in the 21st Century Indian Perspective by Dr. Mamata Biswal, Working of Consumer Courts by Dr. P. V. V. Satyanarayana Murthy, Working of the District Consumer Forums in Jharkhand - A Study of the Perception of Presidents and Members of the District Forums by Ms. Sapna Chadha, Alternative Disputes Resolution and Consumers Disputes Redressal Machinery by Mr. Ramesh Kumar. This session analyzed the social transformation in India in the light of consumers rights and critically examined the progressive use of consumer protection laws in fulfilling the emerging challenges relating to the rights of the consumers in 21st century. The presentations analyzed the consumer protection laws to suggest suitable and proper measures to make them more effective so as to meet the emerging challenges in the wake of globalization and liberaliztion. The Second Thematic Session was on Consumer Protection: National and International Experiences Prof. D.S. Poornananda, Kevempu University, Karnataka Chaired the session and Dr. Sushma Goel, Co-Chaired the session. The presenters were Dr. Arun Bhadauria on Global Trade

6 Practices and Emerging Issues: Consumer Protection in Agribusiness in Developing Countries, Dr. Debasis Poddar on (Lack of) Concern for Environment under Law of Consumer Protection in India: A Black Hole in the Universe of Rights Jurisprudence?, Dr. Mamta Pathania on Best Practices in Consumer Protection Global Scenario, Dr. Savita Hanspal on Package Labeling in India : Impact on Consumer Welfare, Prof. G.P. Prasain on Consumerism in Manipur - An Overview, Shri Y. G. Muralidharan on Consumer Participation in Electricity Regulation and Dr. Anil Dutt Mishra on Consumer Protection from the Gandhian Perspective. This session was on bringing forth the various national and international initiatives and inter linkages in the area of consumer protection. Some of the emerging issues discussed were: sustainable agriculture; legal restraints required on producers and service providers for protection and preservation of environment; the global best practices, the framework of different nations relating to consumer protection and welfare. There was also focus on impact of some package-labeling practices on consumer choice and its influence on price and quantity, highlighting the need to take a closer look at these issues as they adversely impact consumer welfare. The Third Thematic Session was on Consumer Goods and Service Sector and was chaired by Prof. G.P. Prasain, Manipur University and Co- Chaired by Shri G.C. Mathur, BINTY. The presenters were Dr. Sheetal Kapoor on Grievance Redressal Mechanism under the Insurance Sector, Dr. Ashok R. Patil on Student is a Consumer! Educational Service is a Service! Under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, Dr. Eqbal Hussain on Consumer Protection and Services with Special Reference to Electricity A Study of Delhi, Mr. Prateek Bhattacharya on Does Maximum in MRP really means Maximum - A Study on the Legality of Establishment-increased MRPs and the Violation of Consumer Rights Therein, Ms. Anu Sharma on Endangered Consumers: A Case Study of Bank Lok Adalatas in Delhi, This session dealt with the law issues relating to the service sector and the mechanisms in place to protect the consumers due to deficiency in

7 services. Legal position of the educational institutions and student community under the CPA, the grievance redressal mechanism available to consumers in the insurance sector, the position of the electricity service providers under CPA and the deficiency in services in the supply of electricity, the concept of MRP and its interpretation from legal point of view. The Fourth Thematic Session on Consumer Health: Perspectives and Challenges was chaired by Dr. P.V.V. Satyanarayana Murthy, Professor and Co-chaired by Dr. Mamata Biswal, GNLU. The session focused on the steps being taken to protect the consumer relating to food safety, unhygienic food, drugs and law to build a safety mechanism to that consumers do not consume unhygienic and unsafe products. The presenters were Dr. K. Soundararajan on Organic Trends in India Need to Educate the Consumers, Dr. Sushma Goel on Street Food Safety and the Consumer, Ms. Geetanjali Sharma on Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods: The Informed Consumer, Ms. Pragya Singh on Food Standards: The need to Bring on Par, the Indian Consumer with the world Consumers, Dr. Banhi Chakraborty on Consumers Health and the Drug Market. The focus of this session was on the need to increase rural people s involvement in organic agriculture and Green Marketing. To maintain the quality and safety in the preparation and sale of street foods, the need to bring on par the Indian standards for food with that of world community, conflict between high priced drugs in the existing drug market and commitment towards providing Health for All and the challenges in food safety like biotechnology which are posing serious problems to the consumers. The Fifth Thematic Session was on Consumer Education and Awareness and chaired by Ms. Pushpa Girimaji, Senior Journalist, and Cochaired by Ms. Sapna Chadah, Assistant Professor, CCS, IIPA. The presenters were Prof. D. S. Poornananda on Expanding Media Market, Shrinking Consumer Choice, Mr. Varun Thomas, on MEDIA & CONSUMER: Media Literacy towards Risks Reduction for the Global Consumer, Dr. Renji George Amballoor on Role of VCOs in Consumer Protection: A Case Study of GOACAN, Shri G.C. Mathur on Strengthening of Consumer Protection in

8 India, Dr. Durga Surekha made a presentation on A Study of Consumer Rights Awareness among women in Navi Mumbai. It focused on the impact of media accessibility on shrinking of consumer choices. Other papers dealt with the role of voluntary consumer organisations (VCOs) as a powerful instrument to make the CPA more effective and consumer-friendly. For strengthening consumer protection, the role of Consumer Clubs and VCOs is uppermost in mind which needs to be understood and appreciated by the implementing agencies, and the level of awareness among women who are performing multifaceted role in the society and are the main purchaser for the family was also highlighted. The Sixth Thematic Session: on Consumer Protection: Emerging Issues and New Strategies was Chaired by Prof. Pranab Banerji, Professor of Economics, IIPA and Co- Chaired by Dr. Eqbal Hussain, Jamia Millia Islamia. The presenters were Ms. Yashomati Ghosh on A Study of the Effectiveness of the Indian Legal Framework to Protect Consumers in the Cyber Market Place, Mr. Ram Krishan Nigam on DRM A Pain in the Consumer s Neck Analyzing the Challenges posed by D.R.M Technologies to the Indian Consumer Protection Regime, Mr. Karan Sachdev on Consumer Protection & E-Commerce: Does the Indian Law provide for Answers, Mr. Ankur Khandelwal on Ecological Quality of Products as a Way of Protecting Consumers Lessons Learnt from European Directive. In this session a number of emerging issues which are posing future challenges to the consumer and the consumer movement were presented and discussed. Some of these issues relate to environment and sustainable consumerism, the need to develop an effective legal framework to protect the consumers in the cyber market, to increase consumers confidence in e- commerce, the efficacy of the CPA in protecting the menace posed by the digital rights management techniques, harmonized implementation of consumer laws with competition policy, and how consumer protection and ecological quality can be made part of the objectives of the community, drawing examples from the European markets.

9 The valedictory session was the concluding one. Dr. K. Malaisamy Chairman, IIPA Standing Committee presided over the valedictory session and Sri. B.K. Taimni, Member, NCDRC delivered the Valedictory address. In the Valedictory Session, the Welcome Address was delivered by Shri B S Baswan, Director IIPA. In his address, he emphasized that seminars, very often, tend to be long-winded affair. Hands-on seminar means that you carry a lot with you as you leave. A brief summary of the proceedings was presented by Ms. Sapna Chadah, Assistant Professor, IIPA. The Presidential Address was delivered by Dr. K. Malaisamy, Chairman, Standing Committee, IIPA. He highlighted the significance of the seminar and its content by gauging the kind of material that has been given to him. He stressed on the importance of 3Ps where the first P stands for Planning, the second P stands for Preparation, and the third P stands for Performance. So, planning, preparation and performance has been done. He also said that any one single problem will have more than one solution and it may vary from situation to situation and circumstance to circumstance. In such a situation, one is able to identify as many number of challenges as possible and one tries to give various solutions to that. The challenges and the measures which we have been taught or you have learnt, are not comprehensive, it is a continuous process. Unfortunately, in our system, though the Consumer Protection Act was enacted as early as in 1986 i.e. more than two decades ago, can one say with certainty whether the consumer interests have been ably protected?. In other words, has the Consumer Protection Act been able to protect the interests of the consumer? The legal pundits and the National Commission may be able to say that they are doing this and that.he stressed on a new Bill proposed to be passed the Consumer Products Safety Authority Bill, It is to provide for

10 establishment of a consumer products Safety Authority as an independent authority to protect the consumer from unsafe and hazardous products, to constantly monitor safety of the various consumer products, to make mandatory for consumers, retailers, distributors, manufacturers to report product-related accidents and injuries, to direct the distributors and the manufacturers to recall the defective products from the market and to prevent supply of defective and spurious products in the market and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. There exists legal infirmity or the legal inadequacy and there are still lot of handicaps here and there. One has to think of long-term and short-term solutions. He emphasized that the consumer education and consumer movement should assume all importance. The consumers should be organized and educated. They must be made to agitate. Underlining the importance of education he quoted the great words of Ambedkar, Organise, educate, agitate. If you are capable of agitating and organizing and getting things done, you are able to do it. So, the consumer movement should be made more and more effective and the society, the public, the manufacturers or whatever it is, should be taught that they should have self-discipline and self-regulation. The Chief Guest of the evening was Mr. B.K. Taimni, Member of the National Commission. In his address, he said that we are here to implement and administer the statute enacted by the Parliament. It is now widely held, including by the Hon. Supreme Court as recently as day before yesterday, that the courts should not assume the role of the third House. We should really be doing our business. He clearly underlined the lessons learnt which are that when discussion is about the enactment of any new statute which results in setting up a new house or new arrangement or new dispensation, there should be adequate preparations for that. Adequate preparation should be made simultaneously when discussions are

11 taking place; especially when in a federal structure there are States which are going to be associated; both for administration and for financing purposes; about the functioning or the placement of the people; infrastructure; both physical and staff; lack of updated knowledge on the emerging topics which come for redressal before the district fora, State Commissions or the National Commission This is a continuous challenge faced by the consumer forums all over the country. He stressed that despite a massive campaign Jago Grahak Jago through the print media and also through the electronic media, the awareness level still remains very low. He suggested the use of Panchayati Raj Institutions in making people-aware, use of Gram Sabhas as a platform at the village level, at the Block level and at the district level. The Seminar ended with a formal vote of thanks by Prof. Suresh Misra. The report would be incomplete, if we do not record our appreciation to the Officers and Staff of the Administration and Training sections of the Institute for their help. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our gratitude to Shri. B. S. Baswan, Director, IIPA for his guidance and encouragement. We are thankful to our colleagues in the Institute for their unstinted support and co-operation. The Secretary, Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, deserve special thanks for their support to the Centre for Consumer Studies and reposing confidence and trust in the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. (Mamta Pathania) (Sapna Chadah) (Suresh Misra) Programme Directors