Union Minister Pralhad Joshi Leads National Consumer Day 2024 Celebrations, Launches Pro-Consumer Initiatives

New Delhi: The National Consumer Day 2024 celebrations, held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, witnessed the launch of several pro-consumer initiatives under the leadership of Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Pralhad Joshi. This year’s theme, “Virtual Hearings & Digital Access to Consumer Justice,” highlighted the government’s dedication to empowering consumers through innovative digital solutions and efficient redressal mechanisms.

In his inaugural address, Pralhad Joshi emphasized the significance of virtual grievance hearings in ensuring digital access to justice, a testament to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of accessible and efficient justice for all. Reflecting on the accomplishments of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), he applauded its impactful actions, including securing refunds of ₹1,454 crores from travel companies for canceled flight tickets during the COVID-19 lockdown and tackling misleading advertisements by coaching institutes and surrogate advertisers. He also acknowledged the CCPA’s success in delisting non-compliant products, such as car seat belt alarm stopper clips, from major e-commerce platforms, and introducing critical guidelines to regulate greenwashing and misleading advertisements.

The Minister lauded initiatives such as the E-Daakhil portal, launched in 2020, for streamlining consumer grievance redressal digitally, and the enactment of the Consumer Protection E-commerce Rules, 2020, to safeguard the interests of India’s 950 million e-commerce users.

Further emphasizing quality standards, Joshi praised the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for hallmarking 43 crore pieces of gold jewelry, issuing 180 Quality Control Orders (QCOs) covering 769 products, and recalling substandard items. He also commended the National Test House for its 57.37% increase in sample testing and initiatives like the Make in India program for electric vehicle battery and drone testing.

On this occasion, Joshi launched several pro-consumer initiatives:

• Jago Grahak Jago App, Jagriti App, and Jagriti Dashboard: Tools to empower consumers against dark patterns on e-commerce platforms.
• National Legal Metrology e-Mapp: Enhancing transparency and accountability in governance.
• NCH 2.0: An upgraded AI-enabled National Consumer Helpline offering multilingual support for faster and more efficient grievance resolution.
• Organic Food Testing Laboratory in Guwahati and Low Voltage Switch Gear Testing Facility in Mumbai: To ensure food safety and electrical quality compliance.
• Software Testing Facility for Weighing and Measuring Instruments: Aimed at accuracy and global compliance, established in collaboration with C-DAC.

Joshi also signed a significant MoU with Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) to strengthen consumer protection and legal metrology expertise. Additionally, he inaugurated SMART Standards, to be introduced from 2025, representing BIS’s step towards digital transformation.

Union Minister of State B.L. Verma lauded the Department’s efforts under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, emphasizing the transformative impact of digital consumer grievance redressal systems like E-Jagriti Portal and NCH 2.0, available in 17 languages around the clock.

Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Nidhi Khare, highlighted the department’s achievements, including a 100% disposal rate of cases in many states, and commended consumer commissions like Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh for their stellar performance. She also congratulated SCDRC Kerala for leveraging virtual hearings effectively.

The celebrations also included felicitations for winners of the Tomato Grand Challenge, showcasing innovations aimed at reducing food wastage and enhancing shelf life. Discussions on critical issues like health washing, effective execution of consumer commission orders, and digital hearings were conducted through technical sessions.

As part of the event, a Safety Pledge was signed by representatives from major e-commerce platforms, including Reliance Retail, Tata Sons, Zomato, Ola, and Swiggy, committing to uphold consumer safety standards.