CAIT writes to PM seeking passage of Consumer Protection Bill

Traders' body CAIT today wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealing for the passage of the Consumer Protection Bill during the ongoing session of Parliament.
"The Consumer Protection Act will be a vibrant tool to empower consumer movement in the country and as such the Act which is pending before Parliament since a long time should be passed in the current session of Parliament itself," the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said in a communication to the prime minister.
The traders' body said that the inordinate delay in the passage of the bill is going against the wishes of the prime minister who strongly advocated the necessity of the bill while addressing an International forum couple of months back.

While inviting attention of the prime minister towards the new Consumer Protection Bill introduced in Parliament in 2015, CAIT urged that the bill be taken on priority and must be passed in the current session.
CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the law was on the anvil to crack down on misleading advertisements and will lay great emphasis on consumer empowerment.
He further said that the bill is critical not only for consumer protection but will also differentiate between the roles and responsibilities of small and genuine retailers.

"It will certainly put an end to unfair practices and will also enable the creation of a powerful Central Consumer Protection Authority," Khandelwal said.

He also argued that the bill should also adequately address the long standing problem of misleading celebrity driven endorsement whereby celebrities should also be held responsible for the products they endorse.
"Engaging Brand Ambassadors for product promotions has become widely prevalent and consumers are guided or misguided by such endorsements irrespective of the quality of the products. It is imperative that liability should be cast upon Brand Ambassadors under the Consumer Protection Act," CAIT said in a statement.