On May 31, when the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP) announced the findings of its survey on aggregator cabs to the state government and the general public, it hoped to deliver what consumers say particularly on surge pricing. On June 5, when it demanded that the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) prominently publish the proposed de-registration of 88 housing projects in the state, it again tried to safeguard interest of consumers.
The two recent actions were in the line of "Grahak Hitay, Grahak Sukhay" (Consumer welfare, consumer satisfaction) motto that the consumer body has lived to serve consumers by since it started 48 years ago. "The years 1973, 74 and 75 were times of turbulence, scarcity and anxiety. Essential commodities were not available. There was adulteration, cheating in weights and measures, hoarding and black marketing. Political parties confronted the issue destructively by protests and burning tyres. Our founders, instead, wanted to have an alternative and positive approach of giving assured unadulterated supply to consumers," said Adv. Shirish Deshpande, chairman, MGP.
Mumbai Grahak Panchayat was founded in 1975
Adv. Shirish Deshpande, chairman, MGP. |
With that in mind, on Gudi Padwa day on April 12, 1975, three people: Bindumadhav Joshi, Madhukar Mantri and Sudhir Phadke (well known singer and musician) started MGP. The organisation formed the Grahak Sangh of families in different areas. This would ensure that essential commodities that were bought in bulk reached its members by cutting middlemen and passing on margin to consumers. "Coconut was the first commodity we gave our consumers. That was followed by wheat, rice and sugar. Today we send over 100 commodities that include grains, pulses, and edible oil among others. But all Swadeshi and no MNC products. These are directly procured from the wholesale market and distributed to our 32,000 members in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Vasai, Raigad and Pune on a no-profit, no-loss basis," said Deshpande.
Grahak Bhavan in Juhu, Vile Parle |
Some of the essentials like wheat, rice and sugar continue to be given in cloth bags. Panchayat says that is not the only green initiative. The other is one point delivery that allows consumers to not travel and save on carbon footprints. "We use our cloth bags around 18-20 times before doing away with it. It was a visionary decision by founders taken even before advocacy of not using plastics started," said Deshpande as the body got complimented by the Norwegian government at UN for sustainable consumption.
As MGP increased supplies and took up various other consumer issues, its big feat came in 1985-86 when it constructed its first warehouse - Grahak Bhavan, a place from where it functions till today in Juhu, Vile Parle. "When we started, Balmohan school gave us space as we were 'good' and 'voluntary' work. We then moved to a place given by our member. Till 1990 we ensured our foundation was strong before we expanded and had warehouses at other places," said Deshpande of the largest self-reliant voluntary organization in Asia that has an annual turnover of ₹90 crores. "We did not expand as we wanted to settle and have a firm footing. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 gave bodies like us the shot in the arm we needed. It made consumers an entity," said Deshpande.
Jago Grahak Jago (Consumer awareness stall) |
MGP has worked a lot for benefits of consumers
Since enactment of law, the MGP has filed cases at commission and courts as they got set up, approached governments and authorities on policies, set up grievance redressal cells, created awareness and publicity about consumer rights, published magazines and newsletter, organised annual Grahak Panchayat Peth (Consumer Plaza) that give platform to small producers of quality goods in competitive price, and created conciliation and mediation forums among others.
"Through the years, we voiced concerns on tariffs of autos and taxis, fought a case at the national commission that ensured a refund of nearly ₹40 crore in 1990 of booking amount to consumers from two-wheeler sector, argued at MERC for better tariffs and ended monopoly of electric companies in their respective markets. We also lobbied to get the central RERA Act in place of the state's housing law which we felt was heavily in favour of developers," said Deshpande.
With the consumer market becoming more global, the MGP focus area is now on resolving jurisdictional issues that arise in the way of consumer rights when more than one country is involved. "E-commerce and the digital world are more technical, complex and confusing. There is misleading and false advertisement and the digital economy is non-transparent. We are now working on a globally ambitious scheme of online dispute mechanism that ends jurisdictional problems while tackling a consumer issue that arises when more than one country is involved," said Deshpande.
