National Consumer Rights Week organised by FICCI CASCADE

CASCADE, The Committee Against Smuggling And Counterfeiting Activities Destroying The Economy, is an initiative by The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), which works under the banner of FICCI CASCADE, with the motive of curbing the growing illicit trade in counterfeit, pass offs and smuggled goods, which threaten brands not only in every region of the country but across the globe. Activities like counterfeiting and contra-branding not only damage the integrity of the brand but also dilute the brand owner’s reputation, which further affects the consumers by way of health and safety hazards.

FICCI CASCADE recently celebrated the National Consumer Rights Week by organizing a three day conference, at the FICCI Federation House, New Delhi. The conference  was flagged off on the 18th of December, 2012, with an On The Spot Inter-School Painting Competition, which saw a huge number of kids participating in the same on the given topic of ‘Awareness through Art on Consumer Rights’  The programme was addressed by Mrs. Meenu Chandra, Head, FICCI CASCADE.

The painting competition was followed by a National Consumer Rights Meet, on the 19th of December, which was warmly addressed by Mr. Anil Rajput, Chairman, FICCI CASCADE and the key highlight of the meet was the panel discussion which took place on a major consumer problem ‘The Future of Consumer Rights Movement’. The discussion involved various consumer rights activists from around the country including Mr. Bejon Misra, International Consumer Rights Activist, New Delhi ; Dr. Anant Sharma, President, Consumers Action and Network Society, Jaipur ; Dr. Amit Wanchoo, President Rotary Club, Srinagar ; Ms. Preeti Joshi, Consumer Affairs Research & Education Center, Ahmadabad ; Mr. Ashim Sanyal, Consumer VOICE, Delhi ; Mr. Arun Kumar Misra, President, Indian National Consumers Federation, Lucknow.

The three day conference culminated on the 20th of December, 2012, with a special address on, ‘Building a Consumer Rights Movement-Empowering The Consumer Of Today’, by Dr. Pankaj Agarwala (Additional Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs) and Dr. A. Didar Singh (Secretary General, FICCI). The session began with Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai (President, FICCI) presenting the audience with the motive behind FICCI and CASCADE, wherein she spoke of campaigns like ‘Jaago Grahak Jaago’ and how important it is for today’s consumer to be well aware of what they are buying.

Then, Dr. Pankaj Agarwala enlightened the audience on how the growing pace of technology has increased the contribution level of the service sector in India, perhaps calling for an increased range of goods that need standardization getting services also in the same loop. He also mentioned of increasing the level of quality of the products in order to achieve greater productivity. He also mentioned that DCA will shortly launch an online system to file consumer suits. This will enable consumers to fill complaints from the comfort of their home and they won't have to stand in long queues for hours. Dr. Pankaj Agarwala’s opinion on whose responsibility it is to make sure that the best goes to the customers is neither of the government nor of the industry, but that of the government and the industry together. In his words, safety of the consumers is not like a singles match with the government and industry on either sides, but that of a mixed doubles match.

Dr. Agarwala also mentioned as to how a particular standard is set. Taking an example of the beverage industry, he said that a registered (authorised) firm cannot have its drinks sold in odd litres, that is to say that it could be 250 ml of a particular drink for Rs. 20, but not 249 ml of the same drink at the same price. In other words, any company has to follow the set standards, where it may sell more (in times of campaigning) or same quantity at the same price, but not less quantity at the same price. This ensures that a consumer achieves complete value of what he is paying, hence maintaining their satisfaction level and avoiding counterfeiting (by other fake/ local firms).

A lot of enlightening views were also shared by Dr. A. Didar Singh, who believed that due to practices such as counterfeiting, smuggling, etc. discussed above it is the consumer which is eventually made to suffer. Dr. Singh mentioned how out of all the 70+ verticals which FICCI works with in various areas, CASCADE is one of the most important issues it is dealing with, today. He also shared his views on why government data is important for further processing of reports by FICCI and how they contribute a great deal in ensuring the safety of the consumers both in terms of quality and also financially.

The conference saw the release of a report on the Socio-Economic Impact of Counterfeiting and Smuggling on 7 major sectors of the Indian economy. This report is strategically important because of the fact that it's the first report ever prepared in Indian that revolves around the issue of counterfeiting and smuggling and its impact on the economy. Dr. Singh ended his point by saying that there has been an urgent need of acknowledging such work in Asia, including India, even though it has for long been happening in other countries like the USA and Europe.