Lok Sabha Question No. 2725 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-02
Subject: Fake Products
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: SULTAN  AHMED

## Government of India

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2725

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2016

## FAKE PRODUCTS

## 2725.  SHRI SULTAN AHMED:

## 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 there is any regulatory body in place to check fake advertisements and products and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any search and seizure operations were conducted against companies involved in such practices and if so, the details thereof indicating the number of individuals caught during the last three years and the current year; and
- (c) the reasons for lack of vigilance and monitoring of manufacturing and sale of fake products?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

(a)   :    A three tier quasi-judicial mechanism has been set up under the Consumer Protection Act 1986 at the District, State and National levels, where a consumer can make a complaint against misleading advertisements, which are treated as unfair trade practice.

The  Department  of  Consumer  Affairs  has  also  launched  a  portal  to  enable  consumers  to register  Grievances  Against  Misleading  Advertisements (GAMA).  After preliminary scrutiny of the grievances registered on the portal, the grievances are forwarded to the State Governments concerned or the respective Central Regulators, as the case may be.

The  Ministry  of  Information  and  Broadcasting  has  constituted  a  composite  Inter  Ministerial Committee (IMC) under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary (I&B) and comprising officers drawn from various Ministries concerned to take cognizance sou-motu or look into specific complaints regarding violation of the Programme Code and Advertising Code.

Different Regulatory Bodies look into different products such as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is concerned with food products, the Central Drug Controller with medicines etc. Under the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Standards looks into complaints on misuse of lSI mark, and quality of lSI marked products.

(b)  :    On  the  receipt  of  complaints  relating  to  the  quality  of  lSI  marked  products,  investigation  is carried out by the Bureau of Indian Standards at the complainant end as well as at the manufacturer end. Based on the outcome, action is taken which, inter alia, include stop marking, cancellation/expiry of  the  Licence  and/or  replacement  of  the  product  to the  consumer.  In  case  of  complaints  regarding misuse of lSI mark, search and seizure operation is carried out after discreet investigation.

The search & seizure (raids) operations carried out by the Bureau of Indian Standards in the last three years and the current year is as under:

| Year            |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |   2016-17 (up to 27 July 2016) |
|-----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------------------------------|
| Number of raids |        97 |        70 |       128 |                             32 |

(c) :    Does not arise.

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