2024 Year-End-Review for Department of Consumer
Affairs
·
Department of Consumer Affairs monitoring price of 38
food commodities to control the volatility in prices
·
Retail sale of Chana, Moong and Masur Bharat Dal brand
done ensuring availability of essential food items to consumers at affordable prices
·
Intervention done through Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme
to provide subsidised Onion and Tomato to consumers
·
Special steps taken in North-Eastern states to boost
production of pulses and horticultural crops; Initiative towards achieving self-sufficiency
in pulses production by 2027
·
Number of convergence partners of National Consumer
Helpline increases from 263 companies in 2017 to 1009 companies in 2024
·
Number of calls in National Consumer Helpline increases
tenfold; average number of complaints registered per month has surges to 1,12,468
in 2024
[ABS News Service/27.12.2024]
Following are the major highlights of the activities
of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India during the year 2024:
Price Monitoring
Price Monitoring Division oversees the implementation
of daily price monitoring of essential food commodities and price stabilization
interventions. The Department collects daily retail and wholesale prices of 22 essential
commodities and retail prices of 16 additional commodities from 555 price reporting
centers through mobile app viz. Price Monitoring System
(PMS). These daily prices constitute critical inputs to take decisions purport to
mitigate price surge, market intervention, restricting import-export duties and
calibrate the monetary policy. Under Price Stabilization Fund, government undertakes
market interventions to control the volatility in prices of agri-horticultural
commodities such as onion, potato, tomato and pulses to protect the interests of
consumers. Market interventions primarily involve procurement of these commodities
for buffer stock and undertaking strategic market disposals to contain price volatility.
Buffer stocking also acts as deterrent for unscrupulous speculations. The procurement
of agri-horticultural commodities ensures remunerative
prices to the farmers for their produce.
The Price Monitoring Division (PMD) was set up in 1998.
Presently, 38 commodities are being monitored by PMD include five item groups i.e.,
Cereals: Fats: (Groundnut Oil, Mustard Oil, Vanaspati Oil, Soya Oil, Sunflower Oil,
Palm Oil, Desi Ghee, Butter), Vegetables: (Potato, Onion, Tomato, Brinjal), Animal
Products: (Milk, Egg), Spices: (Black Pepper, Coriander, Cumin Seed, Red Chilli,
Turmeric), Fruits: (Banana), Others: (Sugar, Gur, Tea, Salt). In October 2024, Ladakh
was added to the price monitoring network with the inclusion of two new centers, Leh and Kargil. This strategic expansion has brought the total coverage
to 35 States/UTs.
Price Stabilisation Fund
The Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) was set up with an
initial corpus of ₹500 crore to tackle price volatility in some agri-horticultural commodities viz. onion, potato and pulses
to protect the interests of consumers. These commodities are to be procured from
farmers/farmer’s association at the time of harvesting and stored for regulated
release during lean season to help bring down their prices. The PSF Scheme has now
been merged with other components of PM-AASHA scheme of D/o Agriculture and Farmers
Welfare. Therefore, PSF is now one of the components of PM-AASHA umbrella scheme.
However, the PSF Scheme will continue to be managed by D/o Consumer Affairs for
price stabilisation interventions and daily price monitoring.
Budget Provision and Deliberations
Budget allocation/AE of ₹ 37,489.15 crore has
been made under PSF corpus from 2014-15 to 2024-25. This fund was largely utilized
for building the dynamic buffer of pulses and onions. The financial year-wise allocation/
utilization of funds under PSF is ₹ 10,000 crore in 2024-25 (BE), Nil in 2023-24
(AE), ₹ 0.01 crore in 2022-23 (AE) , ₹ 2030.83
crore in 2021-22 (AE), ₹11,135.30cr in 2020-21 (AE), ₹1,713 cr in 2019-20 (AE), ₹1500 cr
in 2018-19 (AE), ₹ 3500 cr in 2017-18 (AE); ₹
6900 cr in 2016-17 (AE); ₹ 660 crores in 2015-16
(AE); and ₹ 50 crores in 2014-15 (AE). As per the Government’s decision, the
PSF was transferred to the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA)
w.e.f. 1st April, 2016. Price stabilization operations are determined at the Centre
by the Central Price Stabilization Fund Management Committee (PSFMC) which was reconstituted
on transfer of Scheme and is now headed by Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs.
The Corpus Fund is managed by Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC). There
is also a Sub- committee for investing surplus from PSF corpus chaired by Financial
Adviser, M/o CA, F&PD. Till now, 59 meetings of the Re-constituted PSMFC have
been held. In the States/UTs, the Price Stabilization operations are to be managed
by the State level PSFMC and operated out of the State level Corpus Fund. Interest
free advances from the PSF corpus may be made both to Central Agencies and to State
level Corpus. The State level Corpus is created with a sharing pattern between GoI and State in the ratio of 50: 50, which is 75:25 in case
the North Eastern States. On 9th December 2015, Government approved creation of
buffer stock of 1.5 lakh tonnes of pulses. Subsequently, after due deliberation,
it was recommended that a larger buffer stock of around 20 lakh tonnes of pulses
would be needed for effective market intervention. This was approved by the Government
on 12.09.2016. Government created a buffer of 20.50 lakh MT of pulses through both
domestic procurement and imports by RMS 2017-18 from which regular disposal was
undertaken.
Conversion of Chana, Moong and Masur stocks for retail
disposal under Bharat Dal brand
Chana Dal: During Phase II, the
Central Government launched the sale of Chana dal and Chana whole in retail market
under the brand name of Bharat Dal on 23.10.2024. The allocated Chana stock will
be sold in Dal form and Whole form in the ratio of 80:20 in 1 kg pack at MRP of
Rs. 70/kg for Chana Dal and Rs.58/kg for Chana Whole. Bharat Chana Dal and Whole
Chana are made available for retail sale to consumers and for supplies through retail
outlets of NAFED, NCCF, Kendriya Bhandar
etc. Previously, during Phase I, chana dal was sold in retail market under
the brand name of Bharat Dal at subsidized rates of Rs.60 per kg for 1 kg pack and
Rs.55 per kg for 30 kg pack in order to make pulses available to consumers at affordable
prices.
Moong Dal: Conversion of Moong stock into
Moong Dal (Dhuli) and Moong Dal (Saboot)
for retail disposal under the Bharat Dal Brand has also been approved the Government.
Taking into account the prevailing prices of Moong Dal in the retail market, the
MRP for Bharat Moong Dal (Dhuli) is fixed at Rs.107 per
kg, and Bharat Moong Dal (Sabut) at Rs.93 per kg by allowing
a discount of Rs.1,500/qtl on the issue price (i.e., MSP
of the stock) of Moong stock. Bharat Moong Dal is made available in retail outlets
of NAFED, NCCF, Kendriya Bhandar,
Safal etc. and also on e-commerce platforms.
Masur Dal: Conversion of Masur stock into
Masur Dal for retail disposal under the Bharat Dal Brand has also been approved
the Government. Taking into account the prevailing prices of Masur Dal in the retail
market, the MRP for Bharat Masur Dal is fixed at Rs.89 per kg. Bharat Masur Dal
is made available in retail outlets of NAFED, NCCF, Kendriya
Bhandar Safal etc. and also
on e-commerce platforms.
Major milestones in PSF Pulses Buffer
A buffer stock of 20.50 lakh tonnes of pulses was built
through both domestic procurement of 16.71 lakh tonnes by FCI, NAFED and SFAC, and
imports of 3.79 lakh tonnes by MMTC and STC during Phase 1 (2016-18). Domestic procurement
for the buffer was done from farmers and farmers association during Kharif Marketing
Seasons (KMS) of 2015-16 and 2016-17 as well as Rabi Marketing Seasons (RMS) of
2016-17 and 2017-18. Imports were made only during 2015-16 and 2016-17. This stock
has been disposed off
Subsequently 2018-19 and onwards, Government has decided
that procurement at MSP would be under PSS of DACFW and requirement towards building
suitable buffer would be met from the PSS stock in case procurement is not required
to be undertaken under PSF. As the procurement since Rabi-17 was under MSP operation
of PSS, pulses procured under Price Support Scheme (PSS) of Department of Agriculture,
Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DACFW) have since been channelized to PSF to the
extent of meeting buffer requirements. This has ensured effective utilisation of
PSS stocks towards stabilization efforts as calibrated releases are made from PSF.
Thus, harmonization between PSS and PSF has been achieved with remunerative prices
being assured to farmers and intervention on the supply side is undertaken to manage
their prices in consumer interest.
During Phase 2, around 67.93 LMT of pulses have been
transferred/replenished from PSS stocks to rebuild PSF buffer stock/allocation under
PMGKAY/ANB schemes. Further, under PSF, procurement of 4.88 LMT of pulses have been
undertaken and about 7.09 LMT has been procured from imported pulses. Also, 6.07
LMT of pulses have been replenished from PSS. In Phase 2, about 75.86 LMT (including
PMGKAY/ANB) of pulses have been disposed of and 10.11 LMT of pulses are available
in the PSF buffer (as on 02.12.2024). During F.Y. 2024-25, 4.41 LMT of pulses transferred
from PSS, DA&FW to PSF, DoCA, 0.23 LMT of pulses procured
under PSF, 0.25 LMT of pulses procured from imported pulses, 0.55 LMT of pulses
have been replenished from PSS and 5.64 LMT of pulses has been disposed of as on 02.12.2024
State-level Price Stabilisation Fund
The Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme has a component
under which interest- free working capital advance is provided from the PSF Corpus
on a 50:50 sharing basis between Centre and State (75:25 ratio in respect of North
Eastern States) for setting up State-level PSF. Till date, 7 States have availed
of the fund for setting up State-level PSF for market intervention in various essential
food commodities. Funds have been provided to Andhra Pradesh (₹50 crores),
Telangana (₹9.15 crores), West Bengal (₹2.50 crores), Odisha (₹25
crores), Tamil Nadu (₹2.50 crores), Assam (₹75 crores) and Nagaland
(₹37.50 crores) for setting up State Level PSF.
PSF Onion Operations
In order to check the volatility in prices of onion,
the Government maintains onion buffer under the PSF. The buffer size has been increased
year after year from 1.00 LMT in 2020-21 to 2.50 LMT in 2022-23 to 7 LMT in 2023-24
and 4.75 LMT in 2024-25. The onion from the buffer is released in major consumption
centres during the lean season from September to December in a calibrated and targeted
manner to cool down prices. The details of onion buffer acquired under PSF since
2017-18 are given below:
Year wise quantity of onion
acquired under PSF since 2017-18
|
Year |
Qty Procured |
|
2017-18 |
5,136.74 |
|
2018-19 |
13,507.77 |
|
2019-20 |
76,814.40 |
|
2020-21 |
1,01,811.10 |
|
2021-22 |
2,08,033.33 |
|
2022-23 |
2,51,056.78 |
|
2023-24 |
6,38,785.54 |
|
2024-25 |
4,75,236.00 |
The Onion retail sale started on 05.9.2024. Upto 04 December, 2024 (04.12.2022), total 23 States were covered
under onion retails sale and sale quantity of 5,14,92,875.32 kg. The main agencies
involved in retail sale of onion were NAFED, NCCF, Kendriya
Bhandar & Safal etc.
PSF Tomato Operation and Tomato Grand Challenge
The Department has directed National Cooperative Consumers
Federation (NCCF) to procure tomato and dispose them simultaneously in major cities
where retail prices have recorded the maximum increase.
The Department of Consumer Affairs launched the Tomato
Grand Challenge on 30th June, 2023, to invite ideas for comprehensive
and focused area interventions in tomato value chain, from cropping and market insights
for the farmers to improved packaging, transportation and storage. The Tomato Grand
Challenge is open to students, research scholars, faculty members, industry individuals,
Indian start-ups, professionals etc. The overall objective of the Grand Challenge
is to ensure availability of tomato to consumers at affordable prices. A total of
1376 ideas have been received. After two rounds of evaluations of proposals and
presentations made by the participants, 28 teams from various institutes and startups were shortlisted and these projects were funded for
development of the solutions with a major focus on commercialization of the products.
Top 3/4 winners will be selected for field implementation for ensuring its usability/scalability
on a large scale and price of the product.
Initiatives in North East States
Price Monitoring Division (PMD) monitors retail and
wholesale prices of 38 essential food items for which data is also obtained 87 centres
(included in 555 total centers) from North East, viz.
Itanagar, Namsai, Pasighat, Tawang, Guwahati, Barpeta, Tinsukia, Dhubri, Goalpara,
Golaghat, Mangaldai, Mushalpur, Udalguri, Bajali, Hojai, Jorhat, Bongaigaon, Morigaon, Sonari, Tamulpur, Sivasagar, Biswanath Chariali, Dibrugarh, Karimganj, Majuli, Sonitpur Tezpur, Haflong, As-Lakhimpur, Diphu, Nalbari, South Salmara, Mankachar, Kamrup, Imphal, Chandel,
Jiribam, Kangpokpi, Senapati,
Tamenglong, Thoubal, Ukhrul, Shillong, Tura, Jowai, Sohra, Mairang,
Nongpoh, Khliehriat, Williamnagar, Nongstoin, Mawkyrwat, Aizawl, Lunglei, Kolasib, Mamit, Champhai, Serchhip, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Khawzawl, Saitual, Kohima, Dimapur, Tuensang,
Mokochung, Chumukedima, Mon,
Peren, Phek, Tseminyu, Wokha, Zunheboto, Kiphire, Longleng, Niuland, Shamator, Noklak, Gangtok, Gyalshing, Namchi, Soreng, Mangan, Pakyong, Agartala, Dharmanagar, Belonia, TR-Udaipur. To strengthen the price monitoring mechanism
in the North Eastern States, PMD through its Scheme for Strengthening of PMC provided
financial assistance to State Government of Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam and Tripura
during the year 2024-25.
On 8th Nov, 2024, The Department of Consumer Affairs,
Government of India organizes day long Round Table consultation on ‘Food Price Management
and Expanding Pulses & Horticultural Crop Production in North Eastern Region
held at Guwahati. The objective of the meeting was to focus on boosting the production
of pulses and horticultural crops, recognizing the critical role of North-Eastern
states in achieving self-sufficiency in pulses production by 2027.
Interest free advances from the PSF corpus may be made
both to Central Agencies and to State level Corpus. The State level Corpus is created
with a sharing pattern between GOI and State in the ratio of 50: 50, which is 75:25
in case the North Eastern States.
₹75 crore was released as 1st instalment of Centre’s
share as a matching contribution to Govt. of Assam in December 2019 for creation
of a revolving fund of ₹200 crore for State Level Price Stabilisation Fund
of Assam. The State Government has conveyed that the fund will be utilised for market
intervention activities in case of onions and Masur Dal.
₹37.50 crore was released as 1st instalment of
Centre’s share as a matching contribution to Govt. of Nagaland in April 2023 for
creation of a revolving fund of ₹100 crore for State Level Price Stabilisation
Fund of Nagaland. The State Government has conveyed that the fund will be utilised
for market intervention activities in case of Gram, Masur and Potato.
Rules/Regulations/Guidelines notified
The following Rules/Regulations/Guidelines have been
notified under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 during 2024:
i.
Central Consumer Protection Authority (Recruitment,
Salary, Allowances and other Terms and Conditions of Service of Officers and Other
Employees of Central Authority) Rules, 2024
ii.
Consumer Protection (Salary, allowances and conditions
of service of President and Members of the State Commission and District Commission)
(Amendment) Model Rules, 2024
iii.
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Group
A posts) Recruitment (Amendment) Rules, 2024
e-Filing
Under the provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 2019,
a Consumer Commission online application portal named “edaakhil.nic.in” has been
developed to facilitate the consumers/advocates to file the consumer complaint online
through the e-Daakhil portal from home or anywhere at
their own comfort. This E-daakhil portal also provides
facility to pay the complaint fees online as well as having option to pay the fees
offline with uploading the proof of payment of fee. Appeals can now also be filed
on E-Dakhil. With
recent launch of edaakhil in Ladakh UT, the e-Daakhil portal can now be accessed across the country in NCDRC
and in all States/UTs.
Mediation
Under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act,
2019, each Consumer Commission (District, State and National) shall have a Mediation
Cell. Consumer cases, where an element of settlement exists among concerned parties,
may be referred to these Mediation Cells with consent of the parties for adjudication.
It therefore, acts as an alternate dispute redressal mechanism. At present, there
are approx. 570 Mediation Cells in the Country.
Disposal of Cases
As a result of various initiatives undertaken by the
Department of Consumer Affairs such as various regional workshops, state specific
meetings and various sector-specific conferences, from July 2022 onwards, there
is a significant positive shift towards the speedy and efficient disposal of cases
with a disposal rate of more than 100% in many States and District Commissions.
In this context, the Department has been pro-actively taking steps to ensure that
the objective of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 i.e
the speedy, effective and timely disposal of cases, may be achieved effectively.
Roll out of E-Jagriti
For the facilitation of consumers and with a mandate
to bring justice at their doorsteps, Video Conferencing facilities have been installed
in 10 benches of NCDRC and 35 benches of SCDRCs. This new service will help Consumer
Commissions to hear cases through hybrid hearing which will help in remote appearances
of petitioners, lawyers and organizations and also support faster disposal and hearing
of a large number of cases.
National Consumer Helpline:
The Department has revamped, the National Consumer Helpline
(NCH), which has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country
for grievance redressal at the pre-litigation stage. The helpline is available in
17 languages, including Hindi, English, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Nepali, Gujarati, Marathi,
Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Maithili, Santhali,
Bengali, Odia, Assamese, and Manipuri, allowing consumers from all regions to register
their grievances via the toll-free number 1915. These grievances can be submitted
via the Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omni-channel, IT-enabled
central portal, through various channels: WhatsApp (8800001915), SMS (8800001915),
email (nch-ca[at]gov[dot]in), the NCH app, the web portal
(consumerhelpline.gov.in), and the Umang app, offering convenience and flexibility
to consumers.
The helpline operates in a dedicated manner from 8 AM
to 8 PM on all seven days of the week, except on national holidays. To enhance accessibility
further, a call-back facility is available. An exclusive call center has been established to ensure prompt service.
The NCH serves as the first point of contact for consumers,
resolving issues before they escalate to litigation. The redressal of grievances
is provided within 45 days, helping to prevent the overburdening of Consumer Commissions.
The number of convergence partners has steadily increased from 263 companies in
2017 to 1009 companies in 2024. This growth underscores the importance of these
partnerships in enhancing the helpline's efficiency, enabling quick and effective
grievance redressal, and promoting transparency and accountability. These partnerships
ensure consumer complaints are addressed at the pre-litigation stage, fostering
greater consumer trust. However, if a complaint remains unresolved, consumers are
encouraged to approach the appropriate Consumer Commission under the Consumer Protection
Act, 2019.
The technological transformation of the NCH has significantly
boosted its call-handling capacity. The number of calls received by NCH has grown
nearly tenfold, from 14,795 calls in January 2015 to 1,41,817 calls in January 2024.
This exponential growth reflects the rising confidence of consumers in the helpline.
Similarly, the average number of complaints registered per month has surged from
37,062 in 2017 to 1,12,468 in 2024. Additionally, grievance registration via WhatsApp
has gained momentum, with the percentage of complaints filed through the platform
increasing from 3% in March 2023 to 25% in March 2024, demonstrating a growing preference
for digital communication channels.
In a significant move to further enhance grievance redressal,
NCH has introduced AI-based Speech Recognition, a Translation System, and a Multilingual
Chatbot as part of the NCH 2.0 initiative. These technological advancements aim
to make the grievance filing process more seamless, efficient, and inclusive. The
AI-powered Speech Recognition and Translation System enables consumers to file complaints
through voice input in their local languages, reducing manual intervention. The
Multilingual Chatbot provides real-time assistance, streamlining complaint-handling
processes, and improving the overall user experience. These upgrades ensure that
consumers from diverse linguistic backgrounds have equal access to the grievance
redressal system.
National Test House:
National Test House (NTH) stands as the nation's premier
and leading scientific institution in the fields of Testing, Calibration, and Quality
Evaluation. Over the past year, NTH has made significant strides, with the following
major achievements and initiatives:
·
Statistics for Revenue & Sample Tested FY 2023-24
to 2024-25 (till Nov 2024):
i.
NTH generates revenue through commercial testing and
calibration, with earnings directly credited to BHARATKOSH.
ii.
Year on year, NTH has improved its sample testing and
revenue statistics. In FY 2023-24, the number of samples tested grew by 57.37%,
and revenue increased by 42.49% compared to FY 2022-23.
iii.
There has been an enhancement in the total number of
samples tested by various regional laboratories up to November 2024 (30,549)
compared to November 2023 (14,937), marking an increase of 104.52%.
iv.
Revenue generated up to November 2024 (₹ 28.61
crore) compared to November 2023 (₹ 16.69 crore) shows an increase
of 71.42%.
v.
NTH targeted to achieve Rs. 40.0 Cr. in revenue during
FY 2024-25.
·
NTH's Expansion into New Horizons:
i.
EV Battery Testing Facility at Kolkata, Mumbai &
Bangalore: NTH is setting up advanced testing facilities for EV batteries and charging
stations in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, chosen for their concentration of EV
industry businesses. On August 22, 2024, the Union Minister of Ministry of Consumer
Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, laid the foundation for the EV testing facility
at RRSL’s Jakkur campus in Bengaluru. Equipment like the
Battery Life Cycle Tester has been procured for Mumbai and Bengaluru, while procurement
for Kolkata is ongoing.
ii.
Fertilizer Testing Facility Capacity Enhancement: NTH has conducting
quality testing of fertilizers as Third Referee Analysis in collaboration with Ministry
of Agriculture, Govt. of India. To bolster our sample testing capacity, all fertilizer
laboratories across NTH Regions are now equipped with modern equipment. This enhancement
enables us to conduct tests more efficiently, resulting in a higher volume of samples
being processed compared to earlier.
iii.
UAS (Drone) Certification: As part of the
Certification Scheme for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), NTH, Ghaziabad has received
provisional approval from the Quality Council of India (QCI) as a Certification
Body for type certification of drones. In alignment with this responsibility, a
team of auditors from NTH conducted a Stage-1 & Stage-2 (onsite) assessment,
and the resulting report has been forwarded to QCI. This assessment represents a
crucial step toward securing type certification—a mandatory requirement for drones
operating in India under the Drone Rules 2021.
iv.
Integrated Transmission Line Equipment Testing Facility: NTH is currently
in the process of setting up the 'Integrated Test Facility for Power Transmission
& Distribution Sectors' at the RIICO Industrial Area in Manda, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
The boundary wall for the site has been completed, and CPWD has been appointed to
oversee the construction of the lab cabins. Additionally, the procurement of capital
equipment has been finalized and is currently underway.
v.
Low Voltage Switchgear Testing facility: A state-of-the-art
"Low Voltage Switch Gear Testing Facility" is being established at NTH
(WR), Mumbai, under the BIS Scheme for "Support to Other Government Labs."
This facility enhances NTH's capacity for short circuit testing, supporting certification
for Electricity Boards, regulatory bodies, BIS, manufacturers, and academic institutions
involved in R&D.
vi.
Testing Facility for BEE Star Rating: On September 3,
2024, NTH and BEE signed an MoU to enhance the Standards & Labelling (S&L)
Program, promoting energy efficiency. The MoU includes NTH as a referral laboratory
for technical disputes, nominations for NTH officers in technical committees, capacity-building
training for BEE officers, a review of the S&L program, and collaboration on
other technical matters.
vii.
Organic Food Testing Facility: NTH is setting
up Organic Food Testing Laboratories in Kolkata, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, and Guwahati.
Proposals for Ghaziabad, Jaipur, and Guwahati have been submitted to BIS under the
‘Support to Government Labs’ scheme. Partial test facilities are already operational
at Jaipur, Ghaziabad, and Guwahati, and have been notified by FSSAI in the Gazette
of India. Procurement of equipment for NTH Kolkata is underway.
viii.
Solar Cell and Panel Testing Facility: A laboratory will
be established at NTH (NR), Ghaziabad, to cater to the testing needs of manufacturers
and domestic consumers of Solar PV Modules, under the BIS Scheme for "Support
to Other Government Labs for the Creation/Augmentation of Test Facilities in Critical
Areas." The procurement of capital equipment is currently in progress, with
the technical specifications nearing finalization.
ix.
Advance testing facility by High Voltage Lab at Chennai: The High Voltage
Laboratory (HVL) of NTH, Chennai, has developed an Integrated Power Transformer
Test System for testing various transformers and reactors, including Distribution
and Power Transformers, Dry Type Transformers, and Inductors, with ratings from
200 kVA to 6 MVA. The system meets national and international standards, including
IS 1180 (Part 1) and IEC 60076 series, ensuring accurate and consistent testing.
Legal Metrology
Online Portal for services provided by Legal Metrology:
All the services provided under Legal Metrology are online through the portals.
These portals are for ease of doing business and reducing compliance burden. The
work of certification has become very fast and reduces the time for submitting application
etc. NSWS (National Single Window System) Portal approves models of weights
& measures, Registration of Manufacturers/ Packers/ Importers of pre-packaged
commodities, Registration of nomination of Directors of companies responsible for
compliance under the Legal Metrology Act.
The Legal Metrology is working with NIC and States Legal
Metrology Departments for the development of National Legal Metrology Portal. All
the services at the Centre and State level will be provided through this portal
viz. issue of licence, verification of weights and measures, registrations, approval
of models of weights and measures, enforcement activities etc. The portal will reduce
human intervention, bring transparency and reduce delay in submission of documents
and issue of certificate.
Legislative reforms during 2024 to safeguard the interest
of consumers and for reducing compliance burden for ease of doing business:
i.
From 01.01.2024 declaration of unit sale price and
month & year of manufacture is made mandatory on all pre-packaged commodities
in the interest of consumers
ii.
The e-commerce websites are mandated to make
few declarations for loose commodities ordered through e-commerce in the interest
of consumers like MRP, net quantity etc.
iii.
The Second Schedule mandating the prescribed sizes for
few packaged commodities is omitted.
Time Dissemination project
Precise time is essential for country’s strategic and
non-strategic sectors. Considering the importance of dissemination of Indian Standard
Time (IST), the project has been undertaken by the Department of Consumer Affairs
in association with National Physical Laboratory and ISRO. The project aims to create
technology and infrastructure to disseminate IST from five sites across India. The
time ensembles are established at RRSL, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar and Faridabad
during 2024. The first phase will be completed by 31.3.2025.
OIML Certification
India has become the 13th country worldwide to issue
OIML pattern approval certificates marking a milestone in legal metrology, boosting
its global standing and facilitating international trade in weighing and measuring
instruments.
The domestic manufacturers can now export their weighing
and measuring instrument worldwide without incurring additional testing fees, resulting
in significant cost savings. India can also support the foreign manufacturers by
issuing OIML pattern approval certificates after testing from our OIML approved
Regional Reference Standard Laboratory. By issuing the OIML approval certificates
of weighing & measuring instrument to the foreign manufacturers India will also
generate forex in terms of fees etc.
The OIML Approval Certificates were issued to two Indian
Manufacturers in 2024.
Successfully hosted the 9th OIML CS MC Meetings (International
organization of Legal Metrology - Certification System Management Committee meetings)
during 05th-7th March, 2024 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The meeting was attended
by the international delegates including the representatives of OIML member states
of Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Netherlands,
Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Zambia and India.
Compliance of provision of country of origin for all
goods including on e-commerce platforms
In the interest of consumers all the importers are required
to declare country of origin for imported products including on e-commerce
entities. Various notices have been issued to e-commerce entities for not complying
the provisions of rules of declaring mandatory information on digital platforms.
The cases against the violators who have not compounded the offence are being filed
in the court of law.
Consumer Welfare Fund
The overall objective of the Consumer Welfare Fund is
to provide financial assistance to promote and protect the welfare of consumers
and strengthen the consumer movement in the country. Under the Rules, funds are
given to the States/UTs as seed money as one time grant on 75:25 basis (90:10 in
the case of Special Category States/ UTs) to create a Consumer Welfare (Corpus)
Fund. The States/UTs are required to carry out activities to provide coverage to
projects for consumer welfare of local relevance out of the interests generated
in the Corpus Fund every year. So far 25 States have established the Consumer Welfare
(Corpus) Fund.
Further, Funds have also been given as assistance/grants
to National Law Universities for conducting National Level Moot Court Competition
for Law Students and Capacity Building Programmes for the Presidents and Members
of the State and District Commissions.
Also, assistance/grants are provided to different National
Law Schools for the establishment of Law Chairs to foster research, teaching and
training on consumer related issues. So far Consumer Law Chairs have been established
in NLU, Delhi; NLSIU, Bengaluru and National University of Study & Research
in Law, Ranchi.
·
Fund released during the Financial Year 2024-25 till
date
During the FY 2024-25, ₹ 32.68 Cr. have been released
to various states for the establishment/enhancement of their respective State Consumer
Welfare (Corpus) Fund as Central Govt. share. As such, out of 28 States and 8 UTs,
24 States and 1 UT have established the Consumer Welfare (Corpus) Funds.
|
S.No. |
States/UTs |
Amount Released during F.Y. 2024-25 (In Crore) |
|
1. |
Puducherry |
₹ 5.00 |
|
2. |
Uttarakhand |
₹ 8.00 |
|
3. |
Mizoram |
₹ 5.00 |
|
4. |
Andhra Pradesh |
₹ 3.18 |
|
5. |
Arunachal Pradesh |
₹ 2.00 |
|
6. |
Sikkim |
₹ 4.50 |
|
7. |
Maharashtra |
₹ 5.00 |
In addition to the above, the Department has released
funds to National Law University of Delhi and Rajiv Gandhi National Law University,
Punjab, for conducting Capacity Building Programmes.
Bureau of Indian Standards
The mandate of BIS is to formulate standards that promote
quality of goods and services. The Bureau provides technical support to industries
and services sector by way of updated standards, developing new standards in emerging
areas, and providing certification of goods and services for ensuring quality and
safety.
·
Standards Formulation
During 2023 – October 2024, 2208 standards
(893 new and 1315 revised) were formulated and 3871 Standards
were reviewed. The total number of standards in force, as on October 2024 is 22,774.
9437 Indian Standards have been harmonized with ISO/IEC standards.
·
New Initiatives in Standards Development
i) Standards National
Action Plan (SNAP) 2022-27
SNAP 2022-27 had identified 7 strategic imperatives
in order to strengthen the standardization ecosystem in the country. Considerable
progress was made w.r.t. all the strategic imperatives.
ii) Creation of BIS Standardization Chairs in Premier
Technical Institutions
BIS has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
92 Premier Academic Institutions of the country for collaboration in the areas of
Standardization and Conformity Assessment, including Standardization Chairs established
at 17 of these institutes, with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
being the recent addition.
·
Aligning the Standards to the Sustainable Development
Goals, the ones related to climate change in particular
Each of the Technical department at BIS have identified
one sector (comprising several Standards) within their domain area and task related
to incorporating sustainability aspects in the Standards has been initiated. Few
of the identified sector are Automotive Tyres, Transformers, Paper and Paper products,
Plastic Sector, Steel Sector, Refrigeration and Air conditioning, etc. This has
resulted into developing Sector specific horizontal standards comprising sourcing
and use of sustainable raw materials, sustainable manufacturing process (e.g. energy efficient, use of renewable source of energy, water
efficient, use of non-hazardous chemicals/solvents, low carbon emission), use of
sustainable (e.g. reusable, biodegradable) packaging, guidance to minimize waste
generation, use of wastes, safe disposal etc.
·
Conformity Assessment
o
As on date products notified under compulsory BIS certification:
675 under Scheme-I, 73 under Scheme-II & 8 under Scheme-X.
o
In addition to this, A horizontal QCO with title Safety
of Household, Commercial and Similar Electrical Appliances (Quality Control) Order,
2024 has been notified by DPIIT under Scheme-I. This QCO is applicable to electrical
appliances working with rated voltage not exceeding 250V single phase ac or 415V
three phase ac and at present includes 85 electrical items as an illustrative list.
o
Further, Ministry of Heavy Industry has also notified
Omnibus Technical Regulations (OTR) for machinery and electrical equipment safety
under Scheme-X which covers 20 broad category of machines which ensure the safety
of machineries as per Standards.
o
New Licence granted including products covered for the
first time under the Scheme-I during 01 April 2024 to 04 December 2024- 6451
new licences were granted which include 77 products covered for the first
time under Scheme-I during the period.
o
The total number of products covered under product certification
scheme: 1305.
o
The total number of operative licences, held by domestic
manufacturers as on date: 48621.
·
Hallmarking
o
During the period from 1st April, 2024 to 25th November,
2024 number of hallmarking registration has grown from
1,87,936 to 1,95,155 while the number of BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking
centres have increased from 1540 to 1604. 26 Off-Site Centres were also recognized
during the period. During the same period, 9.69 crore articles of gold and silver
jewellery/artefacts have been hallmarked.
o
Amendment to Quality control order for mandatory hallmarking
of gold jewellery/artefacts has been issued on 05th November, 2024 by
the Govt. of India which has increased the number of districts covered under mandatory
hallmarking from 343 districts of the country to 361 districts where there is at
least one Assaying and Hallmarking Centre.
o
In view of the implementation of Mandatory Hallmarking
Order, a new online system for the automation of the assaying & hallmarking
activities at AHCs was made functional with the new Hallmark consisting of six-digit
HUID (Hallmarking Unique ID) since 01 July 2021. Since the launch of HUID based
system for hallmarking, 44.28 crore articles of gold jewellery/artefacts have been
hallmarked as on 25 November 2024.
o
Automation of XRF activity in AHC through API, wherein
manual entry of XRF data could not be carried out, was implemented from 01 September
2024.
o
Hallmarking of gold Bullion in the fineness of 999 &
995 as per IS 1417:2016 wasstarted in October 2015. Under
this scheme, so far, 58 licences have been granted to refineries/ India Government
Mint for Gold bullion and coin as on 25 November, 2024.
o
Govt. of India has launched Gold Monetization Scheme
on 05 November 2015. So far, 48 A&H centres and one Jeweller have been qualified
to act as Collection and Purity Testing Centres (CPTC).
o
Under the Plan Scheme for Hallmarking, during this period,
four AHCs were provided Central Assistance for setting up the centre in deficient
location.
·
Management Systems Certification
As on 25 November 2024, a total of 1461 operative licences
exist under the Management systems certification schemes.
·
Laboratory
One of the main pillars of conformity assessment is
product testing to ascertain the conformity of products to relevant standards. BIS
has established ten laboratories in the country to cater to the testing needs of
samples generated from conformity assessment schemes.
There are 349 BIS-recognized labs, which include
reputed R&D organizations, technical institutions, Government labs and labs
in the private sector. Additionally, 285 government laboratories have been
empanelled to support the need of testing in specialised areas. The services of
such laboratories are utilized where it is economically not viable to develop test
facilities in BIS laboratories. Test facilities are developed: New Complete Testing
Facility created for 18 no. of products and New Textile Testing Laboratory
has been established at Hyderabad.
·
New Initiatives and Achievements
i.
Modernisation of BIS laboratories:
o
To modernize the testing activity in BIS laboratories,
a major exercise for procurement of testing equipment was initiated for all BIS
labs and approval for hosting Global Tender Enquiry for the procurement has been
received from the Department of Expenditure and the Department of Consumer Affairs.
The purchase Orders for 4 types of equipment worth Rs. 4.22 Cr has already been
issued and purchase of other 24 types of equipment is at various stages of procurement
process. Additionally, various other equipment have been
procured by all laboratories at their end to create test facilities for products
under the Quality Control Orders.
o
In addition to the procurement of new equipment, automation
was another aspect taken up to enhance the overall capacity and output of BIS labs
by reducing human intervention in testing as well as sample preparation processes.
o
Concerted efforts have been made to renovate the building
and infrastructure in all BIS labs. The structural repair of outer and inner areas,
beautifications, landscaping, installation of lifts, paintwork as well as the upgradation
concerning the workstations, test benches, furniture, storages etc. have been covered
in the renovation work.
ii. Integration of testing equipment with Laboratory
Information Management Software (LIMS)
o
To increase the transparency and efficiency of the testing
operations and reduce the human intervention in the recording of observations and
calculating the results, a project to integrate the testing equipment to the Laboratory
Information Management System Portal (LIMS) has been initiated and in the 1st
phase the automated equipment are being integrated to transfer the testing observations
directly into the online system.
iii. Laboratory
Recognition Scheme Activities
o
In the current year, 35 outside laboratories have been
recognised under the BIS laboratory recognition scheme covering which includes the
testing laboratories of large-scale manufacturers such as TATA Steel, Adityapur Auto Cluster etc. In addition, 17 government laboratories
have also been empanelled to carry out the testing of specialised product under
the BIS Conformity Assessment Scheme.
o
To facilitate the implementation of the Compulsory Registration
Order on the essential requirements for CCTV security, BIS has amended the laboratory
recognition scheme to incorporate the grant of recognition for Essential Requirements
issued by the Ministries.
iv. Skill development activities:
o
To support the Quality Control Personnel in various
industries, BIS laboratories are organizing certificate courses and product specific
capsule courses to provide exposure to the industries in upskilling their knowledge
of the products and the testing methodologies. These courses are being organised
in coordination with BIS Branch Offices by identifying the local industry clusters
for training.
o
To provide exposure to the students and faculties of
educational institutions, BIS licensees, industries operating in the country and
other government organisations, BIS labs are fortnightly organizing exposure visits
to demonstrate the testing activities and laboratory operations.
o
To further enrich the knowledge and skill base of the
country, an internship scheme has been implemented in all BIS labs for college students
to give them exposure to the laboratory activity of BIS. These Interns are required
to carry out regular testing of the various products received by BIS Laboratories
under different BIS conformity assessment schemes.
V. Support to other government laboratories:
o
To support the government laboratories operating in
the country in creating new facilities in critical areas and for upgradation of
their testing infrastructure, BIS has implemented a scheme for providing financial
support in the form of testing equipment. Till date, project worth Rs. 420.64 Cr
has been approved under this scheme for the laboratories of NPL, NTH, Textile Committee,
FSSAI etc.
·
Information Technology Services
Complaints and Enforcement Portal: The Complaints
and Enforcement portal is in operation for managing the Complaints handling and
Enforcement related activities of BIS. The Complaints portal is also integrated
with National Consumer Helpline (NCH) portal to receive complaints registered through
NCH. In the year 2024-25 (till date) 3206 complaints were received and registered
on the Complaints portal. Enforcement Portal facilitates workflow of enforcement
case generation and record keeping of outcome of the enforcement activity, including
decisions of the CA/Courts, details of penalties imposed, etc. The portal is linked
with Complaints portal to provide data on complaints which
resulted into an enforcement raid. In the year 2024-25 (till date), 107 enforcement
cases have been entered in the portal.
BIS CARE App: The enhanced version of the
BIS CARE App was launched on the World Standards Day 2024 celebration at NITS, Noida.
The new version comes with loads of new features such as dedicated sections for
information on Certification, Standards, BIS Act 2016, Rights of Consumers under
BIS Act and Upcoming Trainings. Notification section has been incorporated to provide
latest updates/alerts to the users in real-time. A section on popular Memes and
Reels section has also been incorporated in the app to disseminate useful information
on standards and its importance through funny memes and reels. The app has now crossed
8M downloads across Android and IOS platforms.
Several others portals are also being runt to support
industry and facilitate consumers.