Mumbai: On the eve of the World Consumer Day which is celebrated on March 15, activists said that awareness about consumer rights was growing but a lot more needs to be done when it comes to guidance and support if buyers face problems.
At the world stage, the consumer movement was made popular in the US by activist Ralph Nader who took on the automobile industry in 1960. Subsequently, M R Pai from India raised consumer issues related to banking, telephone and airline industries. Since then, the consumer movement has seen gradual rise.
Consumer awareness on rise
“Awareness about their (consumers) rights is definitely on the rise over the last few years. This can be seen from the increasing number of complaints filed at the Centre's complaint web portal and national consumer helpline (NCH). The trend is on rise particularly in the field of e-commerce. Unfortunately, there's no simple, speedy and affordable dispute resolution mechanism in place. There is also a lack of availability of proper guidance for consumers,” said Advocate Shirish Deshpande, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) Chairman.
He was referring to the redressal that does not take place through the helpline mode and one is left to approach various commissions. “If the complaint doesn't get resolved on the NCH platform, the complainants are advised to approach consumer commissions. Here, we find cases languishing for years together discouraging anyone to enter the forum,” said Deshpande. The other issue is about lack of infrastructure and vacancies. In Mumbai itself, two of the four district consumer commissions are not working because of manpower shortage.
Experts said that citizens should try to help themselves by gaining awareness. “Every online platform is supposed to have a redressal mechanism. It has to be redressed in one month. Consumers should check if online platforms mention it or not. If not, they should complain on NCH 1915 or approach the website consumerhelpline.gov.in,” said Sharmila Ranade, a consumer activist associated with the MGP.
Labelling consumers as “God”, Sudhakar Shetty, general secretary of AHAR which is an association of hotels and restaurants, talked about basic complaints like GST and service charge. “GST is either composite or regular. In case of composite, the restaurant pays from its own pocket. A consumer can check from the GST number if the restaurant has opted for a composite scheme. With regards to service charge, restaurants have to put up a signboard at the entrance, specifying that they levy the charge,” Shetty said. In case of retail trade, organisations said that they keep telling their members to be consumer friendly. “We don't observe this as a one-day thing. We give bills, refunds or exchange goods if there is a problem,” said Viren Shah, Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association president.
“The system is not responsive hence people tend not to fight a case despite awareness,” said Dr M S Kamath, Consumer Guidance Society of India honorary secretary.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
