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Consumer Organizations in India 1
Consumer organizations are
advocacy groups that seek to protectpeople from corporate abuse like unsafe
products, predatory lending, falseadvertising, astroturfing and pollution.
Consumer organizations may operate via
protests, campaigning or lobbying. Theymay engage in single-issue advocacy (e.g.,
the British Campaign for Real Ale
(CAMRA), which campaigned against kegbeer and for cask ale) or they may set
themselves up as more general consumerwatchdogs, such as the Consumers'
Association in the UK.
One common means of providing
consumers useful information is theindependent comparative survey or test
of products or services, involving
different manufacturers or companies(e.g., Which?, Consumer Reports, etcetera).
Another arena where consumer organiz-ations have operated is food safety. Theneeds for campaigning in this area are
less easy to reconcile with their
traditional methods, since the scientific,dietary or medical evidence is normally
more complex than in other arenas, suchas the electric safety of white goods. The
current standards on mandatory labeling,
in developed countries, have in part beenshaped by past lobbying by consumer
groups.
The aim of consumer organizations maybe to establish and to attempt to enforce
consumer rights. Effective work has also
been done, however, simply by using the
threat of bad publicity to keep companies'
focus on the consumers' point of view.
Consumer organizations may attempt toserve consumer interests by relatively
direct actions such as creating and/ordisseminating market information, and
prohibiting specific acts or practices, or
by promoting competitive forces in themarkets which directly or indirectly affect
consumers (such as transport, electricity,
communications, etc.).
MAJOR CONSUMERORGANISATIONSIN
INDIAARE:
1. Voluntary Organization in the Interestsof Consumer Education (VOICE),
2. Consumer Guidance Society ofIndia(CGSI)www.cgsiindia.org.
3. Consumer Education & ResearchCentre (CERC) www.cercindia.org.
4. Consumer Unity & TrustSociety (CUTS)www.cuts-internatio-nal.org.
5. Consumer Coordination Council (CCC)www.cccindia.net.
6. Citizen Consumer & Civic Action Group(CAG),[email protected]
7. Mumbai Grahak Panchayat(MGP),
Other NGOs are:
1. [email protected] 2. Public Affairs Centre (PAC),
E-mail:[email protected]
3. Centre for Budget & Policy Studies,
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Consumer Organizations in India 2
E mail:[email protected]
Voluntary Organization in the Interests of Consumer
Education (VOICE),
VOICE- Voluntary Organization In Interest
of Consumer Education-is a voluntary
action group, whose objective is to
protect and further the interests of the
consumer. The Group aims at not only
making the consumer conscious of the
malpractices perpetuated in the
marketplace, but also at creating an
awareness that organized efforts can
overcome the helplessness of the
individual consumer. It works towards
informing the consumer of his/her rights,
and motivating him/her to demand value
for money. The organization was founded
by teachers and students at the University
of Delhi in the beginning of the academic
year 1983-84. Till mid 1986. VOICE
functioned as an unregistered voluntary
consumer association. On 28 June 1986, itwas registered as a Public Charitable
Trust with noted jurist, Justice [retd.] V.M.
Tarkunde and Prof. P.K. Ghosh of the
Delhi School of Economics as founder
donors and Dr. Sri Ram Khanna and Mr
Rain Karanjawala as Trustees.
To apprise the consumer of his rights and
motivate him/her regular columnsauthored by VOICE Team are published in
newspapers and magazines like News
time [Hyderabad] Dainik Bhaskar, Amar
Ujala, Punjab Kesari, Indian Express,
Hindu, Sunday mail, Chauthi Duniya, The
Sentinal, Adworld, and University Today.
This ensures exposure on a national
plane.
While serving on several official
committees, VOICE has articulated
consumer interest and continues to do so,
as member of the Central Committee on
Food Standards, Consumer Protection
council [Delhi]. Electronics Test Lab
advisory Committee, Committee on Urban
Waste management, and the Committee
on the Issue of Fluoride in Toothpaste and
MSG in Foods. Representatives ofVOICE
have also participated in TV presentations
and AIR Programmes on Consumer
protection and misleading advertising,
thus reaching wide cross-section of
people.
VOICE has been pursuing a large numberof cases at MRTP Commission, before law
courts and Consumer Disputes Redressal
Forum. Its case against TV manufacturers
before the MRTP commission has resulted
in the prosecution of 44 leading TV
companies for overcharging the
consumers. VOICE has fought court cases
inviting corporate giants like Bata and ITC
to protest against competitions [Bubble-gummers contest/Made for each other
ads] designed to lure children and adults
respectively. Throught court cases, VOICE
has compelled soft-drink companies to
state in every ad that their drinks are
`artificially flavoured` and `contain no
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Consumer Organizations in India 3
fruit juice or fruit pulp`. It won its case in
the Supreme Court against out-of turn
allotment of cars to VIPs by Maruti Udyog
Ltd.
VOICE also renders free legal advice andguidance to its Consumer Associates to
enable them fights their own cases in
courts.
VOICE members have been participating
in seminars, symposia and conferences
organised by Government Departments
and FICCI as well as sister consumer-
groups/associations like consumer
Education and Research Council [CERC],
Ahmedabad. Besides, VOICE on its own
and in collaboration with other consumer
bodies has organised a number of
seminars/and workshops to educate the
consumer and involve him/her directly in
the consumer movement.
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Consumer Organizations in India 4
Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI)
BEGININGS
SINCE INDEPENDENCE, India has been
striving to develop and strengthen its
industrial base. In this pursuit of "self-sufficiency", however, the consumer has
been made to endure sub-standard
products and services: adulterated foods,short weights and measure, spurious and
hazardous drugs, exorbitant prices,endemic shortages leading to black
marketing and profiteering, unfulfilledmanufacture guarantees,and a host foother ills. In one infamous case, forty
persons were struck with dropsy and
glaucoma after consuming groundnut oiladulterated with toxic argimon oil. The
culprits were never brought to justice.This outrage energised nine ladies to
organize a movement to fight for
consumer rights. They formed theConsumer Guidance Society of India
(CGSI) to resist consumer exploitation ofall forms.
HIGHLIGHTS
Following are some of the landmarks
achieved by CGSI:
1. CGSI is the earliest consumer
organisation in India, founded in
1966.
2. CGSI was the first to demand aConsumer Protection Act with
Consumer Course to implement it.
This becomes a reality in 1986.
3. To date, 70% of the thousands of
complaints referred to CGSI have
been redressed.
4. CGSI established formal Product
Testing in India.
5. CGSI was the first to publish a
monthly magazine "Keemat" carry-
ing information of importance toconsumer.
6. CGSI promotes consumer educ-ation; initiates training projects in
rural areas; Promotes publicity
drives; represents consumerinterests with Government and
other bodies.
7. CGSI received the National Award
for consumer Protection in 1991.
8. CGSI is the only Indian consumerorganisation to be a council memb-
er of Consumer International for
25-years.
9. CGSI is a member of the Mahar-
ashtra State Consumer ProtectionCounsil.
10.CGSI participates in a large no. oftechnical committees and gover-
nment decision-making bodies.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
CGSI was the first consumer organisation
to demand special Consumer Court forredressal of consumers' complaints. In
1975, CGSI led a delegation of fiveconsumer organizations from different
parts of India to the then Minister for food
and Civil Supplies, Mr.T.A. Pai, to press for
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Consumer Organizations in India 5
a comprehensive Consumer Protection
Act, Special Consumer Court and aDirectorate for implementation of the Act.
The first two have now become a reality.
COMPLAINTREDRESSAL
CGSI handles consumer complaints andoffers legal guidance to those wishing to
file suits in the Consumer Court. In case
where there are a number of complaintagainst a particular party, both sides are
brought together to resolve the issue. TheCGSI'S Complaints Committee meets
twice a week. Many thousands of
grievances have been handled over the
years, with 70% success in favour of thecomplaints cover medical/surgical
malpractice and negligence; insurancenon-payment; sub-standard drugs and
medicines; home remedies; defectivehousehold appliances; poor quality foods
and drinks; misleading advertising
claims; and grievances concerninginvestments, real estate, insurance,
telephones, electricity supply, etc.
PRODUCTTESTING
As early as 1977, CGSI established thefacility of product testing. It first assessed
the safety and performance of domestic
pressure stoves and found that two-thirdof the samples tested failed in safety
Parameters. CGSI sent the results to thegovernment and Indian Standards
Institution (ISI) with a demand for
mandatory certification. In 1986, the
Pressure Stoves Quality Control Orderwas passed. later, ISI Certification for
pressure stoves became mandatory.Subsequently tests were carried out on
electrical appliances and fittings - irons,immersion heaters, This culminated in
the enactment of the Household Electrical
Appliances (Quality Control) Order. A
food adulteration testing kit has beendeveloped for use by the lay consumer.
Many other products were tested andreports published in the Society's
monthly Journal, "Keemat": edible oils,powdered spices, 'surma', geysers, clinicalthermometers, plastic water bottles,
rubber teats, milk, mineral water, bread,
soft drinks, bath soaps and toothpaste.
CONSUMEREDUCATIONFORSCHOOLS/COLLEGES
CGSI's Education Committee members
had been working with other likeminded
educationists to formally introduceConsumer Education in the school
curriculum. After nearly two years ofmeetings and discussions, our efforts
were fruitful. In 1994, the MaharashtraEducation Board introduced Consumer
Education at the 9th Standard Level,
progressively covering students from the4th Standard upwards. The subject taught
are the Consumer Moment, Rights &
Responsibilities of Consumers, the
Consumer in the Market Place, FoodAdulteration, Weights and Measures, theEnvironment, etc. This topics included
under existing subjects like Civics,
Economics and Home science, are project-based and more practical in nature then
theoretical or examination-oriented.
CONSUMER EDUCATION FOR RURALCONSUMERS
CGSI started a rural project in the villagesof Thane and Raigad districts
(Maharashtra) in 1997, with a staff of sixand funding from Actionaid. Consumer
training was given to people in 112villages by 1999. Over 32,300 people have
received Consumer Education through
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Consumer Organizations in India 6
750 talks and demonstrations in the 2
years of the project, 107 trainingprogrammes were organized and 5,767
potential activists have been given specialtraining in Consumer Activision. Three
local Consumer groups have been setup indifferent areas by the Consumersthemselves, and these are now actively
organizing exhibitions, holding talks and
redressing complaints. More are expectedto come up soon.
PUBLICATIONS
"Keemat" is now in its 32th year of
publications, the first Consumer magazine
in India to be published regularly everymonth. CGSI has also produced Consumer
Guides on subject like ElectricalAppliances, Edible Oils, Pesticides, Food,
Adulteration, Safety At Home, Safe Blood,etc.
NATIONALAWARD
In 1991, CGSI received the National
Award for Consumer Protection in its
25th year for service to Consumers. CGSIhopes to reach out to more and more
consumers in the new millennium and todeveloped newer and more effective
methods of serving consumers interest.
CGSIFOUNDERS
The Founder members of CGSI were:
Mrs. Seeta Gupta : Social Worker
Mrs. Indira Mazumdar : Social Worker
Mrs. Seeta Nadkarni : Social Worker
Dr. Leela Thorat : Doctor
Mrs. Leela Jog
: JournalistMrs. Kamala Mankekar
: Journalist
Dr. Shanta S. Rao : Scientist
Mrs. Nalini Tulpule : Social Worker
Mrs. Shakuntala Kadam : Social Worker
Their cause has been joined down the
years by several public minded citizens.
Many illustrious names figure in the list of
CGSI Presidents.
CGSI PRESIDENTS
1969 - 1972 Justice B.N.Gokhale (Retd.)
1972 - 1974 Shri G.L. Mehta (ex-
Ambassador)
1974 - 1977 Justice J.C. Shah (Retd.)
1977 - 1981 Justice J.L. Nain (Retd.)
1982 - 1983 Dr.(Smt.) Kamala Sohonie
1984 - 1986 Smt. Leela Jog
1986 - 1988 Justice B.J.Rele
1988 - 1990 Justice Y.J Chandrachud(Ch.Jus.Supreme Court
Retd.)
1990 - 1991 Justice B. Lentin (Retd.)
1992 - 1995 Shri J.B.D'Souza, I.A.S.
(Retd.)
1995 - 1997 Shri Julio Ribeiro, I.P.S.
(Retd.)
1997 - 2001 Smt. Krishna Basrur
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Consumer Organizations in India 7
2001 - Smt.Shalini Sirur
Pedestrian Wing
To secure basic rights of pedestrians towalk in safety, constituting as they do the
single largest segment of the trafficstream in our country, CGSI launched The
Pedestrian Wing on 3rd June 1999 at a
public meeting held at the Society'spremises. The decision came as a logical
follow-up of the Hon'ble Mumbai HighCourt order delivered in 1998 on CGSI's
writ petition filed earlier. To the best of
our knowledge, CGSI is the first NGO in
this country to start a Forum for thepedestrians.
The objectives of Pedestrian Wing are asfollows:
1. To create public awareness about the
rights and responsibilities of Pedestrians
and fight for their due rights.2. To spread awareness about the
importance of walking as a mode of
transport and facilitate its use for shortdistance transportation.
3. To facilitate and promote availability ofuser-friendly Public Transport and
encourage it's use by the public.
4. To do all that is necessary to secure theavailability of use at least 90% of the time
proper smooth, level and properlyconstructed pavements, free of
encroachments, wherever needed.
5.To propagate and secure roadinfrastructure related to pavements such
as i) hand railings along the pavements,
ii) properly marked and paintedpedestrian crossings fitted with electronic
signals, iii) traffic islands, iv) roaddividers and v) proper parking spaces.
6. To fight for proper, orderly and safe
Traffic Management and
conduct/handling of all related mattersconducive to minimum vehicular
pollution.7. To network and co-operate with all
Government, Municipal and likemindedNGOs, Citizen groups working or engagedin transportation fields towards achieving
the above objectives.
The Pedestrian Wing seeks to promote
walking as an ideal mode of shortdistance transportation considering it's
many beneficial effects. As a corollary tothis, Pedestrian Wing actively encourages
and supports citizens in their bid to
secure for themselves all the facilitiesnecessary for their safety to enjoy this
fundamental right. Pedestrian Wing hasalready many active members spread out
all over Mumbai including suburbs.
Pedestrian Wing activities include regular
and continuous interaction with MCGM,Traffic Police, Transport Commissioner
and RTOs at all levels i.e. from HQ to
Ward level for redressal of grievances of
pedestrians and improvement in facilities.CGSI - Pedestrian Wing is a special inviteeto MCGM Inter-Utility Apex Committee
meeting/ Zonal level meetings, Traffic
Advisory Committee of Traffic Police ofMumbai and co-ordination committee of
RTA. Pedestrian Wing also works closelywith like-minded NGOs in the field such
as WORSPA, AGNI, Citispace, NeTrA,
WIAA, PATRA, LPA etc. besides keeping inclose touch with the Pedestrian
Association of U.K.
Pedestrian Wing holds a ' Open House ' on1st Friday of every month at 5 PM at CGSI
office when anyone, whether member or
not, desirous of seeking redressal of hispedestrian/ traffic grievance or making a
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Consumer Organizations in India 8
suggestion for improvement in pedestrian
facilities is welcome to attend.
Consumer Education & Research Centre
Consumer Education and Research
Centre (CERC), a non-profit NGO wasestablished during the year 1978, is a
Public Charitable Trust registered underthe Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1948 CERC
and its affiliate body CERS and TORCH,
together have a staff strength of about100 qualified professionals. The org-
anization is located on campus of
10,000 sq.mts. This houses the mainadministrative buildings and the labo-
ratory.
Scope ofActivities andMandate of theOrganization (CERC)
It is a recognized consumer organizationby the Government of India and
Government of Gujarat. It is dedicated tothe cause of consumer protection,
environment protection, investor
protection and public health and safetyissues. It works towards these objectives
through education, media, and research,
effective uses of law, advocacy, lobbyingand in house comparative consumer
product testing. The CERC mandate alsopermits the expansion of its activities to
make it topical, and to deal with emergent
issues of consumer and public health andsafety and protection.
CERC and CERS have filed public interest
litigation/class action cases on major
public health issues before the SupremeCourt of India and Gujarat High Court
such as :-
Safety of drinking water, safety and
adequate labeling of drugs (i.e.Medicines) and asbestos. In the Asbestos
litigation (CERC vs. Government of India)reported in 1995 (3) SCC p.42, various
issues relating to safety of asbestos and
adequate compensation to the victims ofasbestosis were raised in the petition
before the Supreme Court of India. The
Supreme Court allowed the publicinterest petition of CERC. In addition to
the monetary compensation granted tothe families of deceased workers, the
Supreme Court directed that the tests
laid down in the Vienna Convention fortesting the asbestos fiber, and the code of
conduct and the rules for asbestosmanufacturers laid down by the ILO shall
be made mandatory for the Indian
asbestos industry. CERC had prayed thatall international standards for ensuring
safety of workers and safe use and
disposal of asbestos should be adopted bythe asbestos industry in India, which the
Supreme Court was pleased to direct.CERC's interest in FCTC Process Since
public health and safety and consumersafety in particular are important
mandates of CERC, it has been working inthe area of tobacco use and related safety
issues, since 1982. A specific instance is of
successfully fighting the use of tobacco indental tooth pastes, without adequate
label information and packing to theconsumers. In Gujarat, manufacturers
routinely mixed tobacco with tooth pastes
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Consumer Organizations in India 9
which were sold under various brand
names such as IPCO and DENTOBAC etc.Consumers were never informed that the
use of these tooth pastes was addictivebecause of the tobacco and nicotine
content in these tooth pastes. We dealtwith a case where a husband was on theverge of a nervous breakdown because
his wife was using up to two tubes of
tobacco based dental tooth paste per day.Any attempt to stop her from using them
led to severe withdrawal symptoms andfurther leading to physical and psy-
chological symptoms. We ultimately
succeeded in getting the Government(Dept. of Health) to insist upon adequate
label information on such tobacco basedtooth pastes, and also including a warningthat such tooth pastes could be addictive,
so that consumers could make aninformed choice.
Recent Developments and contribution ofCERC in tobacco control movement
Consumer Education and ResearchSociety (CERS) has filed a public interest
litigation (read class action litigation) in
the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmadabad(Spl. C.A. No.7930 of 1999) seeking the
following major reliefs :-
To declare tobacco and tobacco products
as a "drug within the meaning of Sec.3(b)(ii) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act,
1940.
1. To prohibit advertisements of
tobacco in any form and through
any Medias including electronicmedia.
2. To prohibit smoking in public
places.
3. Compulsory education of children
and youths on the hazards oftobacco and tobacco products to
be funded by Contributionsfrom tobacco and tobacco
product manufacturers.
4. To prohibit sale of tobacco and
tobacco products in all public
places such as railway stations,theatres, public parks etc.
5. To prohibit surrogate advertising
of tobacco and tobacco products
including promotion and spons-orship of public events and sports
etc.
6. To direct that detailed and varied
statutory warnings be printed onall cigarette packs
7. All tobacco products carry the`skull and bones' logo
The case has been admitted and notices
have been issued to the Government of
India, Government of Gujarat, Tobaccoand tobacco product manufacturers.
CERS has written to the Minister forHealth & Family Affairs and Food and
Civil Supplies, Govt. of Gujarat in March2000, asking him to enforce a bill for
banning all chewing tobacco (popularly
called Gutkha) and for severely regulatingand restricting tobacco and other tobacco
products and their advertisements.
CERS has also seriously taken up the
case of misleading advertisementswhich promote the use of tobacco and
tobacco products and has asked the
Government to initiate action against thesame :
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Consumer Organizations in India 10
-One brand of Gutkha (chewingtobacco) had advertised the product as
having an ISO 9002 Certificate and thusClaiming it to be "safe" for consumption.
Letters have been written to differentGovernment authorities to issue noticeto the manufacturer to refrain from
publishing such advertisements. The
manufacturer for a time being hasstopped issuing such advertisements.
A representation has been sent toGovernment of India (Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting) reques-
ting urgent and immediate action forgross violation of rules and regulations by
cable TV network operators as regardsadvertisements on tobacco productsparticularly gutkha.
The FCTC Process and its relevance to
CERC's Work as pointed out earlier CERC
has been working in the field of tobaccoregulation and control since1982.
CERC has also used internationaldocuments, covenants for providing a
solid factual matrix to its submissions
both in the class action cases filed inthe various Courts for making
representations to the Government of
India, Government of Gujarat and otherpublic and statutory authorities.
CERC also strongly believes in the use
of legal framework and judicial
processes to bring about a permanent andlasting change for the purpose of
protecting public health and safety.
CERC has successfully used thevarious provisions of the Constitution
of India and the Supreme Courtjudgments wherein provisions of
International covenants, treaties,
protocol and conventions have beenheld to be enforceable particularly where
they relate to the Fundamental Rights of
the citizens and consumers ofIndia, more particularly when they relate
to the Right to Life under Article 21 of theConstitution.oTo this end FCTC Conve-
ntion and Process of Public hearings willgo a long way in supporting the variousactions spelt out hereinabove and
towards which CERC has expended
considerable time, effort and money toultimately bring about effective,
meaningful control and regulation oftobacco and tobacco products ; more
particularly in ensuring the
accountability of tobacco and tobaccoproduct manufacturers.
Source ofFunding of CERCCERC is mainly funded through individualdonations and institutional and Governm-
ent grants.
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Consumer Organizations in India 12
development, and consumer safety. CUTS
partners with organizations such asConsumers International, the Intern-
ational Centre for Trade and Sustainable
Development, South Asia Watch on TradeEconomics Environment and the Consu-
mer Coordination Council of India.
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Consumer Organizations in India 13
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Consumer Organizations in India 14
CUTS CENTRES
PROGRAMME CENTRES
CUTS CITEECUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS
CITEE), established in 1996 at Jaipur, India aims to be a high-level globalstandard institution for research and advocacy on multilateral trade and
sustainable development issues. Email: [email protected]
CUTS CART
CUTS Centre for Consumer Action, Research & Training (CUTS CART)
established in 1996 at Jaipur, India works towards enabling people,especially women and other disadvantaged groups of society to assert their
rights so that they can achieve the right to basic needs and sustainable
development through a strong consumer movement. Email: [email protected]
CUTS CHDCUTS Centre for Human Development (CUTS CHD), established in 1990 at
village Senti, district Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India seeks to empower rural
people, especially women and disadvantaged groups of society throughinnovative strategies of social action. Email: [email protected]
CUTS CCIER
CUTS Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation (CUTS
CCIER) was established in 2003, Jaipur, India to be a centre of excellence onregulatory issues, with focus on competition, investment and economic
regulation. Email: [email protected]
CUTS CRC
CUTS Calcutta Resource Centre established in 1987 has a unique feature of
working simultaneously on Consumer Safety and Grassroots EconomicDevelopment. Email: [email protected]
In view of severe shortage of institutional capacity to both implement reforms and facilitate the spread ofknowledge on regulatory matters in developing countries and lack of adequate emphasis on learning from
cross-sectoral and cross-country experiences, there has been urgent need for an institution to fill this gap.
CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (CIRC) was established in September 2005 at Jaipur, India, withan aim to enhance knowledge on regulatory issues. CIRC seeks to offer a wide range of programmes aimed at
the existing scenario and cater to the unmet demand of trained personnel in the following areas:
Infrastructure and Economic Regulation Competition Policy & Law
CUTSInstitute for Regulation & Competition
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Consumer Organizations in India 15
Commercial & Economic Diplomacy
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
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Consumer Organizations in India 16
Consumer Coordination Council
Consumer Coordination Council (CCC)
was established in March 1993 as aSociety registered under the Societies
Registration Act of 1860. Before taking
the present shape, a group of consumeractivists representing various Consumer
Organizations gathered (in April 1992) towork as one body, to raise one voice on
issues related to consumer interests and
various Government policies andprogrammes affecting the interest of the
Consumers. CCC has been actively
involved in various consumer-relatedprojects and programmes funded by
UNICEF, UNDP, Ford Foundation,Consumer Welfare Fund and other
funding agencies as also grants from
various Ministries of Govt. of India such
as MNES, MOH&FW, MOFPI, Departmentof AR & PG etc for specific projects.
Earlier CCC had a long-term partnershipwith a German Foundation called
Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung (FNST),which helped in establishing the
organization and provided full support
for its programmes including infra-structural expenditure till 31st March
2002. From 1st April 2002 onward CCC isbeing managed entirely by such project-
related funds. By now CCC has completeda decade of service to the consumers ofthe country in general and its Member
Consumer Organisations in particular.
CCC presently has a membership reach ofover 72 leading Consumer Organizations,
spread over different parts of the
country, which are, or have been
members of the Central ConsumerProtection Council (CCPC), set up under
the Consumer Protection Act. It may also
be added that many more ConsumerOrganisations including some new
Members of CCPC have applied for
Membership of CCC. These are underprocess. Its Governing Council of 12
Members consists of well-knownconsumer activists belonging to
established Consumer Organisations of
long standing.
Our VisionConsumer Sovereignty.
Our Mission
To be an effective national coalition of
consumer protection groups so as toprovide thrust to common issues
affecting consumers.
Aims & Objectives
y Influencing policies, legislationand administrative framework
towards promoting consumer
interests.y Empowering consumer protection
groups to work towardsstrengthening the civil society in
the democratic system of the
country.
One of the major concerns of CCC hasbeen Good Governance. CCC had
accordingly launched a National
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Consumer Organizations in India 18
Introduction
CAG came into existence on 7 October
1985 as a non-profit, non-political, non-
religious, voluntary and professionalcitizens group based in Chennai, India. S.
Govind Swaminadhan, legal practitioner
and former Advocate General of the Stateof Tamil Nadu, was the founding trustee
of CAG. The initial trustees included S.
Guhan (former Finance Secretary,Government of Tamil Nadu), S.L.Rao
(former Chairman, Central ElectricityRegulatory Commissioner), Shyamala
Nataraj (development journalist with the
South India Aids Action Program) andSriram Panchu (Senior Advocate).
The Group was originally christened
Consumer Action Group. After nearly adecade of our existence, we decided to
change it to CAG (Citizen, consumer and
civic Action Group), keeping in mind the
larger role that groups such as ours haveto play. Specifically, issues affecting thecommon citizen such as extreme
pollution, lack of access to information,
poor quality health care and civicamenities have emerged as priorities in
the work undertaken by CAG.
Objectives
Over the last five years, our mainactivities have ranged from campaigning
for greater access to information,
monitoring the functioning of publicutilities and advocating for greater
transparency and accountability ingovernmental and private sector
functioning to decentralised and localised
urban planning, and the protection of
open spaces and our naturalenvironment.
A Board of Trustees consisting of personsfrom different walks of life, but with a
common objective of improving thequality of life for citizens oversee the
Groups activities.
CAGs activities are carried out by a teamof young professionals with different
academic and work backgrounds. In the
implementation of our programmes wedraw upon the resources of a wide range
of experts skilled professionals,government officials academia,
journalists and fellow civil society and
NGO activists. This informal consultationwith the Friends of CAG results in an
inclusive, comprehensive and informed
kaleidoscope of ideas that we analyse andapply appropriately.
Every activity of ours is characterized by
the identification of the one critical
intervention, which will directly impactthe citizen-consumer in a significant way.
We arrive at this core conclusion by thefollowing steps:
Collect DataThrough a variety ofsources like original research,
government and other
publications, expert reports etc.we build our case.
Diagnose the problem Very oftenwhat are observed from data
collection are just symptoms of adeeper problem, we identify the
core issue from the data collected.
Subsequently we carry out any orall of the following steps
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Consumer Organizations in India 19
depending on the need of the
intervention.
Halt the problem Through avariety of tools including
advocacy, signature campaigns,formal complaints, public interestlitigation and igniting public
participation.
Evolve a Solution In order to
bring about an equitable solution,
which would address the core
issue, we collaborate with
academia/ academicians, civil
society activists and governmentagencies.
Help present the solution
Through our network of contacts
we help present the solution in theappropriate for a
.Disseminate Information: We
carry out capacity-buildingexercises for the citizenry through
outreach programmes, publica-
tions and other communicationtools, which would make them
aware of the issue and its solution.
Implement /Monitor the Solution:
We provide the expertise andresources to ensure solutions are
appropriately implemented and
monitored.
CAGs contributions towards consumer protection has been recognized by the
Government of India who awarded us the National Award for Consumer
Protection in 1989 (Second Prize) and 1991 (First Prize).
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Consumer Organizations in India 20
Mumbai Grahak Panchayat
On the auspicious day of Gudhi Padwa
(Hindu New Year), the12th April, 1975.
MGP is a voluntary organization regist-ered in 1981 under Public Charitable
Trust Act.
The objectives ofMGP
To organize consumers.
To make them aware about
their rights and respons-
ibilities.
To make the traders,middlemen, producers /
manufacturers and the
government realize thepower of organized consu-
mer power.
Any individual who has attended the age
of majority, i.e., completed 18 years ofage can become a member of MGP
The types of membership and what arethe fees?
(a) Ordinary member who wants toparticipate in the distribution
system.
(b) Associate member who does
not want to participate in the distributionsystem, but still wants to get associated
with MGP. Both types of members have topay annual fees (April to March) of Rs.
120 plus one time entrance fee of Rs.2.The membership has to be renewed
every year in April.
The membership fees collected by MGP
for financial independence and to obtain
financial backing for different types ofmovements in the interest of consumers.
Consumer Protection wings ofMGP
a) ComplaintGuidance Cells:
MGP believes in protecting the cons-
umer and also provides them with all the
necessary guidance and help in fighting
for their rights and for justice.
MGP has a number of Complaint Guid-
ance Centers all over Mumbai which givefree guidance to consumers hav-ing
complaints.
MGP has 9 Complaint Guidance Cells
operating at following locations in &outside Mumbai:
1) Grahak Bhavan (Juhu
Vileparle)
2) Dadar (West)3) Girgaum
4) Vile Parle (East)
5) Borivali (West)
6) Chembur
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Consumer Organizations in India 22
appointments of Presidents and
members.
3) Victory against Paranjape Constr-
uction Co: MGP has secured refund for
more than 800 flat purchasers who had
booked flats with Paranjape Construction
Company atVirar.
4) Western Railways and United
Breweries were not only forced to
withdraw the surrogate Liquor
advertisements from Western Railway
trains but were also forced to
prominently display corrective
advertisements to neutralize the effect of
surrogate liquor ads. First case of its kind
in India.
d) AD-Watch Club: MGP has set up
an Ad-Watch Club to monitor ads in print/ electronic media and prevent offending
/objectionable advertisements particu-
larly those propagating the use of
tobacco, Gutka and alcoholic drinks.
Number of objectionable advertisements
have been withdrawn / modified after Ad
watch Club raised objections. Ad Watch
Club also aims at creating awareness
about the influence of ads on consumers.
Some of its initiatives are:
y It conducts Good Ad, Bad Ad
contests for school children
y It has laid special emphasis on
Impact of Food Advertisements
on Children and keeps a close
eye on advertisements which vie
for childrens attention.
y Ad-Watch Club is also gearing up
to launch a massive campaign to
demand a comprehensive
legislation to control and regulate
advertising in India
y A case was taken up by MGP
where United Beverages
advertised its alcoholic beverage
as Soda on the local trains inMumbai. MGP complained to the
State Government for the removal
of these advertisements and the
UB Group was asked to put up
advertisements made by MGP
promoting natural drinks like
fresh fruit juices, coconut water,
etc. at its own costs on the local
trains of Mumbai for one week.
y It conducts seminars on the
adverse effects of Junk Food like
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Consumer Organizations in India 23
pizzas, burgers, chips, etc and soft
drinks.
PRAYAS (Initiatives in
Health, Energy, Learning and
Parenthood) is a non-governmental, non-
profit organization based in Pune, India.
Members of Prayas are professionalsworking to protect and promote public
interest in general and the interests of
disadvantaged sections of society in
particular.
The four groups of Prayas work on the
following substantive themes:
ENERGYGROUP:
Comprehensive, analysis-based
approachoto further public inter-
est in the energy sector with the
goal of democratising energygovernance through research and
intervention in policy andregulatory areas; and offering
training and support to civil
society groups.
HEALTH GROUP:
Awareness regarding HIV/AIDS,
training,
creation of educational material,information dissemination, cou-
nseling, care and support facility
for people with HIV, child
care, prevention of mother to childtransmission (PMTCT), research,
advocacy and networking
RESOURCES & LIVELIHOODSGROUP:
Focus on issues related to livelihoodsecurity for the poor and vulnerable by
promoting the perspective of people-
centered governance in policy making
and public administration and increasingtransparency, accountability and public
participation in governance processes.
LEARNINGAND PARENTHOODGROUP:Alternative Ideas in Education &
Parenting
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Consumer Organizations in India 24
Overview of the Centre
Public Affairs Centre (PAC) is a not for
profit organization, established in 1994
with a mandate to improve the quality of
governance in India. The creation of PACwas perhaps the first civil society-led
institutional initiative to mobilize ademand for good governance in India.
The focus of PAC is primarily in areas
where citizens and civil societyorganizations can play a proactive role in
improving governance. In this regard,PAC undertakes and supports research,
disseminates research findings, facilitates
collective citizen action through
awareness raising and capacity buildingactivities, and provides advisory services
to state and non-state agencies. TheCentre is globally known for its
pioneering Citizen Report Cards,benchmarking studies used to improve
public services, as well as their work on
electoral transparency, public worksquality monitoring tools and approaches
and the recently launched audits of theRight to Information Act and the National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act inIndia.
The Beginning
The genesis of PAC can be traced to a
modest but pioneering initiative by Dr.
Samuel Paul in the early nineties. In
1992, Dr. Paul, an eminent economist,
teacher and management professional,with several friends initiated a unique
experiment to produce a Report Card
on public services in Bangalore.Anchoring on the twin concepts of
measurement and comparison, reportcards generated objective and crediblecitizen feedback on issues related to the
delivery of public services like quality,reliability, corruption and satisfaction.
The approach received much national
and international attention. The publicdebates the findings triggered and the
media interest that issues like corruptiongenerated provided a much needed
stimulus to several public agencies in
Bangalore to review their performances.These initial responses led to the formal
creation of the Centre in 1994 with
financial support from the NationalFoundation for India and the Ford
Foundation.
OurApproach
PACs uniqueness lies in synthesizing
research and action in its activities and
approaches. Its research aims to providea stimulus for action. And, its action in
turn is powered by knowledge derived
from research. PACs work is primarilyorganized around the premise that an
informed and active citizenry is the keyto improved governance. While
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Consumer Organizations in India 25
conventional policy research
concentrates on policy issues andadministrative processes, PACs work has
focused on governance as experiencedfrom an average citizens perspective.
Our Vision
In pursuit of realizing its vision to
improve the quality of public governancein India by creating vibrant, informed and
proactive citizen engagements with the
state and its institutions, Public AffairsCentre's mission encompasses a multi
pronged approach synthesizing a rangeof strategies and interventions.
Our Mission
The pivotal points of PAC's mission,
around which the activities of the Centreare organized are: public policy research
and advocacy; participatory research on
governance and social accountabilityincluding monitoring and evaluation of
public services and programmes; citizen
action support; civic education ofchildren and youth; promoting citizen
centred environmental governance andcapacity enhancement of both the state
and civil society.
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Consumer Organizations in India 26
Centre for Budget and Policy Studies
The Centre for Budget and PolicyStudies was formed in February 1998 as
an off-shoot from a research programme
in the Development ResearchFoundation (DRF), a part of Technology
Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE),
also a non-profit society in Bangalore.CBPS is an independent, non partisan, not
for profits society based in Bangalore.
Analysing the state's budget and thebudgetary processes at the local level for
various sectors such as Health, Education
& other services forms an important areaof work at CBPS. Significant research in
subject matters such as Reproductive &Child Health, Maternal Health, District
Income Estimation, and Democracy &
Decentralisation at the local level, urbangovernance and Right to Information
forms the strength of the organisation,and CBPS believes in the spirit of aknowledge society. Sharing and
dispersing its research to its stakeholdersthrough various mediums such as
workshops, documentary films and
publications give CBPS the exposure itneeds.
The Centre for Budget and Policy studies
in Bangalore was set up in 1998, as an off
shoot of a Development ResearchFoundation project of Technology
Informatics Design Endeavour. Havingworked at the local level, CBPS has taken
its research results back to the
communities in which it has worked.After analysis, it has held workshops to
share the results and to explore the
future with the people concerned. It waspart of the PROOF campaign in
Bangalore, which was a partnership of 4
NGOs in the city. It has been part ofnetworks like the International Budget
Project, and the Transparency and
Accountability Programme. It has takenan active part in workshops and seminars
organised by other groups. CBPS was one
of the partners involved in the setting upof the Centre for Budget and Governance
Accountability in Delhi.
VISIONCreation and Sharing of knowledge for an
empowered, equitable, just anddemocratic society
MISSION
Research and Evaluation in theareas of policy, budget,governance and public service
delivery
Capacity enhancement of diverse
stakeholders/ at various levels
Evidence based Advocacy anddissemination through variety of
approaches
The principles of equity, empowerment,
justice, democracy and accountability
provide the guiding frame for all our
work.
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Consumer Organizations in India 27
Social sectors such as education, health
and water are our special focus areas. Wespecialize in public policy and finance
issues especially in the context of afederal framework.
Governing Board:
The Governing Body of CBPS lays down
the policies, principles, norms, standards
and guidelines for fulfilling the objectivesof the society. It manages the funds, co-
ordinates the appointment of staff andinitiates and defends all legal
proceedings on behalf of the society.
The Centre for Budget and Policy Studies(CBPS) is an independent, non partisan,not for profits society based in Bangalore.
The mission of the Society is to
contribute through research tounderstanding and implementing a
process of sustainable and equitabledevelopment in India, with a focus on the
local level. To this end, analysing the
states budget and the budgetaryprocesses at the local level for various
sectors such as Health, Education & otherservices forms an important area of work
at CBPS. The Centre has been
instrumental in carrying out research insubject matters such as Reproductive &
Child Health, Maternal Health, District
Income Estimation, Democracy &decentralisation at the local level, Urban
governance and Right to Information toname a few. CBPS believes in the spirit of
a knowledge society and to this end
disseminates its research to itsstakeholders through various mediums
such as workshops, documentary films, &publications.