Activists demand stronger Consumer Protection Act
Consumer activists in Mysore observed the National Consumer Day as a black day to protest the failure of the authorities in effectively implementing the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and safeguarding the interests of consumers.
They protested on December 24, holding placards and addressing the public on the failure of the authorities in realising the objectives of the Act.
They demanded the setting up of a department exclusively for dealing with matters relating to consumer affairs by separating consumer affairs from the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, blaming the latter of “indifference and lethargy” which they said had brought disenchantment among consumers and activists.
They also demanded a regular joint action by the department in association with the Legal Metrology and other departments to check and prevent ongoing exploitation of consumers at several stages, effective propaganda and appointment of assistant public prosecutors in each district to file cases on behalf of the government on matters of consumer rights.
The Karnataka State Consumers’ Organisations Federation General Secretary S P Thirumala Rao said that the Supreme Court had observed while reviewing the act in the Lucknow Development Authority vs M K Gupta case that the CPA was a silver lining at a time the administration was caught in the grip of red-tapism and corruption. But, the department dashed hopes by its lackadaisical and stepmotherly attitude towards the CPA.
This had resulted in a fall of the number of cases filed before the Consumer Grievances Redressal Fora. Except in about 10-12, in rest of the Fora the number of cases being filed was not beyond double digit figures. The performance of these bodies was also a cause for this sad state of affairs as the presidents and members of both district fora and state commissions were not disposing of the complaints on time, he alleged, citing figures the federation had obtained under Right to Information Act.
He cited how the authorities had failed to convene meetings of the district consumer protection councils and constitute the state council. The central grants released from the consumer welfare fund to the department were also being wasted.
Though these bodies had collected Rs 3 crore from complainants, no rules were stipulated for their effective use. Consequently, complainants had to bear even postage charges for these bodies to issue notices to respondents, Rao said.
Periyapatna Consumer Activist Manjuath criticised that the officials had no time to spare for consumer issues as they were always busy with work related to census, ration, Aadhar etc. T Narasipur activist N Lokesh said consumer exploitation in rural areas was rampant and officials were failing to take action under CPA.
They later submitted a representation to the Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer.