Lok Sabha Question No. 42 (STARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Scheme to Educate Consumers about their Rights
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Sunil Kumar Pintu, Mahabali Singh

## Government of India

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

## LOK  SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. *42 (OIH)

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2023

## SCHEME TO EDUCATE CONSUMERS ABOUT THEIR RIGHTS

*42. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR PINTU: SHRI MAHABALI SINGH: (OIH)

Will the Minister of CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC  DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  implemented  any  Scheme  to  educate  consumers  about  their  rights during the last three years;
- (b) if so, the details of the State-wise expenditure incurred under the said Scheme for the last three years and the current year;
- (c) the number of complaints out of the total number of complaints received on which action has been taken by the Government to protect the rights of consumers during the last three years;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to speed up its resolution mechanism to avoid delays in disposal of such complaints; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h ¼Jh ih;w"k xks;y½

THE MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION  NO.*42  FOR  06.12.2023  REGARDING  SCHEME  TO  EDUCATE  CONSUMERS ABOUT THEIR RIGHTS.

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(a) to  (e)  :    Department  of  Consumer  Affairs  is  continuously  working  for  consumer  protection  and empowerment  of  consumers  by  enactment  of    progressive  legislations.  With  a  view  to  modernize  the framework governing the consumer protection in the new era of globalization, technologies, e-commerce markets etc Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was repealed and Consumer Protection Act 2019 was enacted.

The  Consumer  Protection  Act,  2019  provides  for  redressal  of  the  grievances  of  consumer  through specialized  three-tier  quasi-judicial  agencies,  now  commonly  known  as  'National  Consumer  Disputes Redressal  Commissions  (NCDRC)'  at  National  level,  'State  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commission (SCDRC)' at State  level,    and  'District  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commission(DCDRC)'  at  District level.

The  Act  also  provides  for, inter-alia,  simplification  of  the  adjudication  process  in  the  Consumer Commissions; filing of a complaint by a consumer in the Consumer Commission having jurisdiction with respect to his place of work/residence irrespective of place of transaction and place of business or residence of  the  opposite  parties,  e-filing  and  e-payment,  video  conferencing  for  hearing,  deemed  admissibility  of complaints if admissibility is not decided within 21 days of filing; court monitored mediation to facilitate early disposal of cases; provision of product liability.

Provision  for  filing  cases  online  through  e-Daakhil  has  been  introduced  in  NCDRC  and  Consumer Commissions of 35 States/UTs at the district and state level for speedy and hassle-free resolution of cases.

Section 38(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 prescribes that every complaint shall be disposed of as expeditiously  as  possible  and  endeavour  shall  be  made  to  decide  the  complaint  within  a  period  of  three months from the date of receipt of notice by opposite party where the complaint does not require analysis or testing of commodities and within five months if it requires analysis or testing of commodities.

Department of Consumer Affairs has notified 17 Rules and 6 Regulations under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 for the protection of rights and interests of consumers which, inter-alia, includes E-Commerce Rules, Direct Selling) Rules, Mediation Rules, Search and Seizure and Compounding of offences by the Central Authority and Crediting of Penalty Rules etc.

Government has also taken several initiatives recently for the protection of consumers from misleading and deceptive advertisements, fake reviews, and unfair trade practices. Under the provisions of the Consumer Protection  Act,  2019,  the  Central  Consumer  Protection  Authority  (CCPA)  has  been  established  w.e.f. 24.07.2020 to regulate matters relating to violation of rights of consumers, unfair trade practices and false or misleading advertisements which are prejudicial to the interests of public and consumers as a class.

The CCPA has notified the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 on 9th June, 2022. These guidelines inter-alia provide for; (a) conditions for an advertisement to be non-misleading and valid; (b) certain stipulations in respect of bait advertisements and free claim advertisements; and, (c) duties of manufacturer, service provider, advertiser and advertising agency.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority has also issued Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 recently on 30th November, 2023 with the objective to prohibit the use of dark patterns and provide a list of specific dark patterns that are considered to be prohibited.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has notified framework on 'Online Consumer Reviews - Principles and  Requirements  for  their  Collection,  Moderation  and  Publication'  on  23.11.2022  for  safeguarding  and protecting consumer interest from fake and deceptive reviews in e-commerce. The standards are voluntary and are applicable to every online platform which publishes consumer reviews. The guiding principles of the standard are integrity, accuracy, privacy, security, transparency, accessibility and responsiveness.

The Department has revamped, the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) which has emerged as a single point of  access  to  consumers  across  the  country  for  grievance  redressal  at  pre-litigation  stage.  Consumers  can register their grievances from all over the country in 17 languages through a toll-free number 1915. These grievances can be registered on Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omni channel IT enabled central portal, through various channels- Whats App, SMS , mail , NCH app, web portal, Umang app as  per their convenience.

This  helpline  works  in  a  dedicated  manner  from  8  AM  to  8  PM  on  all  seven  days  of  the  week  except national holidays. For this purpose, an exclusive call centre has been established and to facilitate increase of access  to  our  consumers,  callback  facility  is  also  available  from  8  PM  to  8  AM.  Further,  NCH  has  also partnered  with  prominent  stakeholders,  namely-  private  companies,  regulators,  ombudsman  government agencies to bring them altogether on a single online IT platform where in all grievances are collated in a central  repository  with  unique  docket  numbers.  Currently  813  convergence  partners  are  in  collaboration with NCH to offer speedy resolution to consumer grievances.

Transformative  changes  and  technological  upgradation  of  the  NCH  has  led  to  an  increase  in  the  call handling facility. Number of calls received at NCH has exponentially increased from 60,806 in November 2021    to  90,973  in  November  2022  and  was  at  1,32,209  in  November  2023.    Initiatives  taken  by  the Department have also encouraged consumers to register their grievances on the NCH which is manifested with an increase in the number of grievances registered at NCH.

The details of total number of grievances received on the National Consumer Helpline during the last three years may be seen below. All the grievances received at NCH have been disposed of.

| Year       | Total grievances   |
|------------|--------------------|
| FY-2022-23 | 10,05,985          |
| FY-2021-22 | 7,44,625           |
| FY-2020-21 | 6,74,820           |

The  Department  is  also  implementing  an  exclusive  scheme  namely  'Consumer  Awareness'  to  generate consumer awareness and empower the consumers under the aegis of 'Jago Grahak Jago' campaign through various media including electronic, outdoor and social media.

The  Department  in  2022-23  has  launched  'Jagriti',  a  mascot  for  empowering  consumers  and  generating awareness of their rights.  Jagriti is projected as an empowered young consumer.

The  Department  participates  in  prominent  fairs/festivals/events  where  a  large  number  of  people  may congregate.  The  Department  also  releases  grant-in-aid  to  various  States/UTs  for  generating  awareness  at local level.

The details of grant-in-aid released to States/UTs, (keeping in view the proposals received and utilization certificate),      under  'Consumer  Awareness'  scheme during the last  three  years  and  current  year  is  given below:

|   S. No. | Name of State   | Amount Released (In Rs.)   |
|----------|-----------------|----------------------------|
|        1 | Madhya Pradesh  | 1,18,00,000                |
|        2 | Tripura         | 40,00,000                  |
|        3 | Maharashtra     | 1,00,00,000                |
|        4 | Sikkim          | 40,00,000                  |
|        5 | Nagaland        | 39,95,980                  |
|        6 | Mizoram         | 39,84,000                  |

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