Department of Consumer Affairs Calls for BIS Enforcement

State heads should ensure that BIS Certification is enforced on required products for consumer safety, said Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs in Chandigarh on 10 April, 2023. He discussed the Time Dissemination Project by ISRO in collaboration with NPL to reduce India's reliance on Western countries for time accuracy. He encouraged consumers to use NCH 1915 and mentioned that one-third of pending cases involved insurance companies and real estate.

In his inaugural address, Mr. Singh highlighted the collective efforts of the Department of Consumer Affairs, National Commission, State Commissions, District Commissions, and other organizations like BIS, NTH, Legal Metrology, and National Consumer Helpline in protecting consumer interests.

The Secretary also underlined the role of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India in developing Indian Standards and implementing voluntary and mandatory standards, such as Quality Control Orders. The Legal Metrology and Weights and Measures departments ensure that consumers receive accurate quantities of products as claimed by manufacturers.

Department of Consumer Affairs plays a vital role in maintaining a balance between affordability and availability, controlling inflation in food commodities through its Price Monitoring Division. Shri Singh urged all states to establish price collecting centres in all districts and announced the department's intention to achieve a target of 750 price collecting centres by March 31st, 2023, with financial support provided by the department.

The workshop attendees discussed various recent initiatives of the Department, including the launch of BIS standard IS 1900/2022 on fake reviews, which requires e-commerce companies to adhere to these standards within their policy of generating and publishing reviews on their platforms.

The role of Consumer Commissions in reducing the pendency of cases was also highlighted, with Shri Singh informing that one-third of the pending cases pertained to the insurance sector. The department is working to target the genesis of complaints by participating in Lok Adalats and engaging with Insurance companies, the Department of Financial Services, and IRDAI. In this regard, the department conducted a day-long Round table Conference on Consumers & Insurance Sector on February 8th, 2023. The report of the conference has been prepared and shared with the concerned Ministries and Departments.