Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Shri Pralhad Joshi presides over the celebrations of National Consumer Day 2024, today  in Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi with the launch of several pro-Consumer initiatives.

National Consumer Day is dedicated to acknowledging the rights and needs of consumers and highlighting the significant strides the department has made in protecting and empowering consumers over the past year. The theme for this year's National Consumer Day is "Virtual Hearings & Digital Access to Consumer Justice," reflecting the commitment to enhancing consumer welfare through innovative solutions and transparent redressal systems.

  Shri Pralhad Joshi, in his inaugural address said that virtual Hearings of grievances is giving consumers digital access to justice and this reflects the commitment of Prime Minister Shri Narender Modi in ensuring efficient and accessible justice to the consumers. The Minister emphasized on the achievements of the CCPA in the past years for the protection of consumer interest through its class actions suits and actions. Some of the milestone achievements mentioned were refund of Rupees 1454/- Crores by travel companies to consumers affected due to cancelled flight tickets due to Covid-19 lockdown after the CCPA took action against them, the actions taken against the coaching institutes against 45 coaching centers across nation for misleading advertisements, car seat belt alarm stopper clips have been delisted from these 5 e-commerce platforms based on the Orders passed by CCPA against Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Shopclues and Meesho to delist all such products which violates consumer rights and unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.  He appreciated the action taken by CCPA against surrogate advertisement by issuing 13 notices to the companies. He further, appreciated the policy work done by the CCPA by releasing the following Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing and Misleading Environmental Claims, 2024 and Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Misleading Advertisement in Coaching Sector 2024 in the year 2024.

Shri Joshi congratulated CCPA for issuing Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 and taking actions against the dark pattern. And he encouraged CCPA to continue its efforts in protecting consumers.

The Minister appreciated the initiative of E-Daakhil portal launched in 2020 signifying digitalization of consumer grievance redressal making it available to all consumers.

Shri Joshi recognized the evolving threats to the consumer on the E-commerce portal and stated that India by reaching 950 million has become the second largest e-commerce user. He congratulated the Department for enacting the Consumer Protection E-commerce Rules, 2020 and taking proactive actions and launching initiatives for the protection of consumers on e-commerce.

He further emphasized on the initiatives of BIS recognizing quality control orders, hallmarking of gold jewelry and recalling of substandard products ensuring standard products are marketed. He appraised the BIS for issuing 180 QCO’s covering 769 products and 43 crore pieces of gold jewelry being hallmarked with HUID.

Shri Joshi appreciated Legal Metrology for ensuring accurate measures and standards for India. Also, he appreciated National Test House for its extensive network of laboratories across India achieving 57.37% increase in sample testing and 42.49% rise in revenue during the year 2024.

The Minister highlighted the importance of consumer awareness by appreciating the Awareness Program like quality connect campaigns establishing over 10,300 standards clubs in schools and colleges. He stated that by educating students we are laying the foundation for better consumer empowerment. He further stated that a profitable market can be sustained with balance between consumer, seller and manufacturer all working towards consumer care.

Shri Joshi  appreciated the Department of Consumer Affairs for the event with the theme “Virtual Hearings and Digital Access to Consumer Justice” which played a pivotal role by bringing together stakeholders to deliberate on critical consumer-centric issues.

On this occasion, the Hon’ble Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi launched the 'Jago Grahak Jago App,' 'Jagriti App,' and 'Jagriti Dashboard’ to protect Consumers from  Dark Patterns. The Apps would equip the Department of Consumer Affairs with means and resources to identify dark patterns on e-commerce platforms and is soon going to empower consumers with these tools. He also launched National Legal Metrology e-Mapp, which enhances transparency, efficiency, and accountability in governance and operations.

The Department has revamped its National Consumer Helpline Portal, incorporating advanced features and thereby offering enhanced functionality, improved navigation and faster grievance resolution through AI- enabled NCH 2.0 which was also launched by the Hon’ble Minister on the occasion of National Consumer Day 2024. NCH 2.0 features multilingual support and AI-powered chatbots, ensuring a seamless and inclusive experience for consumers across the country.

The Minister also inaugurated the ‘Organic Food Testing Laboratory’ at National Test House, Guwahati & ‘Low Voltage Switch Gear Testing Facility ‘at National Test House, Mumbai to ensure food safety and electrical quality. He also launched an updated e-book on Packaged Commodities Rules, providing comprehensive guidelines for better consumer understanding and compliance.

To ensure the accuracy, reliability, and global compliance of weighing and measuring instruments, the Department of Consumer Affairs in collaboration with C-DAC, is establishing Software Testing Facilities at 6 Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs). The ‘Software Testing Facility for Weighing & Measuring Instrument’ at Regional Reference Standard Laboratory, Ahmedabad was also launched digitally by the Hon’ble Minister.

The Department of Consumer Affairs  signed a significant MoU with Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) on the occasion to enhance consumer protection and legal metrology expertise.

Embracing the digital evolution, BIS,  started its smart journey. SMART Standards from 2025 was launched by the Minister. The Minister also  handed over the ‘standard weights’ to Controllers of Legal Metrology of 4 States on the occasion.

Union Minister of State for Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri B.L. Verma, while addressing the occasion stated that consumers have made great contributions towards the progress of the nation under the guidance and leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narender Modi Ji. The Department of Consumer Affairs not only focuses on the protection of the consumer interest but also embraces and works towards their progress. E-Jagriti Portal and NCH 2.0 are available in 17 languages 24*7 for the protection of consumer rights. He also stated that under “Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas” digital transformation has brought a major shift in delivery of justice, empowering consumers with the ability to seek justice from the comfort of their homes. He appreciated the work done by the BIS for the protection of the consumers by issuing the Quality Controls Orders w.r.t kitchen safety, medical devices, enhancing the safety of electric vehicles. Further, in his keynote address he congratulated National Test House for expanding its focus under the initiatives like “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” for providing the Electric Vehicle Battery testing, drone testing and certification, and high-voltage equipment testing.

Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs,Smt Nidhi Khare in her opening remarks embraced the guiding principles of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 and three tier Redressal system established under it i.e. providing swift and efficient Redressal to consumer grievances. She also appreciated the work done by the Department of Consumer Affairs through various initiatives such as various regional workshops, state-specific meetings and various sector-specific conferences, which brought a significant positive shift towards the speedy and efficient disposal of cases with a disposal rate of more than 100% in many States and District Commissions. As of today 28,92,624 cases filed in all the consumer commissions and out of them 23,45,558 number of cases are been disposed of she congratulated the consumer dispute redressal ecosystem established for achieving this number. She also Congratulated State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commissions like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka for showcasing highest disposal of cases in the year 2024. Further, also congratulated District Consumer Redressal Commission like Nanded, Parbhani and North West Delhi for the highest disposal of cases disposed in the year 2024.

The use of E-daakhil has facilitated quicker communication and resolution, benefiting both consumers and consumer commissions alike SCDRC Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan and DCDRC Nagpur (Maharashtra), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), and Beed (Maharashtra) for 100% filing of the cases through E-Daakhil were praised by the Secretary. She also congratulated SCDRC Kerala for the highest number of cases, more than 1625 cases heard through VC mode.

Prof T.G. Sitharam, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), addressed the occasion with his kind words and appreciated the work done during the tomato grand challenge and stated that it addresses the real world problems. He highlighted the importance of the innovations focused in design of tomato value chain from pre-production to valorization of tomato.

Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, addressed the occasion with his kind words and pressed relevance towards the importance of the consumer interest and the importance of safeguarding them in the present times. He appreciated the use of digital technology in the resolution of consumer disputes. And congratulated the Department of Consumer Affairs for this important theme for this year’s National Consumer Day.

On this occasion Safety Pledge was signed by the top executives representing 13  e-commerce platforms belonging to Reliance Retail group, Tata sons group , Zomato and Ola and Swiggy.   Their support and agreement to abide by the safety pledge will go a long way in ensuring protection of consumer rights.

On 30th June 2023, Department of Consumer Affairs in collaboration with M/o Education (Innovation Cell) launched the Tomato Grand Challenge (TGC), the winning teams i.e. Team from Manav Rachna International Institute of Research & Studies  for developing ‘Tomatolixir- a biopesticide” aimed at eliminating Foliar pathogens in tomato at low cost, Team from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha. The team has developed a “Zero Energy Cooling Mobile Unit”, a sustainable, energy-free solution that preserves tomatoes, reduces post-harvest losses, and extends shelf life using evaporative cooling principles without relying on electricity or external energy sources, Team from Fruvetech Private Ltd, IIT, Delhi for developing “Tomostat Tomotrans”, an innovative device aimed at enhancing shelf life of tomato during post-harvest storage were felicitated. 

A Report on Reorientation of Consumer Commissions an Impact Assessment study conducted by Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak was submitted on this occasion.

The event further focused on three issues which were divided into separate technical sessions on ‘Health Washing and how it affects consumer choices’, ‘Ensure effective execution of consumer commission's orders’, and ‘E-jagriti/virtual hearing: Towards efficient, hassle-free and cost effective justice delivery system’.

Members of National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission along with Presidents and Members of various State/ District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission attended the program. Higher officials from FSSAI, Ministry of Aayush, BIS, Legal Metrology and other Government bodies along with Principal Secretaries of various states also attended the program. Other stakeholders like Vice Chancellors and Professors of NLU Delhi, Ranchi and Bengaluru attended the program. Various Voluntary Consumer Organizations and Industry Organizations and e-commerce companies attended the program.

As we celebrate these accomplishments, the department remains committed to further enhancing consumer protection and empowerment in the coming year. The Department  will continue to innovate and adapt to the evolving needs of consumers, ensuring that their rights are safeguarded and their voices are heard.

Watch the entire program on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/live/Nt-Q5orPBd4

****

AD/CNAN