Consumer Rights

The Consumer Online Foundation has written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to investigate the business activities of company Rario and its compliance with Indian taxation laws

Consumer Online Foundation, a consumer rights organisation, has written to the finance minister to investigate the activities of a cricket collectable and gaming platform, RARIO, for alleged violation of tax laws with respect to cryptocurrencies, an allegation denied by the company. The letter by Consumer Online Foundation (COF) alleged that RARIO is engaged in unfair trade practices that infringe on the rights of consumers. RARIO refers to itself as a company engaged in the buying and selling of digital player cards and does not disclose on its website that it is in reality an NFT and cryptocurrency platform, the COF alleged. However, RARIO said, "We adhere to all the KYC requirements and fully comply with the applicable laws, including taxation." The letter alleged that the company has been engaging in unethical marketing practices and misleading customers in all of its transactions. "Customers purchase player cards in either INR or USD currency, which are loaded into their 'RAR

Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday stressed the need to provide quality products and services to consumers at affordable prices. Addressing an event to mark World Consumer Rights Day 2023, the minister said that the "consumer is at the centre and core of all our activities". "The very purpose of our activities should be a satisfied customer...We have gathered here to celebrate consumers' rights. We want to give confidence to consumers and want to win their trust," he added. Goyal emphasised that it is the duty of the government, consumer courts and industries to protect the consumers' interests. Customer service, customer awareness and customer redressal should be the focus, he noted. Goyal added that there is also a need to guide customers on the path of a sustainable future, as the entire world talks about green growth. The minister said the Prime Minister keeps consumers at the centre of all the government's programmes. The government has focused a l

World consumer rights day is celebrated on march 15 every year. This year's theme for Consumer Rights Day is Empowering Consumers Through Clean Energy Transitions

Findings of the LocalCircles study escalated to Dept of Legal Metrology for further review and corrective action

Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the department of consumer affairs has powers to penalise companies for misleading ads and unfair trade practices

Several states/UTs have already issued guidelines to regulate the sale of acids

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has sent notices to e-commerce players Flipkart and meesho.com for gross violations of norms relating to sale of acid on their platforms. The notices follow reports that in recent acid attack on a girl in Dwarka, Delhi, the accused had bought acid from Flipkart. On Thursday, the Delhi Commission for Women issued notices to two e-commerce firms for allegedly allowing sale of acid on their platforms. The Delhi Police had also issued a notice to Flipkart after it found that the acid was procured from the e-commerce firm. "CCPA has sent notices to two e-commerce entities, namely Flipkart Internet Pvt Ltd and Fashnear Technologies Pvt Ltd (meesho.com) for gross violations relating to sale of acid reported on their platforms. It has directed these entities to furnish detailed responses within 7 days," Ministry of Consumer Affairs said in a statement. Any non-compliance by these e-commerce entities with the directions of CCPA's notices will

Aim is to create awareness among consumers and protect them from being overcharged; another issue is the practice by manufacturers to compel users to download apps in order to make complaints

The government has sent letter to 23 home appliance companies, including LG, Samsung, Havells, Philips, Sony, and Bluestar

People who fail to repay their loans are not criminals and they can't be harassed

The cabinet minister has also directed officials to ensure that the consumers are not overcharged during the festive season for packaged commodities

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Wednesday said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 1,00,000 on e-commerce player Flipkart for allowing the sale of substandard domestic pressure cookers on its platform. Speaking to PTI, CCPA Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare said a penalty of Rs 1,00,000 has been imposed on Flipkart for allowing the sale of substandard pressure cookers on its e-commerce platform and violating the rights of consumers. Flipkart has also been directed to notify consumers of all 598 pressure cookers sold on its platform, recall the pressure cookers and reimburse money to the consumers, she said. The company has also been asked to submit a compliance report of the same within 45 days, she added.

Chandrashekhar added that innovation would grow along with a citizen's right to open a trusted and accountable Internet under the Modi government.

Amid rising complaints related to levying of service charge by hotels and restaurants, regulator CCPA has asked state chief secretaries to create awareness about the new guidelines

States will demand an extension of the compensation period or a change in the GST revenue distribution formula

In its letter it has asked for publishing end of life service date on every white good/device, stipulated response time for complaint answering, issue resolution, resolution process

Improper grievance redress mechanism, poor service, hefty cancellation charges and fairness of algorithm used to charge fares among major issues raised

Consumer protection regulator CCPA on Friday said it has issued notices to cab aggregators Ola and Uber for unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights. "We have issued notices to both Ola and Uber. Most of the consumer complaints received in the last one year are related to the deficiency in services and other unfair trade practices," Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare told PTI. In a meeting held on May 10 with cab aggregators, the government had warned of strict action unless they improve their systems and redress rising consumer complaints. "We told them about the rising consumer complaints against their platforms. We gave them the statistics also. We have asked them to improve their system and redress the consumer complaints otherwise the competent authority will take strict action," Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh had said after the meeting. The meeting was attended by representatives of Ola, Uber, Meru, Rapido

The right to repair movement

Most electronics manufacturers work on the concept of 'planned obsolescence'. After foreign shores, the 'right to repair' movement is now gaining ground in India. This report tells us more about it