Let
us realise our
dream to
become a
developed
nation by
2047.
-
B.Vaidyanathan
Even
the most passionate
and sincere vision to
make India, a
developed nation by
2047 will only remain
on paper, if the
people behind the
government and its
agencies fail to
measure up to the
expectations and the
demands of delivering
results. Obviously,
laws and
devising systems
alone cannot
make a country
great, unless
those are
translated to
tangible results
expected of
them.
It needs to be borne
in mind that only a
miniscule minority of
the population, who
are aware of the laws
and their rights and
are also resilient
enough to take up the
issue with the
authorities concerned,
of the
government. Any
failure or
lackadaisical approach
on the part of such
machinery needs to be
viewed seriously and
appropriate action
taken. Only
then, the ordinary
citizen, the consumer
will be able to
experience a
responsive government,
which is the hallmark
of a welfare State, a
developed India.
Now, let me come to
the real story.
On 20th Dec. 2024, I
had ordered some
grocery items through
M/s
amazon.in,
an organisation
claiming itself as Most
Customer Centric
Organisation on
the earth.
The same evening when
the items were
delivered, it was
found that one of the
items, KLF Tilnad
Sesame Oil, 200 ml PET
with a MRP of Rs.
88/-, had been billed
at Rs. 99/-
each. Thus with
7 nos. supplied, the
item had been billed
at Rs. 693/- (99 x 7),
instead of Rs. 616/-
(88 x 7), in excess of
Rs. 77/-. The
matter was immediately
reported through chat
and telephonic calls
to several in the
hierarchy, of Amazon,
ending with one Mr.
Guru Sevak Singh,
introduced as
Specialist in that
area (pricing or
whatever). He
sought 3 days time and
assured me that
someone would call by
24th Dec.24. But
no one called.
As per my Standard
Operating Procedure, I
took the next step of
escalating the matter
to the concerned
authorities.
In Tamil Nadu
where I reside
presently, after
searching the web, to
my pleasant surprise,
found a web page Complaint
tracking system of
Legal Metrologyť,
where an individual
could lodge a
complaint regarding Weights
& Measure
issues.
All the pleasantness
experienced by me
vanished within a few
minutes, as there was
no way to lodge a
complaint as the OTP
verification system,
which is an integral
part of this complaint
lodging system, to
verify the identity of
the individual lodging
the complaint, was
dysfunctional.
After exhausting this
option, after
continuously trying
for a week, at
different times of the
day, gathered the
relevant e-mail ids of
the concerned
officials, lodged the
complaint along with
the copy of the Tax
Invoice and photo of
the PET bottle, on
31st Dec. 24.
The addressees include
the highest in the
hierarchy, ie.,
Principal Secretary to
the Government
of Tamil Nadu,
Co-operation, Food and
Consumer Protection
Department.
Since there was no
response from any
quarter, even after a
reminder sent on the
20th Jan. 2025,
forwarded the
complaint to the
Secretary, Department
of Consumer Affairs, Government
of India,
on 2nd Feb. Till
date the response has
been conspicuous by
its absence.
All these mundane
details have been
shared herein only to
highlight the
effectiveness with
which our bureaucracy,
the people behind the
government at the
State and Central
levels, have been so
lethally silent even
on actionable
complaints.
Herein, proper Invoice
supporting the
transaction, photo of
the item clearly
indicating the MRP,
and last but not the
least, the
dysfunctional Legal
Metrology Portal
(Complaint
tracking system)
of the Government
of Tamil Nadu
had all been
systematically brought
to light. In
spite of all this, the
violation of a very
important and simple Packaged
Commodities Rules,
which affects each and
every citizen of this
country, is being
taken lightly,
highlighting the
indifference of people
who are supposed to
deliver.
Government
can introduce
all the latest
technologies,
harp on
innovation and
digitization,
invest and
encourage AI and
so on, but
unless the
delivery is
ensured in
totality, by all
means, I am
afraid the dream
to achieve a
developed nation
by 2047 could
become all the
more daunting.
*********************
Callous
attitude of
Zomato –
Refusing to take
responsibility
for the
undelivered item
of the Order
placed.
-Vaidyanathan
B
I
had placed an Order (#8340043284)
on 15th July, for
₹1,548.44, with Grand
Sweets & Snacks,
Adyar,
Chennai. On
delivery, it was found
that one item, "Onion
Thokku
(Onion pickle)" was
missing. Matter
was immediately
reported to
Zomato, through
chat. As
advised, in the chat,
the issue was reported
to
"order@zomato.com",
along with a snap of
the items
delivered.
Unbelievably, Zomato
had the
audacity to inform
their inability to
process the refund, or
replace the
missing item, as the
evidence was lacking.Incidentally, I
had paid a delivery
fee of Rs. 142/-, as
our residence
happens to be at a
distance of more than
7 km, from the
Restaurant, where the
order was placed, in
addition to the
Platform fee of
Rs.14.90/-
After
experiencing being "pickpocketed"
(by Zomato), I took up
the matter with the
Restaurant.
After verifying
the Order details,
they agreed to supply
the left-over
item. On 21st
July, I received the
missing item, without
any help from Zomato.
I don't
understand why Zomato
is charging
"Platform
fee",
if they don't even
have capacity to
ensure proper service
to the paying public,
other than paying lip
service about
their regrets, etc.,
through a couple of
emails. All the
expression of
regret does not mean
anything worthy to
those who part with
their hard-earned
money.
Attached
please find the selfie
with
the Rapido agent, who
delivered the "Onion
Thokku" on
the 21st
July, and a
snap of the said
missing item.
I
believe, having been
subjected to such a
bad experience,
as an aware consumer,
it will be my duty to
educate others, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘡𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰, 𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴.Incidentally, I
have been a customer
of Zomato for a decade
or so and
have decided to stop
patronising them.
* A
Smart Consumer
is an
Empowered
Consumer!! *
An Aware
Consumer is an
asset to the
nation!! *
There is no
substitute for
Consumer
Reaction!! *
Boycott
unscrupulous
business!! *
Boycott is the
best weapon
available to
an aware
consumer!!
KIND ATTENTION
PLEASE!!
For the
benefit of readers, we have provided
below the links for our monthly
newsletter
Advantage Consumer, which
can be utilised Free of Cost.
In
India, consumers have been at the receiving
end since long. One thought that
things will change for the better after the
Consumer Protection Act was enacted in 1986
and a structured approach was adopted to
promote and safeguard the interests of the
consumers. But after 2004, things have
gone from bad to worse. Commencing
from the castration of the Central Consumer
Protection Council, the relevance of the
consumer Act itself has been brought into
question. If the government is found
wanting and none too serious to strengthen
this voluntary initiative of the individuals
to do their bit for a healthy society, which
in any case is bound to benefit the
industry, its competitiveness and the
country as a whole, myopic approach only
appear to rule the roost, as on date.
Important amendments which were brought in
2003 to the Consumer Protection Act, with a
clear objective of penalising Unfair Trade
Practices and to compensate the
consumer/litigant adequately have been
frustrated by the indifferent approach of
the National Commission as well as the
Supreme Court. That is why, giving the
benefit of doubt to the bench which did not
do justice to the issues placed before it by
Consumer Protection Council, Rourkela, and
to take the issues pursued by it to the
logical end, Curative Petition was
filed. The GROUNDS
categorically illustrate the denial of
Natural Justice to the Petitioner
Council and the failure of the Court in
addressing the issues raised in the Appeal.
Rupa Ashok Hurra case
specifically has laid Violation of
Principles of Natural justice as the valid
ground for considering a Curative
Petition. Question is whether a narrow
view of non-issue of notice alone should be
taken as the requisite ground for allowing
the Appeal or blatant denial to consider the
Grounds of Appeal by the concerned bench
should be treated alike, in the larger
interests of justice? If this anomaly
is not addressed, Curative Petitions
will only be found useful when the media
start highlighting an issue, like the
LGBT case leading to the strength of the
population deciding the outcome of the
Curative Petition. This
does not augur well for a civilized
democratic country.
Learned ex-Justice of Gujarat &
Rajasthan High Courts, Sri M.R.Calla, and
designated Sr. Advocate of the Supreme Court
had unequivocally advocated for allowing the
Curative Petition of the Council, pointing
out the gross miscarriage of justice and
denial of natural justice. But
that has not appealed to the Supreme Court
bench headed by the CJI, who have dismissed
the Curative Petition, as per the
Order made available on the internet
today.
Something needs to be done to address
and to save the people from this
hyper-technical approach of the Supreme
Court and to promote the consumer movement,
which is after all in the best interests of
the nation. Will Shri Narendra Modi
and his government do something to stem this
rot?
A consumer organisation
with a difference. Instead
of rendering advisory services alone, the
Council since its inception, in 1985, has been
taking up issues affecting them through the
consumer courts and other means and feels proud
to have provided relief to crores of
people. These include:
Remedial action against short filling of
LPG in cooking gas refills; of the 184 LPG
Bottling Plants, of the three Oil Marketing
Companies (IOC, BP & HP), only 4 remain to
be automated. Even these will be
modernised within the next financial year
2013-14). The quantified loss of nearly
Rs. 750 crores per year to the consumers
across the country has been taken care by this
upgradation. Thanks to the Council's
Original Petition initiatied in 2001, before
the National Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission (NCDRC).
Won an important case against the Rourkela
Development Authority and secured financial
relief for a group of individuals, against
violation of Plan & Specifications in the
construction of the houses and delay in
handing over the possession.
Obtained a separate District Forum for
Rourkela, though it is not the district
headquarters, which otherwise necessitated the
entire Rourkela population to approach the
Forum, situated at Sundergarh, a place 100 km
away;
Re-routing of Dhanbad-Alleppey Express
train through Chennai Central;
Campaigned against non transferring of
excise duty concessions (to the consumers)
extended by the union government to the
industry;
Better upkeep of the railway coaches of
Utkal Kalinga Express and other trains;
Reintroduction AC Chair Car in Ispat
Express;
Refunding of booking advance by M/s APSL
and M/s LML; and many more.
It
will not be an exaggeration to add that its
activities have added to the confidence of the
Rourkela population, against unethical business
practices.
The
fifth Voluntary Consumer Organisation in the country
to have set up a Consumer Information Centre,
with the support of Ministry of Consumer Affairs and
Public Distribution, Govt. of India. Has earned a
niche for creating consumer awareness
and handling of individual as well as group/class
grievances. It is bringing out an English
monthly Advantage Consumer, to educate
the consumers. It is represented in various Advisory
bodies.
An Aware
Consumer is an Asset to the Nation
Through
this site effort will be made to disseminate all
relevant information and answers to many of the
queries which are frequently asked. Knowledge is power
and ignorance is the root cause of all exploitation.
As a consumer, we hope you will find the site quite
useful. Since ours is a voluntary organisation with
meagre resources we have designed the site on our own
and are sure there will be lot of scope to improve. As
such we invite the public and the visitors to this
site to communicate their valuable feedback, so that
we may improve the contents of this site.
Lots
& Lots of information in store for you to
tap, in the Information Section. Why wait
to click on Information.
If you are keen to support the Council, you may
send in your donations through crossed
Cheques/Demand Drafts, drawn in favour of
"Consumer Protection Council, Rourkela". All
donations to the Council are exempted under sec.
80G of the Income Tax Act. The Council is also
registered under the FCRA (Foreign Contribution
Regulation Act).
Read Advantage
Consumer, monthly
newsletter of Consumer Protection Council, Rourkela.
