Advantage Consumer

Workshop on "Consumer Go Safely Digital"

B.Vaidyanathan

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Govt. of India, in collaboration with Google organised a "Train the Trainer" Workshop on "Consumer Go Safely Digital", on 22nd May 2017, at the GRT Grand Hotel, Chennai. The technical sessions were conducted by the Google team. Representatives from select Consumer Organisations, Central and Tamil Nadu State governments, government agencies and consumer courts, numbering around 25 participated. It was interesting and lively, with the participants sharing their views freely.

With a substantial increase in digital transactions, and the central government specifically pitching in for such a transformation, there are several important points which the digital user ought to keep in mind, to safeguard himself. The salient points which are oft repeated, but worth noting are:

Mobile (smartphone) is a storehouse of all important information. Hence, protect it with password. (Interestingly, it was noticed during this workshop itself, that majority were not following this practice.)
The UPI (Unified Payment Interface) based BHIM App. is very easy to set up and the payment is also effected instantaneously, at any time in a day, compared to a NEFT transaction and that too without any transaction fee. The only hitch is when you have multiple accounts in the same Bank branch, linked to the same mobile number, this payment will not work.
While making digital payments, Credit Card payment is more secure than other types.
Setting up password is very important and the ground rule is that it should contain more letters, with a mix of capital and small, numbers and at least one special character.
Always check the URL, lock sign and 'https', before venturing to make an online transaction.
Make financial transactions only through trusted network/connection and not through public Wi-Fi.
Before making online shopping, make it a point to evaluate the portal/website by assessing the public feedback, in search engines like "Google". Evaluate "About Us" information and "Contact Us" details of the portal. Also assess the "Returns, Refunds Policies" and enquiring about it in your circle.
For individual products, customer reviews are valuable to understand the product and its quality, which you will not know in a physical shop, where you will depend solely on the sales person version.
After completing the payment, it may be worth noting down the transaction ID, for future follow up, if required.

However much one may try to educate the consumers there is no dearth of innovative minds working to devise unscrupulous means to cheat them.

These days when it has become the norm to chose two-wheelers for the mileage, the manufacturers are vying with each other to assure the customer that their vehicle gives the highest mileage on the road. Common man, the gullible consumer, simply overwhelmed by such claims that are made goes for a two-wheeler which is said to offer a very high mileage, say, 80 km per litre or so. There are several instances when the consumer after driving the two-wheeler for some time realises that the vehicle gives a good 20 km or so less per litre, than what is claimed.

After visiting the dealer for a couple of times, if one is lucky, the dealer would agree to check the vehicle for mileage. To check the mileage what is supposed to be done is to run the vehicle with a predetermined quantity of fuel (petrol) and then to calculate the mileage for 1 litre of fuel. Normally what is done is a graduated plastic bottle with a long tube is utilised for taking a predetermined quantity of petrol, which is 100 ml. Invariably the mechanic of the dealer who is supposed to check the vehicle for the mileage prefers to fill the bottle up to the 100 ml mark from the tank of the vehicle rather than to measure the petrol and then take it in the plastic bottle. The gullible consumer believes the mechanic and is normally not able to insist that the bottle be filled with measured quantity of petrol, rather than filling the petrol directly from the tank, up to the 100 ml mark. The crux of the point is that when the petrol is measured and taken, there is no scope for manipulation. Whereas, when petrol is taken directly from the tank without measuring, it is found that excess quantity is taken in the bottle to the tune of 20 to 25 %. There are two possibilities for this to happen. One reason can be the graduation in the bottle is not proper and the 100 ml mark actually could be capable of holding 120 ml or 125 ml. The other reason which a ordinary consumer could invariably miss is the long tube attached to the bottle, which is used for connecting the plastic bottle to the carburetor, which could have a capacity of 20 -25 ml. Further the bottle is graduated from the top to bottom, i.e.., the quantity taken in the bottle can be measured only when the bottle is kept upside down. Since the long rubber tube is attached to the mouth of the bottle and the valve is at the end of the tube, the petrol which is in the tube is not taken into account and the mechanic would show the consumer that only 100 ml has been taken in the bottle. Recently one such incident was caught red handed. When the bottle was filled-up with 100 ml of measured petrol the level of the petrol in the bottle remained much lower than the graduated mark.

Consumer should never allow the mechanic to take petrol directly from the tank, as there is a clear chance of taking 20 to 25 % extra fuel. Thus a vehicle which normally gives 60 km per litre, under this type of testing would give a wrong impression that it is giving 70 to 75 km per liter. This is more so when a multiplication factor of 10 is used to determine the mileage, as normally the test is carried out with a maximum of 100 ml petrol (1/10 litre). Next time if you go for a mileage checking, please remember to outsmart the mechanic. Always insist on measuring the fuel before taking it in the plastic bottle, for the test.
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With increasing popularity of Quartz Watches, more and more people are replacing their mechanical watches with these. These watches have several advantages, which include precise maintenance of time, practically maintenance free, low cost, light weight, and also are elegant. The only need is to replace the battery once in 2 to 3 years, the present cost of which is Rs. 35/-.

It has been observed that several watch Repair Shops are resorting to unfair practices and cheating consumers. Just to make a fast buck not only they are charging excessively for the changing of the battery, they even resort to replacing with duplicate ones, which last much less than the standard one.

Titan Industries Ltd., the manufactures of "Titan" watches have come out with their own batteries, which cost Rs. 35/-. per piece. These come in sealed capsules on which the price and other details are printed on the reverse. These are readily available with authorised service centres. There is no service charge for replacing the battery and cash memo is issued for the money paid for battery. These batteries are guaranteed for 6 months.

I purchased an item and on the wrapper the M.R.P. was not printed. Where should I complain ?

All the packaged commodities, but for a few items, which come under the category of perishable commodities, are covered under Packaged Commodities Rules, 1977. As per these Rules all the commodities sold in packaged form, should have the following details printed on the wrapper/package:
1. Name of the product ;
2. Name & address of the manufacturer ;
3. Date of manufacturing ; 4. Net content of the package in numbers or volume (ml/ltr.) or weight (gm/kg.);
5. Maximum Retail Price (inclusive of taxes).
In case any of the above information is found missing, you can immediately lodge your complaint with the Asstt. Controller Legal Metrology of your area, along with the wrapper, or else you can also lodge your complaint with a local Voluntary Consumer Organisation like CPC, Rourkela, for doing the needful.

	advantageconsumer.com Consumer Protection Council, Rourkela