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Consumers
POWER1.1
A bi-monthly resource for the consumers
Rs.25May 2010
InauguralIssue
Are YOU the Kingin India?
09 Charter of Telecom Services
19 Consumers Role inDispute Redressal System in India
PAGE 5
Impact of Adson Rural ConsumersPAGE 10
Standards:
A Part of Your LifePAGE 23
State of Consumersin ShimlaPAGE 16
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BASIC INFORMATION
Telecom tariff / charges and rates related issues
+ The customer must be given complete details of tariff plan including
charges payable for every item included in the plan within a week of
activation of service.
+ While taking the new connection, you can obtain the contact details of the
Call Centre, Nodal Officer and appellate authority of service provider for
making your complaints.
+ No hike in any tariff item or charges is permitted during six months from the
date of enrolment of the subscriber in a tariff plan.
+ In tariff plans having validity of more than six months including lifetime
plans no tariff item or charges shall be increased at any time during the
promised validity period.
+ 'Lifetime validity' means the duration of the current license or renewed
license of the service provider.
+ The customer is free to move from one tariff plan to another, including post
paid to pre paid and vice versa without paying any fee or charges for
migration and without change of telephone / mobile number.
+ Even if the talk time value has been exhausted, the prepaid customers
should get all the services, which do not affect talk time value, like
incoming calls/SMS etc. during the entire validity period.
+ Unused balance in the prepaid card at the end of the validity period is to be
carried forward if recharged during the grace period specified for the
purpose.
+ Fixed line and broadband customers to be given rental rebate for faults not
rectified within 3 days of making complaint.
+ No rental for national roaming facility. Receiving SMS is free while national
roaming.
+ Processing fee, if any, in the talk time top-up recharge shall not exceed
Rs.2/-.
+ Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP) facility cannot be made a
compulsory item of tariff in any tariff plan. If chargeable, it shall be optional
for customers.
Customers of Mobile &Fixed Telephone & Television
must read this for gettingbetter services
Whom to contact in case of telephone / mobile complaints?
How to stop getting unwanted telemarketing Calls and SMSs?
Basic information about Cable TV Services in Conditional Access System (CAS) Areas
TV services under Direct to Home (DTH)
Individual consumer complaints / disputes
TRAI invites all the stakeholders to visit its website: www.trai.gov.in for full Details of the
Regulations, Tariff Orders, and Directions issued by the Authority from time to time.
(Issued in public interest by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
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Mr. J.S. SarmaChairmanTelecom RegulatoryAuthority of India, New Delhi
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 1
am happy to know that the Citizens' Awareness
Group (CAG) is publishing bi-monthly magazine
I"Consumers Power". The Citizens' Awareness
Group was registered with TRAI as Consumers
Advocacy Group in 2007 and has acquired good
knowledge about telecommunication services,
regulations governing its provisions and redressal of
consumer grievances. It has been organizing several
seminars and workshops to generate awareness about
the rights of consumers.
Consumer Advocacy Groups play significant
role in empowering consumers, particularly in mattersconnected with Telecommunications, Broadcasting and
Cable Services. I am confident that the Citizens'
Awareness Group would supplement the efforts of
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in protecting the
interests of consumers and generating awareness
about their rights. I wish the organization great success
in its endeavors.
J. S. Sharma
EDITORIAL TEAM
Processed and Printed at :
Nex-Gen GraphibizPlot No. F-191, Industrial Area,Phase 8-B, SAS Nagar, MohaliPunjab
Printed & Published byMr. Surinder Verma, ChairmanCitizen Awareness Group.
All articles and advertising
material should be forwarded to :
The Editor
CITIZENS AWARENESS GROUPRoom No. 3 (Basement)Karuna Sadan, Sector-11-BChandigarh-160011
Tel & Fax : 0172-4007412Mobile: 094170 08805
093177 25073
E-mail :[email protected]@[email protected]
Websitewww.cagchandigarh.in
Mr. Surinder VermaDr. Navleen KaurMs. Manjeet KaurMrs. Sudesh KumariMs. Richa PriyaMs. Medha Kapoor
Design & LayoutCore Communications Pvt Ltd0172 [email protected]
Volume 1 . Issue 1
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Mr. R.N. Prabhakar (Retd.)Member
Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India, New Delhi
Mr. Ram NiwasHome Secretary
Chandigarh Administration
t gives me immense pleasure to know
that Citizens Awareness Group hasIstarted a bi-monthly magazineConsumers Power for the consumers of
this region. I appreciate the working of the
group with the objective of creating
awareness about various issues related to
health, literacy and consumer problem
from its inception. I hope that this
magazine will empower the consumers of
this entire region by providing them timely
information about the intricacies of market.
I personally welcome the launch of
the magazine here in this region, and
congratulate the entire team of CAG for
creating consumers.
Mr. Jagroop Singh MahalPresident
Consumer Disputes, Redressal ForumUT, Chandigarh
am happy to note that Citizens Awareness
Group has started a bi-monthly magazine
IConsumers Power and this issue will focus on
the consumer awareness in the telecom and
broadcasting sectors.
The mission of Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) is to ensure that the
interest of consumers are protected and at the
same time to nurture conditions for growth of
telecommunication, broadcasting and cable
services in a manner and at a pace which will
enable India to take a leading role in the emerging
global information society.
The service providers should ensure quality
of service and attend to consumer grievances as
per the benchmarks and procedures prescribed byTRAI. This is one of the concern of the regulator. In
order to this concern and to achieve its Mission,
TRAI has been conducting various regional
workshops for capacity building of Consumer
Advocacy Groups (CAGs) and consumer
education at regular intervals at different places.
The sole aim of this exercise is to raise consumer
awareness as end users through CAGs. TRAI
have been consistently striving towards improving
the response of the service providers to the
consumer needs and consumer complaints. Print
media has always been playing a significant role in
raising consumer awareness amongst consumers
and service providers by raising consumer centric
issues. I am sure your magazine will alsocontribute towards this aspect.
I wish the Citizens Awareness Group all
success in their foray to launch Consumers
Power magazine and hope that the content of the
magazine will be such that will enlighten the
consumers about their rights and obligations for
getting proper quality telecommunication and
broadcasting services.
t gives me pleasure to say that Citizens
Awareness Group Chandigarh has
Istarted a bi-monthly magazine titled
"Consumers Power". As we all know,
consumers are the largest social group in any
society. They face a number of problems
relating to the goods purchased by them and
services hired on payment. It is a common
knowledge that in every sphere whether it is
airlines, banks, railways, insurance, courier
agencies, housing, building activity, trading,
investments, education, telephone/mobile,
electricity, water supply, hospital etc., the
consumers hire services and in many cases
face, problems like the cancellation or delay,repudiation of claims, levying of' heavy
charges, medical negligence or non supply
or short supply of goods. The consumers are
the most unorganized group and need to be
educated about their rights. Many of the
consumers suffer deficiencies, losses and
humiliation simply because they are not
aware of the remedy or they feel that the
damage caused is bearable as compared to
the harassment and delay which they may
suffer in pursuing the remedy before the
Courts. The "Consumers Power" magazine
being launched by the Group is expected totake care of these problems and impart not
only education to the consumers about their
rights but also assist them to redress their
grievances.
I wish success to the Citizens
Awareness Group, is the need of the hour.
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 2
R.N. Parbhakar
Ram Niwas
Jagroop Singh Mahal
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Ms. K. K. NarangDeputy Director GeneralBureau of Indian Standards
t gives me immense pleasure to know
that the Citizens Awareness Group isIlaunching 'Consumers Power' ab i -month ly journa l dedicated to
consumers.
The Group has been playing a vital role in
spreading awareness amongst the
masses about various consumers related
issues. Their contribution in spreading
public awareness about the rights of
consumers has significantly supplemented
the endeavor of Bureau of Indian
Standards in creating awareness about
various activities of BIS.
Kindly accept my heartiest congratulations
and best wishes for your magazine which I
am sure will go a long way in further
promoting the values concerning the
consumers.
BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS
Ekkud% iFkinkd%
Arun Kumar Gupta, IAS
General ManagerFood Corporation of India
Haryana Region
t gives me immense pleasure to know
that Citizens Awareness Group hasIstarred a bi-monthly magazineConsumers Power about various issues
related to health, Literacy and Consumer
problems for the consumers of this region.
I convey my best wishes to the group and
wish it all success.
Food Corporation of India
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 3
Arun Kumar Gupta
Ms. K. K. Narang
am pleased to know that Citizens
Awareness Group (CAG), a voluntaryIorganization, has decided to publish itsbi-monthly magazine Consumers Power
with an objective to generate awareness
among citizens about their rights and
responsibilities and simultaneously assist
them in redressal of their grievances. I amsure that this effort of the CAG, would go
a long way in fostering a sense of
fraternity among the citizens. I
congratulate the organizers and wish the
publication a grand success.
Nilkanth S. Avhad
Nilkanth S. Avhad, IASGeneral Manager
Food Corporation of IndiaPunjab Region
Food Corporation of India
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Editor SpeaksCITIZENS AWARENESS GROUP
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 4
5
9
10
14
16
1923
Is Consumer Reallythe King in India?
TelecomServices
Impact ofAdvertisements
TRAIBasic Information
Consumer Awareness
Role of Consumer
Standards :A part of our Life
Dear Readers
I am greatly pleased to present to our natured readers- the consumers community- with this newest
magazine Consumers Power. In today's world, consumers wield the power..the power to demand
the best.
In this issue, we had brought forward the rights of consumers in Telecom Industry. I am extremely
delighted on sharing Basic information on Telecom tariff and rate related issues and about the Role
of consumers.
I am heartly thankful to Mr. Bejon Mishra, Professor MC Pal, Dr. Akshat Mehta, Dr. Babita Aggarwal,
Dr. Meenu Aggarwal, Dr. Mamta Mokta and Ms. Renuka Salwan for their intresting articles.Apart from the introduction to TRAI by Dr. Akshat Mehta, you will also come to know about the
Common Charter of Telecom Services in this issue.
I feel extremely proud in incorporating the write-up on National Seminar on Role of Cosumer
Disputes Redressal system in India: Issues, Challenges and opportunities. Seminar was
co-ordinated by Professor MC Paul, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi. Seminar was organised as a mark of respect to the true spirit of UN Guidelines for Consumer
Protection (UNGCP) issued 25 years ago in 1985.
In a past few years Telecom industry has grown at a rapid pace with an upcoming of loads of
telecom companies, which had left the consumer in a state of confusion. The choice is extremely
difficult for the consumers of telecom industry as so many big brands have stepped into, leaving the
market overloaded.
This issue is just one step forward in helping you to make the right choice and to update your
knowledge as being a consumer. We shall appreciate your feedback and suggestions to help us in
helping you. Queries are also welcomed.
Surinder Verma
24TRAI :An Introduction
26 Child Labour in India
28 The Consumer Panchayat:
30Consumer Awareness -
Rights & Responsibilities
Investor Association recognised by Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
Consumer Advocacy Group, registered byTelecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
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onsumers are
considered to beCking in a freemarket; the sellers are
guided by the will of a
consumer. Webster's
dictionary defines
Consumerism as "the
promotion of the
consumer's interests" or
alternately "the theory
that an increasing
consumption of goods is
economically desirable".
"Consumerism" is likely to
dominate the Indian
market in the coming
years, thanks to the
economic reforms in the
present years and
increased direct foreign
investment in the retail
sector. The transition will
be from a predominantly
"sellers market" to a
"buyers market" where the
choice exercised by the
consumer will be
influenced by the level of
consumer awareness
achieved. By
"consumerism" we also
mean the process of
realising the rights of the
consumer as envisaged in
the Consumer Protection
Act (1986) viz. Right to
safety, Right to be
informed, Right to choose,
Right to be heard, Right to
redress, Right to
consumer education,
Right to satisfaction of
basic needs and ensuring
right standards for the
goods and services for
which one makes a
payment. The big
multinationals will leave
no stone unturned to gain
the attraction of the
consumer and will try to
gain a respectable market
share. However, some of
the companies try to
engage in unscrupulous,
exploitative and unfair
trade practices like
defective and unsafe
products, adulteration,
false and misleading
advertisements,
hoardings, black-
marketing etc. The earlier
approach ofcaveat
emptor, which means
Let the buyer beware,
has now been changed to
caveat venditor (Let the
seller beware). There is
an active need for having
awareness on the
consumer protection
rights.
Evolution of Consumer
Protection Rights in
India
The consumer movement
in India is as old as tradeand commerce. In
Kautilya's Arthashastra,
there are references to the
concept of consumer
protection against
exploitation by the trade
and industry, short
weights and measures,
adulteration and
punishment for these
offences. However, there
was no organised andsystematic movement
actually safeguarding the
interests of the
consumers. Prior to
independence, the main
laws under which the
consumer interests were
considered were the
Indian Penal Code,
Agricultural Production,
Grading and Marketing
Act, 1937, Drugs and
Cosmetics Act, 1940.
Even though different
parts of India exhibited
different levels of
awareness, in general, the
level of awareness was
pretty low. Indian
consumer movement
began with Passengers
and Traffic Relief
Association (PATRA) in
Mumbai, in 1915. The
growth from there has
been incredible and the
momentum of this growth
started during the 60s.
In 1969, Monopolies and
Restrictive Trade
Practices MRTP act was
enacted and MRTP.
Commission was set up
under the provision of the
act. The act deals with
cases of restrictive trade
practices, adversely
affecting competition, and
with unfair trade
practices arising largely
out of false and
misleading
advertisements. After this
act, consumer
groupscame into force,
emerged. The emergence
Is Consumer Reallythe King in India?"Consumerism" is likely to dominate the Indian market in the coming years, thanks to theeconomic reforms in the present years and increased direct foreign investment in the retailsector. The transition will be from a predominantly "sellers market" to a "buyers market"where the choice exercised by the consumer will be influenced by the level of consumer
awareness achieved.
C o v e r S t o r y
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 5
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of the Amartya Bag, B.A.
LL.B. (1st Semester), KIIT
Law School, KIIT
University, Bhubaneswar,
Orissa. Consumer
Education and Research
Centre in Ahmedabad, in
1978, was a milestone in
the consumer movement
of India. It provided a
thrust and a direction to
the movement in terms of
a result-oriented approach
through effective use of
the law and the courts,
and injecting professional
inputs into the movement.
In the 1980s was the time
for the consumer rights
and many consumer
groups were formed in
different parts of the
country. In 1986 the
Consumer Protection Act
was enacted. In 1987, the
Indian Standards
Institute (ISI), which was
started around 1947 as a
membership society,
largely dominated by
industries, was turnedinto a statutory
corporation called the
Bureau of Indian
Standards with greater
participation by consumer
organizations. Thereafter.
in 1993, the Consumer
Protection Act was
amended overcoming few
limitations and making it
more effective and
inducing the concept ofconsumer courts. Three
tier consumer courts at
the nation, state and
district level known as the
District Consumer Dispute
Redressal Forum, State
Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission,
and the National
Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission
respectively were
established under the
provision of the act.
Consumer Welfare Fund
was also created during
that time. We have the
Securities and Exchange
Board of India, 1992, the
Telecommunication
Regulatory Authority of
India, 1997, and the
Central Electricity
Regulatory Commission,
1998. Apart from these, a
number of acts like Indian
Contract Act, Sale of
Goods Act, The Essential
Commodities Act, The
Agricultural Produce
(Grading and Marking)
Act, The Prevention of
Food Adulteration Act,
The Standards of Weights
and Measures Act have
been enacted by the
Indian legislature from
time to time to protect the
interest of the consumer.
The system has been
considered as one of the
best in the world in the
matter of consumerprotection.Consumer
Awareness and Rights a
Ground Reality. Even with
so many milestones, the
system is not perfect and
there are still hurdles in
providing justice to the
consumer in some cases.
In spite of having a
separate ministry or
department of consumer
affairs at centre and inevery state, the reality is
that consumer loses the
battle every time and
bows before the big wigs
that own the industries
and rein the huge
consumer market in
India. The consumer is
nothing but a crownless
king; the real power lies
in the hands of big
multinationals and retail
chains. Another reason
may be the lack of
awareness amongst the
consumer about their
rights. A recent study
found that although the
people have basic
knowledge about the
Weights and Measures Act
but very few people have
knowledge about the
other laws like the Drug
and Cosmetic Act
Prevention of Food
Adulteration, Food
Product Order, The
Essential Commodity Act
Display of Price Order;
Prevention of Black
Marketing and
Maintenance of Supplies.
It was also found in the
survey that the males are
much more aware about
the consumer protection
laws than the females. It
was also found out that
the people were not aware
about organizations
working at district and
national level. Out of totalsample, 48 percent males
and 20 percent females
were aware of both
consumer courts as well
as consumer forums. Only
6 percent each of male
and female respondents
were aware about the Sub-
Divisional Magistrate
(S.D.M.) office. Very few
knew about the public
supply office. Majority ofrespondents i.e. 50
percent males and 12
percent females were
aware about the National
Consumer Forum at Delhi.
2 percent males were
aware of Consumer
Guidance Society,
Hyderabad and Consumer
Forum, Bombay. None of
the female respondents
were aware about
Consumer Guidance
Society and Forum. This
survey shows how the
consumers in India are
unaware about their legal
rights. Indian consumers
want quantity not quality,
they prefer to compromise
rather than complain.
Though charging of a good
above the maximum retail
price (MRP) is against the
law, it is a very common
observance that the seller
tends to charge a good
above the
MRP. It is common that
one has been charged
above MRP for buying a
bottle of mineral water at
railway station or
multiplexes. There are
many goods which are
sold in the market
without much
information about their
quality, quantity and
purity. In case of goods
meant for mass
consumption like, food,
milk products, edible oils
etc. the ingredients are
not known.
The big multinational
companies make a huge
profit from whatever they
sell; they try to gain the
attention of an average
consumer through catchy
slogans and
advertisements with
bollywood celebrities and
cricket players as their
brand ambassadors to
promote the goods. The
consumer lured by the
advertisement follows the
preference of their silver
screen idols blindly
without knowing the
ingredients of an article
and suffers. Sometimes
the sellers offers
unrealistic schemes on
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anything ranging from
soap to a two-wheeler or a
computer, the consumer
is deceived by these
schemes offered by the
manufacturers, who
spend crores of rupees on
their brand ambassadors.
The poor consumer, who
is caught-up in buy-one,
get one schemes hardly
finds time to apply his
mind that it is he who
pays everything, even for
those so-called free-gifts
and gold coins that are
used as marketing tools.
The tragic part of all this
is that at the time of
purchasing the goods, the
consumer is never shown
the clauses of warranty,
written in the microscopic
fonts, with so many
conditions apply
mentioned in the foot-
notes of these documents
hidden somewhere in
owners manual. The
consumer gets this
owners manual onlyafter he makes the
payment of the product he
intends to purchase.
However, a closer look at
such warranties makes
one to ponder upon the
fraud most of the
companies commit with a
consumer. Take an
example of a two-wheeler
or a four-wheeler
purchased from anyreputed automobile
company. The warranty
says like this: This
warranty doesnt apply to
proprietary parts like
tyres, tubes, battery,
plastic items, bulbs,
indicators, rubber
components, grommets,
O rings, bellows etc.
Then what is left that
comes under warranty?
There is another fraud
attached to such goods. A
branded company uses
and assembles the tyres
and spare-parts of lesser
known companies. The
consumer hardly knows
about this arrangement,
as no such trade secrets
are revealed through the
advertisements by the
brand ambassadors. The
poor consumer, who
intends to bring home the
leader from the firm of
international fame, comes
to know about such fraud
only after the purchase of
the goods that are over
stuffed with low quality
desi spare-parts. Now
have a look at the
warranty card provided
with any electric or
electronic goods item,
including television sets,
DVDs, computers etc. The
consumer is again duped
in the similar fashion.
Here again, the hidden
warranty speakssomething like this: In
the event of damage on
account of high or low
voltage, fluctuation in
current, lightening etc,
the warranty
automatically null and
void. Is a consumer
responsible for the high
or the low voltage that is
supplied by the electric
department? Again, incase of refrigerators or air
conditioners, the
companies claim that they
will not be responsible for
the leakage in the gas,
for which extra money is
to be paid. Further,
similar conditions prevail
in case of automobiles,
which say that there will
be no replacement on
rubber or plastic items,
notwithstanding the fact
that the ACs or fridges are
mostly made of such stuff.
If there is no warranty on
such items, then what is
the warranty all about?
Just to deceive the Indian
consumer who simply
purchase the goods
thinking that the same
can be repaired or
replaced within the
warranty period, while
remaining ignorant of the
basic difference between
guarantee and
warranty. And when any
aware consumer dares to
challenge such self-made
clauses in the court of
law in the event of any
defect in the goods within
the warranty period, he
comes across with
another problematic
clause in the warranty
that reads like this: This
contract is effective at a
place where the company
has a manufacturing unit
(say at Mumbai) andclaims if any, shall be
made only before the
courts having the
jurisdiction in Mumbai
and no claims shall be
made outside Mumbai,
notwithstanding that the
refrigerator, two-wheeler,
TV, etc may have been
sold or delivered or any
stipulation or
commitment in respectthereof may have been
made elsewhere. Have
another look at the clause
in the warranty: This
warranty is in vogue only
for a period of 12 months
from the date of
purchase. The fact is that
AC or fans remain off for
at least six months a year
in most parts of the
country. Yet another
clause says that if a
machine has been
negligently used, then the
company is not
responsible for the
damages. Despite the
existence of consumer
forums at various levels,
many people are
compelled to go to the
courts seeking remedies.
In India sellers try to
corner and catch the
consumers on wrong foot
in the courts of law by
putting the onus of
damage on to the
consumer, declaring him
as untrained to operate
the consumer goods,
while arguing the cases
through highly paid
advocates. And the poor
consumer, who is already
depressed on account of
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 7
InsuranceInstitutefor Education &Training
UGSE-
SCO 62-63, Top Floor,Sector 17-A, Madhya Marg,Chandigarh - 160 117Telefax : 0172 5077054, 4643054Email : [email protected]
-
8/9/2019 Consumer Power - 1st Issue May 2010
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Bank:A place that will lend
you money only when you
don't need it.
CEO: Chief Embezzlement
Officer.
CFO : Chief Fraud Officer.
-----------------
What's the difference between
buying a lottery ticket and
buying a penny stock? In thefirst case, you help finance
your local community
swimming pool. In the second
case, you help finance thestock promoters home pool.
-----------------
A long term investment is a
short term investment thatfailed.
-----------------
A stockbroker is someone whoinvests your money till it's all
gone!
-----------------
A market analyst is an expert
who will know tomorrow why
the things he predicted
yesterday didn't happen today!
-----------------
Momentum Investing: The
fine art of buying high and
selling low.
-----------------
Value Investing: The art of
buying low and selling lower
Bear: What your trade
account and wallet will bewhen you take a flyer on that
hot stock tip your secretary
gave you.
Bull: What your broker uses
to explain why your mutualfunds tanked during the last
quarter.
-----------------
QUESTION: When does a
person decide to become a
stockbroker?ANSWER: When he realizes hedoesn't have the charisma to
succeed as an undertaker.
-----------------
A stockbroker is a man who isalways ready, willing, and able
to lay down your money for
his commission.
-----------------
The Pessimist sees the glass as
half empty. The Optimist sees
the glass half full. The StockMarket Day Trader JUST
ADDS WHISKEY ...
Jokes for
Fun
having purchased a
defective item, thinks
twice before moving
consumer protection
forums or NGOs for the
redressal. Can he afford to
hire the services of a good
advocate to fight the case
against such
multinational companies
who have a turnover in
crores of rupees per year?
And then such forums too
show inability at times to
help the consumer, after
going through the
cunningness hidden in
every term and condition
written in the owners
manual. One wonders,
who has authorised such
companies to incorporate
all such conditions that
suit only them and not
the consumer. The
concerned ministry is
aware of all this deceit
and yet, the consumer is
far from being the king.
Why? For one, he is
averse to be a litigant andprefers to suffer in
silence. For another, the
courts are so over-
burdened with cases,
majority being trivial, that
justice is invariably
delayed, if not denied. The
Consumer Courts were
created with an objective
to dispose the cases
within a very short span
of time, but the groundreality is that the case
remains without trial for
many years, thus defying
the very objective of its
establishment. Presently,
the courts are located at
district headquarters. This
prevents consumers of
far-flung areas,
particularly in big states
like Uttar Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh, from
approaching the courts
for justice. A more
desparate distribution of
the redressal machinery
is desirable. The
cumbersome procedure
for filing a case adds to
the burden of a consumer
in the process of getting
justice. Consumers thus
have the social
responsibility of exposing
the manufacture
suppliers or the service
providers for resorting to
illegal trade practices.
Unethical notings like
Goods once sold will
never be taken back are
in sharp contrast to the
practice in some of the
developed countries,
where the sellers declare;
In case you are not fully
satisfied with our
product, you can bring
the same to us within a
month for either
replacement or return of
your money. This is theresult of consumer
consciousness.
Consumers have to realize
their role and
importance. The
consumer movements can
be winner movements
only with our active
involvement by knowing
our rights and enforcing
them. Formation of
consumer associations inevery town would be the
first step towards this
path. It requires a
voluntary effort involving
the participation of one
and all. If the consumers
remain passive, they will
continue to be exploited.
It is necessary that
consumers take action
with solidarity to get a
fair deal and timely
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 8
redressal. An alert
consumer is a safe
consumer! There is a need
for a fresh look at the
machinery already set up
to protect consumer
interests. Establishment
of more number of mobile
consumer courts and fast
track consumer courts to
resolve minor issues
should be done to make
the judgement procedure
fast. In the coming years,
every consumer in his
own interest has to
realise his role and
importance in the right
perspective. In a
competitive economic
environment the
consumer has to exercise
his choice either in favour
of or against the goods
and services. His choice is
going to be vital and final.
He should realise his
importance and prepare
himself to exercise his
rights with responsibility.
It is very often stated"Customer is sovereign
and consumer is the
King." If that is really so,
why do we have the
Consumer Protection Act?
Why is there a need for
protecting the King?
Should it not be rightly
called "Consumer
Sovereignty Act"? It is for
the consumers to decide.
After all the dictum indemocracy is, the citizens
get a government they
deserve. Similarly, the
consumers in society get
a position in the market
depending upon what
they do or do not do. It is
agreed on all hands that
"consumer empowerment"
in India has a long way to
go. This is the right time
to act.
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ll ServiceProvidersAacknowledge therights of citizens to have
a free choice in selecting
their Service Providers
and agree to promote their
services in the best spirit
of competition and
traditions of service to
consumers. All Service
Providers agree to
promote the consumers'
right to education, choice,
representation and
redress.
All service providers
assure that the privacy of
their subscribers (not
affecting the national
security) shall be
scrupulously guarded.
All Service Providers
assure that their
subscribers shall beentitled to interact with
them, either personally or
through their authorized
representatives.
For information and
education of subscribers,
all Service Providers agree
to inform their
subscribers of the broad
range of services offered,
the individual plans
available to them at anygiven point of time, the
tariff rates applicable to
each of these, their
validity, terms and
conditions, payment
policies, the billing
processes and
procedures and the
structure within the
organization where
information and
clarification on consumer
redress systems for
complaints and billing
disputes will be available
with all their relevant
contact numbers.
All Service Providers
agree to arrange human
interface with responsible
company executives
whose name and identity
are made known during
the process of disputes
resolution in addition to
arrangements like
Customer Care Service
through Call Centres.
All service providers
agree to inform their
subscribers on the reverse
of each* bill, their
consumer grievance
redress process with
respect to fault
complaints and billing
disputes. They also agreeto resolve the disputes as
per the guidelines of TRAI
issued from time to time.
All Service Providers
agree to provide an
applicant basic telephone
connection within 7 days
of registration, subject to
technical feasibility and
the mobile connection
immediately subject to
compliance of all requiredformalities by the
subscriber.
All Service Providers
agree to repair the faults
within 24 hours of receipt
of complaint from a
subscriber, wherever
technically feasible.
All Service Providers
agree to ensure shifting of
telephone connection
within 3 working dayswithin the same
exchange, 5 working days
for intra city and 30
working days for inter
city exchanges and
closure (disconnection) of
telephone connection
within 3 days, on receipt
of a letter of request from
the subscriber. An
authenticated copy of the
last telephone bill shall
accompany the letter ofrequest.
All Service Providers
agree to provide in their
bills related call and tariff
details, payment
procedures and list of
points at which payments
can be made by
subscribers.
All Service Providers
agree to register
complaints in all areas oftheir service immediately,
if delivered in person or
by e-mail and within 24
hours on receipt of the
complaint by post.
All service providers
shall render service
without discrimination to
every citizen as per his
eligibility defined below
and who undertakes to
pay all charges anddeposits:
For the purpose of this
clause, a citizen shall be
defined as an individual
above the age of 18 or an
institution, NGO or
business/service
organization engaged in
any activity which is
permissible under the
laws of the land.
Common Charter of
Telecom Services2005
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 9
Continued on Page 15
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n this story there are
no heroes and
Ivillains; just people
who believe they can buy
happiness, and
advertisers who support
this belief. Consumerism
is one of religion's modern
replacements and like
religion it actively
encourages, then exploits,
dissatisfaction with
everyday reality.
P. Lutus in Consumer
August - 2001
Choice is a fundamental
problem for all human
beings and it is also a
complex problem because
we are living in a kinds of
entertainment of Riches
age. There are new
products, new kinds of
entertainment and new
services coming along
constantly. Window-
shopping, newspapers,magazine, radio and
television, influence us
and increase our desire
more and more. Choice of
any thing is very difficult.
Because now a days
different brands of the
same product /materials
are available in the
market. How do rural
consumers decide what to
buy? Sometimes the price
for the same commodity is
different at different
places and at times one
gets inferior quality
product for higher prices.
Lack of awareness on the
part of rural consumer
and absence of rural
consumer organizations
to protect their interests
have complicated the
process of product
evaluation by the rural
consumers' aware about
their rights and the
objects available in the
market. All human beings
have been consumer in
every moment of their
life, night and day. A
rural consumer thus
participates actively in the
economy from the day he
spends his first paise for
candy, lemon, drops etc.;his first contact with the
economy begins in a retail
store. As a rural
consumer he has an
important role to play in
the economy. The way he
performs will in turn
affect the performance of
the economy. Anyone who
consumes goods is a
consumer. Rural
consumers get exploited
in the market. They
respond to advertisement
and buy goods. Generally
advertisements do not
give all the information
that rural consumers
needs to know or wants to
know about a product. In
recent years behaviour of
the rural consumers has
changed. A few decades
ago rural consumers was
a silent person who
uncomplainingly
purchased the goods from
any place. But this is notso today. Now the
consumer is the choice
empowered consumer
who decides the fate of
the product with the
rising of his earnings.
Thus, the manufactures
are continuously engaged
to understand the
complex consumer
behaviour better and
respond by offering goods
and services as desired by
them. However, in
scarcity, the buyer is
compelled to buy things
whatever is available in
the market. The key to
ensure consumer
satisfaction lies in under-
standing the consumers -
his likes and dislikes, his
expectations and
motivations, in short it
may be called as
Consumer
Behaviour.Consumer
Impact of
Advertisementson Rural Consumer Educationand Behaviour
Dr. Meenu AggarwalReader & Head, Economics,Ginni Devi Modi Girls (PG) College,Modinagar
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 10
Consumerism is one of religion's modern
replacements and like religion it actively
encourages, then exploits, dissatisfaction
with everyday reality.
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Behaviour refers to the
acts of individuals directly
involved in obtaining and
using economic process
that precedes and
determines there acts
Consumers behaviour
research also considers
that rural consumers
make use of the goods
they buy and the
evaluation of these goods
after use.
Rural consumers make
choice under the
influence of two factors
Purpose, need or desire.
Behavioral pattern.Purpose, need or desire.
A rural consumers will
not buy a medicine unless
someone is sick, if he is
rational. But he may buy
a cake if he is with his
friends. He may not do so
if he is alone. Event such
as festival, marriages,
birthdays, transfers etc.
may occur which gives
rise to needs for a specificperiod of time.
Behavioral Pattern It is
a familiar phenomenon to
find people reacting to a
situation or environment
in different ways at
different times; Behaviour
and attitudes depend on a
number of factors such as
habit, recognition, and
price impulse, emotion
and unpredictability.These are briefly
discussed below:
Habit
Recognition
Price
Impulse
Emotion
Unpredictability
In general, rural
consumers behaviour are
influenced by tradition
culture, religion, and
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society of which consumer
is a part. In addition,
environment influences
and purchasing power
affects choices to a large
extent. Rural consumers
behaviour is also guided
by those needs, which are
as yet not satisfied.
Factors Influencing
Consumer Behaviour
Needs / Attitudes/ Habits
That influence
Consumption decisions
Consumer Choice
Behaviour/ experiences
that Reduce/ maintain orenhance Lifestyle
resulting in Consumer
satisfaction Consumer
lifestyle
History of Consumer
Movement
An important socio-
economic movement
confronting the business
is the growth of
consumerism and thelegislative measures to
produce the consumers. It
is said that Indian
consumers are cheated to
the tune of Rs. 2000
crores annually through
the various devices
invented by the
businessmen and traders
and hence, the need for
consumer protection. The
protection that the
consumers required is of
the following types:
Protection against unfair
and deceptive trade
practices.
Protection from monopoly
and restrictive practices.
Protection against unsafe
or harmful products that
endanger the health and
the well being of
consumer.
Protection against all
types of pollution.
The consumer movement
in India started in the
begging of 20th century.
The first known collective
body of consumers in
India was set up in 1915,
with the 'Passengers and
Traffic Relief Association'
in Mumbai. It was formed
with a view to reduce the
hardships and trouble`
faced by the passengers
travelling by railways and
steamers and also to
redress the grievances of
the Indian Trading
Community.The 'Indian Association of
Consumer (IAC)' was set
up in Delhi in 1956, and
all India Association for
consumers' interest with
government support. This
body had luminaries like
Shri Manmohan Sehgal,
Mrs. Shushila Nair and
Shri Guljarilal Nanda,
among others.
The world has witnessedrapid growth in
consumerism and hence
consumer protection has
become an important
aspect of modern life. To
protect the consumer
various countries have
enacted consumer
protection laws. India has
also witnessed a slow
growth rule in India. The
colonial masters brought
with them mass
consumption age in India
and thus also came the
exploitation of
consumers. With the
growing of numbers of
atrocities on consumers
the government enacted
series of consumer's
protection laws.
Impact of
Advertisement on Rural
Consumer
Advertisements have
become an important part
of modern business and
industry. It is therefore
not surprising that we are
confronted by them
wherever we go, We see
them in newspapers and
magazines on television
and the internet, hear
them over the radio and
see them on buses, taxis
and trains.
Advertising as an
industry has been a
steadily growing industrysince the eighties. It is a
complimentary
relationship that develops
for mutual benefits.
Product and services'
promotion through
advertising requires large
and extensive canvas and
far-reaching and
penetrating means of
communication.
Advertisements arecreated by sellers of goods
and services to boost the
sales of their products
and often published or
broadcast repeatedly in
the media. The idea is that
through repeated
reminders, a customer
comes to remember the
product and, hopefully,
ends up using it.
All advertising is
psychological. Their
purpose is to create a
demand, desire
impression and to expand
sales. This is to
accomplish by attracting
attention creating
perception and interest
and making the
advertisement being
understood easily, thereby
arousing and creating a
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favorable image. There are
several so many impacts
that accrue to consumers
as a result of growth of
large-scale advertising.
These are as follows:
Advertising is
educational, as newer
products are known;
standard of living is
improved and thus
increased satisfaction in
daily lives.
Advertisements do benefit
consumers in certain
ways. For example,
consumers are exposed
to variety of brands for a
given product. They arethen able to compare the
choices available and
select the one that suits
them best. Businesses
also use advertisements to
introduce new products.
Consumers therefore
receive information on
the latest goods and
services available in the
market. As more and
more new productsbecome available,
businesses are forced to
produce goods of better
quality and improve the
level of their service to
keep up with the
competition. The
availability of better
quality and services
obviously benefits
consumers.
Advertising helps in
communication.
Advertising is the
brainchild of a
mechandise. Advertising
pays for most of our
means of communication.
It leads to communication
at lower prices, thus
permitting consumers, to
have more purchasing
power for other
merchandise. Advertising
pays for most of our
means of communication.
Even a newspaper cost
would be beyond the
reach of a common man.
The press and a large part
of the entertainment
industry like television,
radio and magazines are
at large supported by
advertisements.
Advertisement serves the
public. Red cross etc. have
been aided in many ways
and as such it serves
public welfare also. It
informs consumers about
where to shop. There is
not a day of the weekwhen consumers, are not
advised of special sales in
departmental stores,
super markets or
specialty shops. Home-
owners receive valuable
hints and proper product
selection.
Advertisement provides
useful information for
rural consumers also
about products and theiruses. It helps them to
develop better habits and
they improve better life
style.
For Example
Advertisement reminds
you to brush your teeth
two times a day, use
better shampoo for hair
falling problem.
Advertising maintains
high standards. Since a
vast majority of products
succeed in acquiring a
reputation, which leads to
good public acceptance as
a direct result of effective
advertising, the sellers
are forced to assume the
responsibility to maintain
the original specification
of the products they seek
to sell.
Advertisements awares
you about the product like
product price, availability
about the product,
sources, company name,
even ingredients of the
product.
This information helps
the rural consumers to
save consumers time and
efforts. Those people who
are illiterate the see the
advertisements and
become aware about the
product. They spend our
money in the right way.
Administration,
advertisers of drug food,
cosmetics preparationsand vitamins frequently
misrepresent their
products by label
advertising literature
containing magic words.
Advertising very of ten
winds even greater
victories through the line
of appeals to sub
conscious needs. Modern
advertising specialists
have learnt to successfullycontrol feelings of quit,
fears, loneliness, doubts
and insecurity. One might
properly classify the
advertisers as:- Vultures
who feast on the secrets,
miseries, misfortunes and
weaknesses of human
beings. They work on
man's mind and his soul.
Know a day's
advertisement is an
important source of
income for websites, any
show of the college also so
many big and small
company sponsors the
shows, newspaper,
magazines, radio,
television etc.
Advertisement provides
direct and indirect
employment to a large
number of people creative
director, writer, junior
artist etc.
Recently, the greatest
emphasis has been on the
depth approach. Clever
advertising copy is
especially aimed to
promote purchasing
through non-rational and
impulsive logics instead of
rational and logical
approaches. The
advertising has become a
professional persuasion to
manipulate the
consumer's buying
attitude. Advertisers reap
rich dividend from the
knowledge, that consumeron the whole are gullible
and that few people have
mastered the art of
reading advertising
material with a critical
eye.
For these reasons it is
indeed like looking for the
proverbial needle the
haystack as contact less
in a summing pool to
collect a food sampling ofstraight honest
advertisement.
Forms of Advertising
There are so many forms
of advertisements,
including so many things
in the advertisement
which are as follows :
Direct-Mail Advertising
Informational
Advertising
Institutional
Advertising
Outdoor Advertising
Product Advertising
Speciality Advertising
Media
Social network
advertising
A new form of advertising
that is growing rapidly is
social network
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advertising. It is online
advertising with a focus
on social networking
sites. This is a relatively
immature market, but it
has shown a lot of
promise as advertisers
are able to take advantage
of the demographic
information the user has
provided to the social
networking site.
Friendertising is a more
precise advertising term
in which people are able
to direct advertisements
toward others directly
using social network
service.Celebrities Advertising:
This type of advertising
focuses upon using
celebrity power, fame,
money, popularity to gain
recognition for their
products and promote
specific stores or
products. Advertisers
often advertise their
products, for example,
when celebrities sharetheir favourite products
or wear clothes by specific
brands or designers.
Celebrities are of ten
involved in advertising
campaigns such as
television or print adverts
to advertise specific or
general products.
Covert advertising:
Covert advertising is
when a product or brand
is embedded in
entertainment and media.
For example, in a film, the
main character can use
an item or other of a
definite brand, as in the
movie Minority Report
where Tom Cruise's
character John Anderton
owns a phone with the
Nokia logo clearly written
in the top corner, or his
watch engraved with the
Bulgari logo.
Consumer Education
Government and private
agencies in India offer
rural consumers
education programmer
and widely disseminated
consumer information
system. Some of the
reputed private
companies involve
themselves with rural
consumers education
giving high emphasis to
the motto educated
consumers make better
consumers along with
their selling portfolio.Even after, consumer
education in India is still
practically not so widely
spread, the Union
Government has been
making efforts to educate
the rural consumers. The
right to consumer
education means the right
to acquire the knowledge
and skills to be an
informed consumer. Thus,the right to consumer
education envisages the
right to knowledge and
skills needed for taking
actions to influence
factors, which affect
consumers' decisions.
According to the
guidelines, the
governments should
develop and encourage
the development of
general consumer
education programmes,
bearing in mind the
cultural traditions of the
people concerned. The
aim of such programmes
should be to enable people
to act as discriminating
rural consumers, capable
of making informed
choice of goods and
services, and conscious of
their rights and
responsibilities. In
developing such
programmes special
attention should be given
to the needs of
disadvantaged consumers.
The important points of
Consumer Education are
as follow :
1.Introducing rural
consumer education in
the basic curricula of
the education system;
2.Governments to develop
consumer education
programmes in mass
media aimed at ruraland illiterate
consumers.
3.Education programmes
particularly for the
benefit of low-income
consumers in rural and
urban areas;
4.Business to
undertake/participate in
factual and relevant
consumer education
programmes; andGovernments to organize
training programmes
for education, mass
media professionals etc.
In the modern era it is
mandatory to protect the
rural consumers rights
and empowering them by
education. They should
not take the decision
always on the basis of
advertisement. The cost of
making advertisement is
usually very high.
Businesses have to spend
large sums of money to
get consumers to notice
and recognize their
product. Part of this
money goes to the
production of the
advertisement, packaging
of the product and buying
of advertisement space in
newspapers and
magazines, on billboards,
television and the radio.
The cost of advertising is
partly borne by
consumers, who end up
paying more for a product
than they would
otherwise have to.
Advertisement can be
misleading. To boost sales,
they are made to appeal tothe purchaser's vanity-this
expensive face cream will
make you look beautiful;
that vitamin supplement
will help you stay young;
these pills will make you
slim without the need for
exercise. Such claims are
often exaggerated but
believe by many.
Advertisement was once
upon a time the tool forcreating awareness about
their product among the
people. But now-a-days it
creates problem among
the people and putting
problematic burden on
the families.
Awareness has to be
created among the rural
consumers about the good
quality of products and
services. Largest number
of consumers live in the
rural areas in India. So
protecting the rural
consumer has to be a
priority.
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 13
The governments should develop and
encourage the development of general
consumer education programmes.
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Basic Information on Telecom tariff/charges and rates
related issues from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
that specifies your rights.
he customer mustbe given completeTdetails of tariff planincluding charges payable
for every item included in
the plan within a week of
activation of service.
While taking the new
connection, you can
obtain the contact details
of the Call Centre, Nodal
Officer and appellate
authority of serviceprovider for making your
complaints.
No hike in any tariff item
or charges is permitted
during six months from
the date of enrolment of
the subscriber in a tariff
plan.
In tariff plans having
validity of more than six
months including lifetime
plans no tariff item orcharges shall be increased
at any time during the
promised validity period.
'Lifetime validity' means
the duration of the
current license or
renewed license of the
service provider.
The customer is free to
move from one tariff plan
to another, including post
paid to pre paid and vice
versa without paying anyfee or charges for
migration and without
change of telephone /
mobile number.
Even if the talk time value
has been exhausted, the
prepaid customers should
get all the services, which
do not affect talk time
value, like incoming
calls/SMS etc. during the
entire validity period.Unused balance in the
prepaid card at the end of
the validity period is to be
carried forward if
recharged during the
grace period specified for
the purpose.
Fixed line and broadband
customers to be given
rental rebate for faults not
rectified within 3 days of
making complaint.No rental for national
roaming facility. Receiving
SMS is free while national
roaming.
Processing fee, if any, in
the talk time top up
recharge shall not exceed
Rs.2/-.
Calling Line Identification
Presentation (CLIP)
facility cannot be made a
compulsory item of tariff
in any tariff plan. Ifchargeable, it shall be
optional for customers.
Customer consent a
must for providing
Chargeable Value Added
Services
No chargeable value added
service like ring tone,
caller tune, missed call
alert, music / songs etc.
shall be provided to a
customer without his/herexplicit consent.
All communications/
advertisements relating to
premium rate services e.g.
ring tones, wallpaper,
astrology, quiz etc. should
have the pulse
rate/charges for the
service.
Whom to contact in case
of telephone / mobile
complaints?
All service requests/
complaints are to be made
to the Call Center. The
Call Center shall registerthe complaint / request
and provide docket
number to the
complainant.
In case the customer is
not satisfied with the
redressal of his complaint
at the Call Center level, he
may approach the Nodal
Officer and then the
appellate authority. For
contact details of CallCentre, Nodal Officer and
appellate authority, you
may visit the Website of
your service provider.
Complaints pertaining to
service disruption / faults
are to be attended within
a maximum period of 3
days and billing
complaints within 4
weeks by telecom service
provider. In the event of a
request for termination,
the services shall be
terminated by telecom
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 14
Your Rights as a
Telecom Consumer
Do you know?
Fixed line and broadband customers to be
given rental rebate for faults not rectified
within 3 days of making complaint.
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service provider within a
maximum period of 7
days and bills to be raised
after adjustment ofsecurity deposit.
How to stop getting
unwanted
telemarketing Calls and
SMSs?
A customer who does not
wish to receive unwanted
commercial calls or SMSs
can register his telephone
number in the National
Do Not Call (NDNC)
Registry by dialing '1909'or sending SMS by typing
START DND and send it
to 1909.
In case the customer
receives unsolicited
call/SMS even after 45
days of registration in the
NDNC registry, complaint
can be lodged with the
service provider within 15
days of receipt of such
unsolicited commercialcommunication.
Basic information
about Cable TV Services
in Conditional Access
System (CAS) Areas
CAS is only available in
Chennai and parts of
Delhi, Mumbai and
Kolkata.
All customers in CAS area
will get 30 Free to Air
channels without Set Top
Box (STB) by paying
Rs.82/- (excluding taxes)
per month.
CAS allows consumers
choice of selecting
individual pay channel.
No compulsion to take
bundle of channels or
bouquets.
Pay channels will be
available at the rate of
Rs.5.35 per channel per
month (excluding taxes).
STB only required for
getting pay channels.
STB to be made available
for a deposit of Rs.200/-
with a monthly rental of
Rs.34/- or deposit of
Rs.750/- with a monthly
rental of Rs.22/- to the
new customers.
Your Multi System
Operator (MSO) is
required to maintain
Customer Service Center
for receiving your
complaints.
All complaints made will
be registered and given a
docket number.
Monthly bills with details
to be given to the
customer by the cable
operator compulsorily.
TV services under
Direct to Home (DTH)
The DTH operator has tomake schemes and offer
Set Top Box (STB) on
rental, hire-purchase
basis and outright
purchase basis. The
customer has the freedom
to choose from schemes
being so offered.
In case of termination of
connection, the service
provider has to give a
notice to the customers.A subscription package
offered to a customer
cannot be changed to the
disadvantage of the
customer for 6 months
from the date of
subscription.
STB not to be disabled
in case there are no
dues.
In case of any complaint
or problem with the
services, the customer
may contact the Call
Centers on toll free
numbers of the serviceprovider.
Individual Consumer
Complaints / Disputes
Individual consumer
complaints / disputes
which are maintainable
before Consumer Forum
are not handled by TRAI.
Customer has to seek
redressal of the grievance
with the service provider
as per the regulations or
can seek remedy in the
Consumer Forum
Complaints alleging
violation of the
Authority's direction/
orders/regulations are
handled in TRAI.
TRAI invites all the
stakeholders to visit its
website: www.trai.gov.in
for full details of the
Regulations, Tariff
Orders, and Directions
issued by the Authority
from time to time.
(Issued in public interest byTelecom Regulatory Authority of
India)
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 15
Common Charter of
Telecom Services 2005
Continued from Page 9
All service providers agree to provide information on
Directory Services and book complaints on toll free
number for registering complaints.
All service providers agree to provide their subscribers
satisfactory connectivity to their services and
interconnectivity to the extent of their respective legal
obligation under the relevant interconnection agreement
and to ensure that subscribers do not suffer on account of
poor service.
All service providers agree to allow emergency services
like police, fire and ambulance for a period of 15 days
during which incoming facility is allowed, if technically
feasible, even after the telephone connection is
suspended.
All Service Providers agree to achieve the minimum
benchmarks prescribed by TRAI with respect to the
quality of service and also commit themselves to improve
upon the standards of service at different points of time.
Mutual courtesy and respect are the hallmarks of any
durable relationship between the Service Providers and
subscribers and both agree to abide by these principles.
Though this charter is non-justiceable, service
providers agree to strive to adhere all the points
contained in this charter and to make every effort to abide
by the charter.
Clause 7 amended as agreed in the meeting of the CAGs
and service providers held on 24th January 2006 so as to
inform the subscribers through each bill instead of
informing periodically.
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CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 16
State of
Consumer Awarenessin Shimla City
A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.
He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is a part of it.
We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.
Mahatma Gandhi
he world is a global
village and theTconsumer is king,yet he is striving to create
a niche for himself. The
growing interdependence
of the world economy and
international character of
many business practices
have contributed to the
development of consumer
protection (Gambhir
,2007) Citizens have
always been exploited by
agencies and institutions,
both in private and public
sectors, as they are not
orgnanised formally to
take remedial action.Such complaints are more
in public utility services
like electricity, water, gas,
railways, and transport.
(Goel 2004)
The term consumer has
been defined as any
person who seeks or
acquires goods for
personal, family or
household purpose.
Moreover, the goods must
be acquired for final
consumption and not for
the purpose of
manufacture or resale
(Agarwal, 1989) Every
individual irrespective of
his age, sex, religion,
status is a consumer and
thus they are required to
exercise proper check and
caution while making
purchase of item (Sharma
2005).A Consumer is
anyone who buys or
agrees to buy any goods
for a consideration which
has been paid or promised
or partly paid and partlypromised or under any
system of deferred
payment.
Consumer also includes
any user of such goods
other than the person
who actually buys goods
and such use is made with
the approval of the
purchaser. However a
person is not a consumer
if he purchases goods for
commercial or resale
purpose (Rakesh
2000).The process of
development coupled with
increasing liberalization
and globalization across
the country has enabled
consumers to realize their
increasingly important
role in society and
governance( Aggarwal
2006).
Consumerism under
Himachal Pradesh
Consumer Protection
Rules 1988 Himachal
Pradesh State Consumer
Disputes Redressalcommission, District
Consumer Dispute
Redressal Forum were
established in 1989.
According to provisions of
these rules Himachal
Pradesh has established
four District Consumer
Disputes Redressal
Forums at Shimla, Mandi,
Kangra and Una. The
district forum Shimla has
its jurisdiction over four
Districts of Shimla,
Solan, Sirmour & Kinnaur
District. While Mandi
district forum has its
jurisdiction extended over
Districts Mandi, Kullu
and Lahual Spiti. District
forum Kangra's
jurisdiction extends over
Kangra Chamba & District
Forum Una's jurisdiction
extends over District Una,
Hamirpur and Bilaspur.
The District Consumer
Dispute Redressal Forum
has jurisdiction to
entertain the claim,where the value of the
goods and services and
compensation claimed
does not exceed Rs.20 lacs
the state consumer
dispute redressal
commission has
jurisdiction to entertain
the claims where the
value of goods and
services and
Dr. Mamta MoktaChairperson, Department of Public Administration,Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.
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compensation exceeds
Rs.20 lacs but does not
exceed Rs.1 Crore. The
complaint can be filed
within a period of 2 years
from the date, cause of
action arose within the
local limits of forum/
commission and the fee
for making complaint is
Rs.100/- for total value of
goods or services and
compensation claimed
upto Rs. One lac, Rs. 200/-
above compensation of Rs.
Two lacs to Rs. Five lacs,
Rs.400/- is the fee- above
Rs. Five lacs to Rs. Tenlacs compensation , Rs.
500 is the fee above Rs.
Ten lacs to Rs. Twenty
lacs. Fees of Rs. 2000/is
levied above compensation
of Rs. Twenty lacs to Rs.
Fifty lacs. Rs. 4000 is fees
above Rs. Fifty lacs and
upto Rs. One crore and
Rs. 5000/is the fee charges
above Rs. One crore to be
paid in the form ofCrossed Demand Draft or
Crossed Indian Postal
order. (Administrative
Report, 2006-07)
Extent of consumer
awareness Data Analysis
and Findings
The awakening among
consumer of their rights
and duties, social andlegal obligation of the
business or government
toward the consumer is
called consumer
awareness. It was found
during a study conducted
in Shimla city in 2009,
that majority of
consumers, that is
70.90% were aware of the
malpractices and 29.06 %
were not aware of them.
Only 45. 45 % had made
complain about it to the
concerned authorities.
Consumers give different
reasons for not
complaining. Majority of
respondents, that is
42.85% believed that
problem is not so serious
as to make a complaint. It
was observed that
consumers in Himachal
Pradesh do not have the
initiative to complain to
the authorities concerned
despite of the fact that
they know malpracticesare going on. 50.90%
consumers respondents
very often take cash-
receipt after purchasing
the goods. Thus majority
of consumer in Himachal
Pradesh had not fully
comprehended the
importance of cash-
receipt. Without it,
consumers, can not
exercise their rights, as aconsumer and seek
redressal before the
consumer court. Majority
of the educated
respondents have no
knowledge about
Consumers Protection
Laws and 70.90%
consumers respondents
had no knowledge of
Consumers Rights,It was
observed, that majority of
respondents i.e. 81.81%
were unaware about
World Consumer Rights
Day 15th March. With
regard to the most
significant Act, Consumer
Protection Act 1986 only
48.18% were aware of the
existence of State
Commission and 57.27%
were aware about District
Forum. But only 20% had
made complaint before
District Forum and
respondents had lodged
complaint before State
Consumer Commission.
Awareness level of
redressal procedure was
46.36 %. Those 23.07%
respondents, which were
not satisfied with the
response of redressal
machinery, have given
reason that the procedure
is very complex. Thus it
can be concluded that
much more is required to
be done in the direction ofconsumerism to make
consumers aware about
their rights.
Suggestions To Strengthen
The State Of Consumerism
In Himachal Pradesh
The consumers should
always try to purchase
standard goods of quality.
Some quality marks have
been patented by the
government such as ISI,
WOOL mark, AGG mark,
FPO, these marks ensure
the quality and minimize
the complaints.
If the goods being
purchased are subject to
guarantee or warranty,
the consumer must insist
the trader to give him
signed guarantee/warranty card.
The consumers must
ensure the date of
manufacturing expiry
date, maximum retail
prices indicated on the
packaged commodities.
Remember MRP is not a
government fixed price
and the consumer can
bargain. He must always
know that no one can sell
more than MRP.
AGG mark for
agriculture products, ISI
mark for electrical
appliances, BIS Hallmarkfor gold should always be
checked at the time of
purchase.
Consumers should
habituate themselves to
check the malpractices in
the market rather than
remain passive. They
should not hesitate to
question shopkeepers,
whenever they notice
irregularities in their
dealings, and if needed be,
report to the appropriate
authorities. The quality
testing laboratories
should be set-up in as
many places in Himachal
Pradesh as possible so
that consumers have easy
and free access to them.
Consumers must be
made to inculcate inthemselves the habit of
buying goods only after
verifying the quality,
purity, price, weight,
packing, manufacturing
date, expiry date etc.
Consumers in Himachal
Pradesh should prefer to
take cash receipt and
should always insist on it,
because this small piece of
paper is very important.
Without it consumers will
not be able to exercise
their right as a consumer
and seek redressal before
the consumer court.
As consumer education
is very important factor
which influences
consumers to act wisely
in the market, it should
CONSUMERS POWER | May 2010 | 17
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be included in the syllabi
in a phased manner from
the high school level
onwards.
In order to involve
more and more youth forthe strengthening of
consumer movement in
Himachal Pradesh, it is
suggested here that
Consumer Clubs should
be opened in all the
schools of Himachal
Pradesh and efforts
should also be sincerely
made to open theses clubs
at colleges and university
level.
To strengthen the state
of consumerism in
Himachal Pradesh some
Consumer Service Guiding
Centers should be set-up
by all government
departments as well as
business houses to
maintain a close liaison
with consumers.
In Himachal Pradesh,
more people should be
involved in consumer
activities they should bemotivated to unite
themselves in consumer
organisations.
It is necessary that the
literature on the various
acts especially Consumer
Protection Act 1986,
should be supplied to the
consumers freely in
order to widen their scope
of understanding.
Consumers should be
motivated towards the
realization of consumer's
rights in the market
environment. For this,
the government which
has at its disposal all the
required resources should
take the initiative and
motivate the consumers
through the mass media.
CONCLUSION
We still have miles to
move in the direction of
consumer protection in
Himachal Pradesh. But
even longest journey
starts with small steps so
hope for better prospects
of consumerism are
expected in Himachal
Pradesh in the near
future.
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ational seminar
on Role ofNConsumerDisputes Redressal System
in India : Issues,
Challenges and
Opportunities on
12-13th March 2010 by
Professor M.C. Paul, GAE,
School of Social Sciences
of JNU, New Delhi in co-
operation with ProfessorBupinder Zutshi, CSRD.
We are happy to note here
that the Hon'ble Minister,
Prof. K.V. Thomas, MOS,
Consumer Affairs,
consented to be the Chief
Guest Since the topic of
the seminar was very
close to his heart but
could not do so. As he
said, nevertheless, in
view of some unavoidable,unforeseen, urgent and
important Parliamentary
commitment I was unable
to avail the opportunity.
All the participants were
thankful to the Hon'ble
Minister for his best
wishes and compliments
for the successful conduct
of the seminar.
About 93 participants
A Report on
Role of ConsumerDisputes Redressal System in IndiaIssues, Challenges and OpportunitiesProfessor M.C. Paul, GAE,School of Social Sciences, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi
attended the National
seminar for two days from
all over the country
belonging to faculty and
students from IIPA,
Universities like
Pondicherry, Delhi
University, JNU
University, Government of
India, Judiciary, Senior
Advocates, NGOs/ VCOs,
Mass Media. They wereJustice J.D. Kapoor,
former President of Delhi
state Consumer
Commission, Hon'ble
Justice R.K. Batta,
Member NCDRC, Shri
Anupam Dasgupta,
Hon'ble Member, NCDRC,
Mrs. Rajyalaxmi Rao,
former member of
NCDRC, Dr. P.K. Agrawal,
former PrincipalSecretary, Department
Consumer Affairs,
Government of West
Bengal, Sri Debasis
Bagchi, former Inspector
General of Police, Dr.
Prem Lata, Member West
District Fora, Mr. P.A.
Krishnamoorthy (GTZ),
Patrick Von Braunmuhl,
GTZ (Germany), Dr. Satya
Sharma (Malaysia), Prof.
Pranab Banerjee, Prof.
Sheetal Kapoor, Prof. P.
Moorthy, Prof. Meenu
Agrawal, Advocate Rajeev
Saxena, Advocate Apurva
A. Dave, Prof. Savita
Hanspal, Dr. S.K.Kejriwal,
Dr. Ajay Kumar, Dr. O.P.
Samy, Mr. Hitoshi Ota
(Japan) Brig. Manaktala,
Capt. Dasgupta, Col.
Angad Singh, Col. Dua,Mr. Pankaj Singh,
Advocate Biraja
Mahapatra, Advocate
Atulesh Kumar, Prof. Hari
Dev Goyal, Prof. M.C. Paul
et al including many
students and faculty
members and concerned
Aam Consumers.
Welcoming the
participants Prof. M.C.
Paul, the Co-ordinator of
the National Seminar, has
underlined the fact that
this seminar is organized
as a mark of respect to the
true spirit of UN
Guidelines for Consumer
Protection (UNGCP)
issued 25 years ago in
1985. It was nonetheless
a bold step that made
some of the world leaders
to take initiative as
regards to the enactment
of special Act to protect
consumer rights from the
free market activities. So
this year is the Silver
Jubilee year for issuance
of the UN Guidelines and
it is certainly an
auspicious year for all of
us gathered here to
deliberate on the issuesand challenges of
consumer rights
p