Ensure BIS certification enforced on required products: Official
Chandigarh, April 11
The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Government of India, in collaboration with the Food and Supplies and Consumer Affairs & Legal Metrology Department, UT, organised a daylong workshop on “Consumer Protection in the Northern States” here yesterday.
The event aimed at addressing critical issues faced by consumers in the market such as misleading advertisements, product liability and the role of consumer commissions in proper redressal.
The workshop was attended by Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, Nidhi Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, Vinod P Kavle, Secretary, Department of Food & Supplies and Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology, UT Administration, and senior officials from Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
In his inaugural address, Rohit Kumar highlighted the collective efforts of the Department of Consumer Affairs, National Commission, State Commissions, District Commissions and other organisations such as BIS, NTH, Legal Metrology and National Consumer Helpline in protecting consumer interests. He emphasised the role of technology in strengthening the consumer protection ecosystem and the importance of infrastructure and human resources in consumer commissions.
Singh also underlined the role of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India in developing Indian standards and implementing voluntary and mandatory standards such as quality control orders. The Legal Metrology and Weights and Measures Departments ensure that consumers receive accurate quantities of products as claimed by manufacturers.
The Department of Consumer Affairs plays a vital role in maintaining a balance between affordability and availability, controlling inflation in food commodities through its price monitoring division. Singh urged all states to establish price collecting centres in all districts and announced the department’s intention to achieve a target of 750 price collecting centres by March 31, 2024, with financial support provided by the department.
Singh requested state heads to ensure that BIS certification is enforced on required products for consumer safety. He discussed the time dissemination project by ISRO in collaboration with NPL to reduce India’s reliance on western countries for time accuracy.
He encouraged consumers to use NCH 1915 and mentioned that one-third of pending cases involved insurance companies and real estate.
The workshop attendees discussed various recent initiatives of the department, including launch of BIS standard IS 1900/2022 on fake reviews, which requires e-commerce companies to adhere to these standards within their policy of generating and publishing reviews on their platforms.
The role of Consumer Commissions in reducing the pendency of cases was also highlighted.
Nidhi Khare stressed the use of digital technology to protect consumer rights, reduce the pendency of cases in consumer commissions and the importance of moving towards mandatory e-filing.
