Having been let down by the Supreme Court, repeatedly, and at the same time not willing to remain any stone unturned, in our quest for making a new beginning in the consumer justice system and to empower the voluntary consumer groups in a tangible manner, so that they can have the muscle to fight against the unfair trade practices, certain initiatives were taken.  These include the Chief Mentor meeting Sri G.Gurucharan, Addl. Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, at New Delhi, on 30th July 2014, for nearly an hour, to apprise him about the need for the Ministry to file a second Curative Petition in Supreme Court, and to inform and request the new PM (Sri Modi) to initiate similar action as the opportunity to strengthen the consumer movement.

    Unfortunately, though the initiatives of the Prime Minister appear to be temptingly eager to interact, listen and solve the issues faced by the people of this country, the ground realities, it is bitterly experienced, are far removed from that.

    Given below is the sum and substance of the interaction the Chief Mentor of the Council had with the PM and obviously the outcome is far from flattering.  The Council is one of the founding members of the Consumer Coordination Council, New Delhi, which is running the CORE Centre, funded by the government of India.  It neither files cases in the courts, nor has the expertise or the wherewithal to pursue cases in any court.  The actions taken by the PM's Office, after 6 months or so, hardly evokes any confidence.   These modern initiatives to keep in close contact with the public is bound to be counterproductive and it is better the scarce national resources are not wasted on such initiatives.

Status as on 19 Mar 2015

Registration Number   : PMOPG/W/2015/0012860
Name Of Complainant : VAIDYANATHAN BALASUBRAMANIAM
Date of Receipt            : 13 Sep 2014
Received by                  : Prime Ministers Office
Forwarded to Contact 
Address                         : Core Centre
                                       : A-20-21, Institutional Area, NITS Sector 62,
                                         Noida 201307
Contact Number           : 01204235448

Grievance Description
Judiciary: When judiciary fails to deliver justice, where to appeal? Case filed in the Supreme Court (Civil Appeal 10126 of 2010), regarding under-weighment of LPG refills involving over Rs. 65,000 cr. As per Consumer Protection Act, a minimum of Rs. 3,250 cr. should have been awarded as penalty, against IOCL. The Supreme Court failed to address this issue, in spite of subsequent Review and Curative Petitions. Incidentally, on our initiative, 184 LPG Bottling Plants automated and crores have benefited. 

Current Status               : CASE CLOSED 

Your Feedback              : Poor 
Date of Action               : 17 Mar 2015 

Details                           : Core being an official agency of this Department, has already informed to you their actual position about your grievance.  For further clarification, if any, you may kindly contact Website: http://www.core.nic.in  e-mail director@core.nic.in.

      I expected an issue of this nature will be addressed with more seriousness.  As a matter of fact, I am a member of CCC, which is managing the CORE Centre.  If the government is serious about ensuring a self-sustaining consumer movement, it cannot wish away the serious lapses on the part of the Supreme Court.  It should rather file a second Curative Petition if it wants to eliminate Unfair Trade Practices.  Please visit our website www.advantageconsumer.com or contact me if you need any further details.  This whole exercise appears to be formality played to satisfy the powers that be.  CORE cannot do much on this issue and I had detailed these developments in the AGM, held in New Delhi, in 2013.  Anyhow, thanks for this futile exercise.