Consumer Advocacy – (2019-2020)
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in Advocacy
CERC has always actively advocated for the formulation and/or modification of policies and laws which would strengthen consumer protection. This is undertaken by providing expertise, consumer and market feedback about products and services, and information based on substantive research and also product testing in laboratories, to Government bodies, Regulatory Authorities and other stakeholders. Projects/programs/activities undertaken for research and advocacy also generate information which can be used to educate and empower consumers.
- Police commissioner appreciates our appeal sent to make road side document verification more consumer friendly. Representations were sent to the Police Commissioner, Commissioner of Transport Department, Secretary (Consumer Affairs) and others giving suggestions to make the process of roadside verification of vehicle documents consumer friendly. We requested that system verification of documents should be done by the authorities instead of stopping citizens on the road. Our press note was covered by the ToI. The Police Commissioner appreciated our suggestions and said that they will be soon be putting in place a connected system.
- Response received from FDCA on our representation on loose ice-cream: We had written to FDCA requesting their intervention to ensure safety of loose ice-cream sold, based on our test reports. They have advised designated officers all across Gujarat state to take necessary action in this regard.
- FDCA responds to our loose dairy products representation: Subsequent to our representation urging action against adulterated and contaminated loose dairy products sold in the market, FDCA has tested samples taken by them and initiated the process of taking action against food business operators whose samples have not complied with standards.
- Comments on Draft Consumer Protection Rules and Regulations: Detailed comments and suggestions were sent on Draft Rules on “Central Consumer Protection Council”, “Selection and Term of Office of Chief Commissioner and other Commissioners” (for CCPA) and “e-Commerce” and Draft Regulations on “Mediation” under Consumer Protection Act 2019 uploaded by DoCA.
- RTI on disproportionate distribution of CWF Grant: As discussed in previous Trustee Meeting, CWF Grant is being awarded to various organisations that may not be working exclusively for consumers. To make a representation, data about year-wise allocation of funds to various projects/institutions was required, for which an RTI application was prepared and sent to CEO to be forwarded to an identified third party for making the application. We had asked for data about funds allocated to various organisations under CWF for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 along with criteria for allocation, address of the grantee institution, the project name and amount allocated to each.
A response was received which had some gaps in the information. They had given amounts of funds disbursed rather than allocated and for the selection criteria, they just cited the CWF rules 1992, which are already available in the public domain. An appeal for the data not received in the first response was prepared and sent to DoCA. However, it was decided by the management to not send a representation on the issue to DoCA in view of the projects expected to be awarded under CWF to CERC.
