Two days National Seminar on Consumer Protection and Consumer Welfare (October 22-23, 2010) The Centre for Consumer Studies, IIPA New Delhi in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Jharkhand Regional Branch organized a Two Day Seminar on Consumer Protection and Consumer Welfare on 22-23 rd October 2010 at Satyendra Naryan Sinha Institute of Business Management, Ranchi. The seminar was sponsored by Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. 116 participants attended the seminar which included teachers, students, members of IIPA Regional Branch, Members of NGOs and the representatives of Industry. Participants at the two days National Seminar
Prof. N. P. Singh, Vice-President, IIPA Welcoming the participants The Seminar was inaugurated by Shri C. P. Singh, Speaker, Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha and was presided over by Dr. A. K. Singh, Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Jharkhand who is also the President of Jharkhand Regional Branch of IIPA. Welcoming the dignitaries, guest, media persons, press, citizen council members, faculty members and students, Prof. N. P. Singh, Vice-President of IIPA expressed his pleasure and stated that it was an important occasion that IIPA JRB is organizing a seminar on a subject of contemporary relevance, along with CCS, IIPA. It is necessary to enhance the awareness level of all the members of the society especially students who are the future of the nation and are influenced very easily. Prof. Singh also expressed his gratitude to Shri C. P. Singh, Hon ble Speaker, Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha as well as to Dr. A. K. Singh, Chief Secretary to Govt. of Jharkhand for sparing their valuable time inspite of a very busy schedule. 1
Shri C. P. Singh, Hon ble Speaker, Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha delivering the Inaugural Address In his address to the participant of the Seminar, Shri C. P. Singh, Hon ble Speaker, Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha explained the importance of the topic of the Seminar. He said that there is a need to generate awareness among one and all. Every consumer needs to be educated on the issue particularly the poor people. He appreciated this type of seminars and opined that it should not only remain within the four walls of an auditorium or conference hall but should be taken among the masses. The teachers and students to whom information is being imparted can play an important role in taking the movement forward. People should be educated about the rights of the consumer, protection thereof, and redressal against the unfair trade practices. He cited a few examples from his personal experience and he expressed his concern about the quality of the consumer products including the construction materials used by the builders. 2
In his Presidential Address, Dr. A. K. Singh, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Jharkhand stressed the need and importance of consumer protection and welfare. According to him now in public administration a lot of importance is being given to the issue of consumer Dr. A. K. Singh, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Jharkhand delivering the Presidential Address protection and has become a topic of seminal importance for the government. He further added that in the developed countries importance is always given to the consumer, as they have realized that the whole business depends on the consumers, however, in our country it is reverse. Once the trader has sold his goods he does not give importance to the problems of the consumers. The consumers are being exploited and cheated and therefore, they have to be protected from exploitation for which awareness is necessary, Shri Singh added. The Technical Session I was on The Need for Consumer Protection in a Global Economy. Technical sessions I and II were chaired by Dr. V. B. Sharan, Pro- Vice Chancellor, Ranchi University, who appealed to the consumers to be more careful and vigilant about their rights and they should safeguard their interest. In this session Prof. Suresh Misra, IIPA dealt in great detail about the necessity to protect the interests of the consumers and the consumers should get value for their money. He said that it is important to protect consumer interest against 3D s i.e. defects in goods, deficiency in services and deception in trade practices. He discussed about social criticism of business i.e. high prices, poor selling, unsafe products, deceptive practices and high pressure selling. He said 15 th March of every year is observed as World Consumer Rights day and 24 th December of each year is observed as National Consumer Right day. He also discussed A. C. Nielson survey report on the counterfeit medicines, spurious cosmetics, spurious 3
drinks, counterfeit electronic goods, and computer peripherals, engineering goods etc. He warned the consumers from allurement against different types of advertisement to protect their health and well being. The Technical Session II was on the topic The law as a Tool for Consumer Protection. Dr. Sapna Chadah, IIPA New Delhi while speaking on the occasion stressed on the Consumer s rights enshired in several enactments. She emphasized on the consumers rights laid down in the Consumer Protection Act which protect the interest of the Consumer. She elaborately explained about the Consumer Disputes Redressal agencies at district, state and national level for the redressal of consumer grievances and the Consumer Protection Councils for making the consumer rights a reality. She cited many interesting examples of defects in goods and deficiency in services. She also highlighted various Supreme Court Judgments aimed at protecting the consumers. Shri Anjani Kumar, Asstt. Drug Controller of Jharkhand, Regional Licensing Authority of Drug, Santhal Pargana Division, Dumka, Jharkhand explained about Drug safety and the Consumers. He said that consumers should be careful and cautious about the use of cosmetics as well as drugs. The consumers must check the items before purchase of cosmetics, medicines or other consumable products. Consumer should always keep in mind that Health is Wealth he opined. While discussing on the topic Consumer and Food Safety and Standard Act Dr. A. K. Choudhary, Assistant Chief Medical Officer, Sadar Hospital, Ranchi explained the various dimensions of food safety and the Standard Act. The Technical Session III on Consumer Protection and Public Utility Service I was chaired by Dr. Bahadur Singh, Chairman CIT and Treasurer IIPA, KRB. In his remarks, he pointed out that, today consumer protection is a serious matter and it should be taken seriously by all the stakeholders. Awareness of the masses is essential to fight this type of social evil created by a certain class of manufacturers and service providers who have adopted deceptive practices. 4
Sri Ajay Kr. Singh, A.G.M., State Bank of India, Hatia, Ranchi, spoke on the topic Banking Ombudsman Scheme. Sri Singh explained that ombudsman is an independent arbitrator or referee whose function is to decide fairly the disputes between the customer and the bank. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme, came into effect from June 14, 1995. The Scheme provides an opportunity to the public to approach Banking Ombudsman for grievances against a Bank which are not resolved within a period of two months, provided their complaints pertain to any of the matter specified in the scheme. He further added that the jurisdiction of an ombudsman is as specified by Reserve Bank of India. He appealed to the participants to make use of the Banking Ombudsman in case of complaints. Shri S. K. F. Kujur, Ex-Chairman Electricity Regulatory Commission, and presently consultant to the Planning Commission, New Delhi, explained about the importance and need of Electricity Regulatory Commission. He briefed them about the Electricity Act which replaced the Board and under the new Act these Boards are service providers. He further pointed out that inspite of a complaint being lodged, if the electricity is not supplied and the problem continues then the consumer may claim compensation at the rate of ` 25 per day till it is resumed, and further if the electricity is not provided within 30 days there is a provision of compensation upto ` 100 per day. The consumers were advised to contact Electricity Regulatory Commission in case of harassment and any problem arising due to negligence. The Second Day of the Seminar commenced with the Technical Session IV on the topic Consumer Protection and Public Utility Service II, which was chaired by Prof. (Col.) S. K. Sinha and presided over by Prof. R. Ballabh of S. N. Sinha Institute of Business Management. Dr. Sapna Chadah of IIPA, New Delhi, gave a presentation on Medical Service and Consumer Protection Act. She discussed elaborately the various provisions of the Act. She explained that commodities and services which are free of cost are not covered under CPA. Therefore, services and medicines received free from the Govt. hospitals are not covered under the Act. She cited many interesting example to explain the concept of medical negligence and the relief given in such cases by the consumer courts. 5
Shri Arun Kumar, General Manager (UW-CM) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Ranchi delivered a lecture on the topic Telecom Service and Consumers. He mentioned how in this competitive market BSNL is maintaining rapport with the consumers particularly in the mobile sector. The redressal of grievances of the consumers is seriously looked into. Inspite of increasing number of consumers in both the sector i.e. in landline and mobile, the interest of the consumers are taken care. Shri Kaushlendra Kr. Sinha, Post Master General, Jharkhand, in his presentation on the topic Post and Courier Service, expressed, that the postal services in the country had been good in the past, it is good today and will remain good in the future also. The grievances of the customers are taken seriously by the postal authorities and the department tries to solve their problems and tries to give service to the best satisfaction of the customer. It has good network connectivity throughout the country as well as in the foreign countries. The grievances are sorted out speedily. Technical Session V on the Topic Consumer Right and Good Governance was chaired by Dr. N. N. Singh, Vice Chancellor, Birsa Agriculture University, Ranchi and presided over by Prof. N. P. Singh, Vice President, IIPA. Prof. S. K. Jha, Vice Principal Doranda College, Ranchi and Assistant Secretary IIPA JRB, stressed the importance of having Legal Awareness and Consumer forum in India. He invited attention of the participants regarding various campaigns that are launched from time to time by the Government of India in various TV channels inviting the attention of the consumers to raise their voice for protection of individuals right. Prof. K. K. Banerjee and Prof. Ashfaque Alam of S. N. Sinha Institute of Business Management jointly presented a paper on Right to information. They explained in details the various provisions of Right to Information Act and said that Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India grants every citizen freedom of speech and expression, and right to information stems from this. In 1996 Press Council of 6
India presented a draft on Right to Information to the government. A working group was set up by the government under Shri H. D. Shourie, who submitted draft bill on freedom of Information in the year 2000. Later in the year 2004 another bill on Right to Information was moved and finally came into effect on 12 th October 2005. Sweden was the first country in the world to implement this Act in 1766. Prof. Alam & Prof. Banerjee further explained that RTI Act, 2005 empowers citizens to seek information from the government and demand answers on specific issues, acquire and inspect copies of government documents and other material. They explained the objectives of the Act, coverage, who can give information, how application is processed, cost, limits on supply of information, Appeal, Penalty etc. Shri R. N. Singh, Ex-Director IICM, CMPDIL explained in detail the process of Complaint Redressal Mechanism in the Government. He explained the different platforms which have been made by the government and the provisions laid down in many enactments for the redressal of customers grievances. In the valedictory session of the seminar, Dr. N. N. Singh, Vice Chancellor of Birsa Agriculture University, Ranchi was the chief guest and Dr. M. P. Singh, former Vice Chancellor of Binoba Bhave University chaired the session and Prof. K. K. Banerjee spoke on the occasion. A panel discussion was also held. The panelists were Shri Karma Oraon, Dr. Suresh Misra, Dr. Sapna Chadah, Shri R. N. Singh, Prof. (Col.) S. K. Sinha, Prof. Sunita Singh, IIPA and Prof. K. K. Banerjee. Questions on different topics by the participants were answered by the members of the panel. The seminar concluded with the address of the Chief Guest of the valedictory session Dr. N. N. Singh. He emphasized that the participants should help in creating awareness. He said a class of business people are playing with the human life and cited the example of drinking water which is sold in bottle. He also touched upon some of the issues related to food security and safety and briefed about the genetically modified food and its safety. He also emphasized that the consumers should be educated about these issues to make a correct choice. Touching on food security aspect, he said that the government should through law, policies and programmes ensure that the minimum requirement of food of all is met. 7
After valedictory session Dr. Suresh Misra IIPA, New Delhi extended his thanks to the office bearers of IIPA, JRB and especially to Prof. N. P. Singh for organizing the two day National Seminar and he promised to extend help in future also. Prof. N. P. Singh also extended his thanks to Dr. Suresh Misra, CCS, IIPA and Office bearers of IIPA, JRB, participants, students & faculty members for making the seminar a successful and hoped that the deliberation will definitely result in making the consumer movement more strong. (Suresh Misra) (Sapna Chadah) Programme Directors 8