Consumer Affairs Ministry Is Working Tirelessly To Build Strong Grievance Redressal Mechanisms For The Consumers: Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti

No. PR- 105

September 17, 2021

New Delhi

Consumer Affairs Ministry Is Working Tirelessly To Build Strong Grievance Redressal Mechanisms For The Consumers: Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Minister of State, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, said that our country is not a market, it’s a family. There must be enough grievance redressal mechanisms available for our consumers and the ministry is working towards it. The big players have been contributing to the growth of the economy but the small players are also playing a crucial role. Small businesses provide opportunities for employment as well as the growth of the economy. The government is working towards enabling MSME growth and increasing investments for the country to reach newer heights. The e-commerce industry has a big role to play in India’s development.

Ms. Nidhi Khare, Additional Secretary (Consumer Affairs), Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, said that the government is facilitating and making all efforts to ensure the growth of the economy and the compliance burden is reduced for the ease of doing business in the country. “When we talk about consumer rights, we are creating a situation where it should be a win-win for all stakeholders. Eventually, there should be systemic ways in which consumer rights can be protected and safeguarded. Under the new consumer protection act, we’ve added provisions to provide speedy justice to consumers,” she added.

Consumer grievance officers should be readily available at marketplaces. As more and more people are approaching e-commerce sites, the platforms need to strengthen their consumer grievance redressal systems. She went on to say, “We want to make shopping in India a nice experience. Buying from e-commerce entities should be safe, secure, and trustworthy. Our e-commerce rules are very simple. They list out the duties and liabilities of e-commerce entities. We don’t want the e-commerce industry to feel threatened by overregulation in any way. We want e-commerce entities to be confident in their approach and follow best practices.”

Dr. Aruna Sharma, Former Secretary, Government of India, said, “We must treat e-commerce as a platform at par with brick-and-mortar stores. The draft policy is leading to ambiguity and creating a lot of confusion in the market. For consumer protection, it must be mandated that e-commerce platforms should provide a robust framework for grievance redressal. E-commerce in India is no longer just FMCG. The pandemic brought in models like cloud kitchens and other hybrid models.” Dr Sharma further shared her views about the e-commerce platforms and the measures to be taken to strengthen consumer protection. “E-commerce should be treated as a platform. Onus of consumer redressal should be on the sellers on the platform for faulty goods, payment gateways should be liable for payment related issues and facilitation of this redressal should fall on the platform. We must come up with a single policy to govern e-commerce. It’s essential to ensure that the definition of e-commerce is crisp and concise.” The policy must also provide for enough grievance redressal, quick replacements, and refunds in e-commerce platforms. E-commerce provides a lot of transparency with product descriptions that help the consumer make informed decisions. “We want MSMEs to take advantage of e-commerce platforms, reach consumers and also partake in exports,” she highlighted.

Mr. Mark Fellin, Head Product Trust & Regulatory Compliance, Amazon, said, “Regulatory compliance and product integrity is a top priority of our team. Our ultimate goal is that when a customer is shopping on Amazon, he/she has the safest experience ever. From a safety and compliance perspective, we have a proactive and reactive approach. We have detailed help agents providing information to our seller partners about the safety standards of operating on Amazon. Amazon is a customer-centric company and when we find inappropriate listings, we remove such products so that consumers don’t have a substandard experience. We have a deep commitment to working with all relevant stakeholders in India to resolve issues and set up systematic practices to ensure growth to a $5 trillion economy.”

Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, President PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in his address said that consumer confidence can only be built when the consumer is assured about the quality of the product and the service given by the e-commerce/online companies. The consumer from the small city and town is still not confident about opting for online shopping. “There are several questions that come to the mind of consumer-like: whether the product displayed is of standard quality or not, whether the product will reach on time, etc. So what is important is to work on these lines to motivate the small city consumer and build their confidence which will motivate them to go for online shopping” he added.

Prof. Bejon Misra, Chairman, Consumer affairs Committee, PHDCCI, said “E-commerce has been a big platform that played a key and pivotal role that ensured that consumers are not denied products and services without compromising safety and security. Retailers were able to survive during the pandemic by moving to e-commerce channels. It is predicted that we will see a 25-30% increase in e-commerce trade. While e-commerce is flourishing, we cannot ignore our brick-and-mortar retailers. We have to take everybody together and enable everyone to sustain, and policies must look to set global standards that ensure safety, quality and assurance to consumers.”

Mr. Pradeep Multani, Sr Vice President, PHDCCI, highlighted that the government is making all possible efforts in this direction. He added, “Since 2014, the Government of India has announced various initiatives, namely Digital India, Make in India, Start-up India, Skill India, and Innovation Fund. The timely and effective implementation of such programs will likely support the growth of e-commerce in the country. The policies are being made to protect consumer’s interests. Consumers in smaller cities are displaying similar buying trends as those in metros. More awareness and education of e-shopping is required to be given.”

The conclave also witnessed the presence of esteemed speaker, Mr Rajesh Maheshwari, CEO, NABCB; Ms Parul Gupta, Deputy Director, BIS; Ms. Deepika Sur, Project Manager, National Consumer Helpline; Mr. Ganesh Kollegal, AVP, Public Policy, Advocacy, Government Relations, Swiggy; Mr. Prahlad Kakkar, Chairman, India SME Forum; Mr. Vivan Sharan, Partner, Koan Advisory; Mr. Sachin Taparia, Founder, Local Circles; Mr. Lloyd Mathias, Angel investor and Business strategist.

Dr. Yogesh Srivastav, Assistant Secretary General, PHDCCI moderator the session. PHDCCI’s webinar was supported by Annual Sponsors such as DLF India; Multani Pharmaceuticals; UFLEX; JK Tyre & Industries; Marble City; Paramount Cables; SMC Investments and Advisors; Blossom Kochhar Aroma Magic; Comtech Interio; DCM Shriram Industries; Radico Khaitan; R.E. Rogers India; Ajit Industries; EaseMyTrip; Synergy Environics; Continental Carriers; Timberworkz; Jindal Stainless; Modern Automobiles; P S Bedi & Co; IFFCO and Hindware.

End

Media Division

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry