Consumer bill to fix adulteration, false ads: Experts

Source: DNA dated 21.12.2018

Mumbai: Getting away with defective products and misleading advertisements is set to become challenging for makers and retailers/etailers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), durables, electronics, automobiles etc.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the long-pending Consumer Protection Bill 2018, paving way for effective protection of consumer rights and safeguarding their interests.

Speaking to DNA, Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said, “It is noteworthy that the bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha. Hopefully, it would be passed in the Rajya Sabha soon.”

The bill, besides strengthening the rights of the consumers and keep a watch on misleading advertisements, will also check adulteration.

The development is crucial especially in the current scenario wherein consumers are forced to go through the hassles of getting defective products replaced and/ or claiming refunds in addition to misleading deceptive ads.

The bill puts the liability of product quality on manufacturers, said Pritee Shah, chief general manager, Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC). While e-commerce marketplaces will be responsible for sale of counterfeit products, celebrities will also be responsible, along with advertisers, for endorsing a product.

“Manufacturers will have to be diligent. They will have to mandatorily recall faulty products. In the case of misleading ads, companies will have to withdraw advertisements and bring in corrective advertisements. Celebrities will not be able to blindly endorse products,” said Shah.

When contacted, executives from HUL, ITC, Dabur, Marico, Mondelez, Godrej, Samsung, LG and Panasonic were not available for comment.

It certainly is a necessary a wake-up call for consumer goods makers to become more responsible, said N Chandramouli, chief executive officer, TRA Research, a brand insight company. The onus gets clearly pinned on the company, but more importantly, if convicted, the brand’s trust also will get impacted.

“Consumer should be the ultimate yardstick. However, there can be truant customers too, and companies will have to deal with a small portion of such false claims. All-in-all, if the companies become more responsible towards consumers, it is a good move,” said Chandramouli, adding: “We’ve all been taken in by claims like ‘strongest’, ‘best’, ‘improved’, ‘extra iron added’ etc so far. Now it’s time for brands to be cautious about claims like this,” said Chandramouli.