Lok Sabha Question No. 361 (STARRED), answered on 2025-03-26
Subject: Consumer Complaints relating to Food and Beverages
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Naveen Jindal

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK  SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *361

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.03.2025

## CONSUMER COMPLAINTS RELATING TO FOOD AND BEVERAGES

## *361.  SHRI NAVEEN JINDAL

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a) the  total  number  of  consumer  complaints  registered  under  the  food  and  beverages  category during each of the last three years, State-wise;
- (b) the  nature  of  these  complaints  including  issues  related  to  food  safety,  adulteration,  labelling violations and the percentage of complaints resolved so far;
- (c) the key measures taken by the Government to strengthen grievance redressal mechanism for food and beverage consumers;
- (d) the steps taken to ensure stricter quality control, regular inspections and penalties for violations to prevent recurring complaints;
- (e) the status of implementation of these measures and whether the Government plans to enhance awareness on food safety through nationwide campaigns; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) to (f)  :   A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO.*361 FOR 26.03.2025 REGARDING CONSUMER COMPLAINTS RELATING TO FOOD AND BEVERAGES.

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(a) to (d): Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 and rules and regulations framed thereunder lay down the quality and safety standards for various articles of food. The issues related to food safety, adulteration, labelling violations, Quality control, inspections and penalties for violation of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Rules and Regulations are dealt by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the administrative control of the Ministry  of Health and Family Welfare.    Implementation and enforcement of these standards primarily lies with the State/UT Governments.

In  order  to  ensure  the  above,  regular  inspections  and  audits  are  conducted  by  FSSAI  through  Food Safety  Officers  of  Central  and  State  Authorities  to  verify  compliance  with  storage,  segregation,  and hygiene requirements under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.  The details of samples analysed and  action  taken  including  penalties  imposed  and  convictions  made  as  informed  by  Food  Safety  and Standards Authority of India is given below:

| Year    | No. of samples Analysed   | No. of samples found non- conforming   | Non-Conforming samples   | Non-Conforming samples   | Non-Conforming samples               | Civil Cases        | Civil Cases                | Criminal Cases     | Criminal Cases             |
|---------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------|----------------------------|--------------------|----------------------------|
| Year    | No. of samples Analysed   | No. of samples found non- conforming   | Unsafe                   | Sub- Standard            | Labelling defects/ Misleading/ Misc. | No. of convictions | Penalties Raised (Cr. Rs.) | No. of convictions | Penalties Raised (Cr. Rs.) |
| 2023-24 | 170513                    | 33808                                  | 6782                     | 22603                    | 4423                                 | 29586              | 74.12                      | 1161               | 2.67                       |
| 2022-23 | 177511                    | 44626                                  | 6579                     | 21917                    | 16130                                | 28464              | 33.23                      | 1188               | 2.75                       |
| 2021-22 | 144345                    | 32934                                  | 4890                     | 16582                    | 11462                                | 19437              | 53.39                      | 671                | 1.38                       |
| 2020-21 | 107829                    | 28347                                  | 5220                     | 13394                    | 9733                                 | 14817              | 49.92                      | 506                | 0.83                       |
| 2019-20 | 118775                    | 29589                                  | 4526                     | 15671                    | 8995                                 | 16881              | 57.77                      | 821                | 1.61                       |

FSSAI  also has a robust mechanism  for handling consumer  complaints/concerns.  The complaints of consumers  received in FSSAI are mainly related with various food safety issues related to adulterated food, unsafe food, substandard food, labelling defects in food and misleading claims & advertisements  etc.  through  various  channels  such  as  Web  portal  and  Mobile  App,  FSSAI  Helpline, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and are directed into a single portal i.e. Food Safety Connect Portal which is the part of the online Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS).

Further the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country wherein all grievances including  Food  and  Beverages  are  redressed  at    a  pre-litigation  stage.    Consumers  can  register  their grievances  from  all  over  the  country  in  17  languages  through  a  toll-free  number  1915,  WhatsApp (8800001915), SMS (8800001915), email (nch-ca@gov.in), the NCH app, the web portal (consumerhelpline.gov.in) and the Umang app.

The grievances received in the NCH portal with respect to Food and Beverages mainly relate to deficiency in services, delivery issues, quality, hygiene, charging, packaging etc. The State-wise details of consumer complaints last three years is placed at Annexure .

NCH has introduced  AI-based  Speech  Recognition,  a  Translation  System,  and  an  AI  enabled Chatbot as part of the NCH 2.0 initiative. These technological advancements aim to make the grievance filing  process  more  seamless,  efficient,  and  inclusive.  The  AI-powered  Speech  Recognition  and Translation  System  enables  consumers  to  file  complaints  through  voice  input,  reducing  manual intervention.  The  AI  enabled  Chatbot  provides  real-time  assistance,  streamlining  complaint-handling processes, and improving the overall user experience. These upgrades ensure that consumers have equal access to the grievance redressal system.

(e)  to  (f):  FSSAI  undertakes  regular  surveillance,  monitoring,  inspection,  random  sampling  of  food products throughout the year and targeted drives especially during festive/peak demand seasons through its regional offices and States/UTs to ensure compliance with FSS Act, Rules & Regulations.

Further  the  Legal  Metrology  (Packaged  Commodities)  Rules,  2011  and  FSS(Labelling  and Display)  Regulation  2020  have  been  harmonized.    The  declarations  of  Name  &  address  of  the manufacturer/  packer/  importer,  the  common  or  generic  names  of  the  commodity,  Month  &  year  in which the commodity is manufactured or pre-packed or imported and Best before or use by the date, month & year is as per FSSAI Regulations and rest all other declarations are as per Legal Metrology Rules.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has been generating consumer awareness by undertaking country-wide multimedia awareness campaigns under the aegis of "Jago Grahak Jago" to reach out to every consumer across the country by utilizing traditional media like All India Radio, Doordarshan, fairs & festivals,  etc.  as  well  as  social  media.  Through  simple  messages  and  jingles,  consumers  are  made aware  about  the  consumer  rights,  unfair  trade  practices,  consumer  issues  and  the  mechanism  to  seek redressal. The Department has also been releasing grant-in-aid to States/UTs for generating consumer awareness at local level. During the current financial year, the department, under consumer awareness scheme, undertook campaigns through All India Radio (AIR) during T20 World Cup, IVRS (Interactive Voice  Response  System)  campaign,  Pan-India  interaction  session  with  panchayats  (ongoing),  for generating awareness about consumer rights, standards, redressal mechanism, etc.

FSSAI  has    also  implemented  a  number  of  initiatives  like  Website  and  Social  Media, Adulteration  Videos,  Food  Safety  on  Wheels  (FSWs),  Pan-India  Surveillance  of  Food  products,  Eat Right  India  movement,  Food  Safety  Guidebook  for  Teachers/Students,  Food  Safety  Magic  Box ,Resources like the DART Book to raise awareness about food safety among consumers.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) and (b) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*361 FOR 26.03.2025 REGARDING 'CONSUMER COMPLAINTS RELATING TO FOOD AND BEVERAGES'.

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State-wise details of the total number of consumer complaints registered on NCH under the food sector during last three years:

| S. No.      | State/UT            | 2022   | 2023   |   2024 |
|-------------|---------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1           | Andaman Nicobar     | 7      | 35     |     35 |
| 2           | Andhra Pradesh      | 429    | 1037   |   1751 |
| 3           | Arunachal Pradesh   | 6      | 355    |   2268 |
| 4           | Assam               | 138    | 235    |    748 |
| 5           | Bihar               | 580    | 804    |   1592 |
| 6           | Chandigarh          | 115    | 139    |    221 |
| 7           | Chhattisgarh        | 120    | 171    |    296 |
| 8           | Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 7      | 8      |      5 |
| 9           | Daman &Diu          | 2      | 4      |      7 |
| 10          | Delhi               | 2261   | 3018   |   5412 |
| 11          | Goa                 | 39     | 75     |    130 |
| 12          | Gujarat             | 650    | 943    |   1613 |
| 13          | Haryana             | 1001   | 1305   |   2387 |
| 14          | Himachal Pradesh    | 50     | 48     |    106 |
| 15          | Jammu &Kashmir      | 70     | 95     |    194 |
| 16          | Jharkhand           | 219    | 257    |    575 |
| 17          | Karnataka           | 1453   | 4884   |   7811 |
| 18          | Kerala              | 246    | 491    |   1113 |
| 19          | Ladakh              | 1      | 2      |      7 |
| 20          | Lakshdweep          | -      | -      |      1 |
| 21          | Madhya Pradesh      | 590    | 740    |   1460 |
| 22          | Maharashtra         | 2249   | 3155   |   6394 |
| 23          | Manipur             | 2      | 1      |      4 |
| 24          | Meghalaya           | 8      | 11     |     24 |
| 25          | Mizoram             | -      | 3      |      6 |
| 26          | Nagaland            | 1      | 4      |      2 |
| 27          | Odisha              | 214    | 365    |    664 |
| 28          | Puducherry          | 19     | 32     |     37 |
| 29          | Punjab              | 425    | 488    |   1028 |
| 30          | Rajasthan           | 1103   | 1317   |   2350 |
| 31          | Sikkim              | 1      | 12     |     18 |
| 32          | Tamil Nadu          | 755    | 1174   |   2369 |
| 33          | Telangana           | 1127   | 1830   |   3538 |
| 34          | Tripura             | 16     | 32     |     80 |
| 35          | Uttar Pradesh       | 2254   | 3022   |   5657 |
| 36          | Uttrakhand          | 156    | 173    |    401 |
| 37          | West Bengal         | 1075   | 1489   |   2924 |
| Grand Total | Grand Total         | 17389  | 27754  |  53228 |