1. AN INTERVIEW
OF A PERSON WHO
AWARE OF CONSUMER WELFARE AND
THEIR RIGHTS
Narendra Wagle is a Chemical Technologist and has
worked in various capacities, right from being a teacher in
a University to a research scientist. Narendra has been a
consumer activist since the past several years and here he
shares his experience with us about how the role of
consumer has changed over the years and how one can
seek redressal against the false promises made in
brochures, advertising campaigns, etc.
Please enlighten us who can be called a consumer.
A consumer is by legal definition (under the Consumer Protection
Act,1986, most recently amended in 2003): any person who buys
goods on payment or avails of any service for a consideration,
but does not include purchase of goods/services for commercial
purpose.
What is Consumer Guidance Society of India? What is its

2. importance?
The Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI) helps
consumers (whether a member or not) to be aware of their
rights (and responsibilities as well) and assert them in the
market place. CGSI assists consumers in obtaining redressal
for grievances against goods and service providers. CGSI
offers indicatory help in sorting out complaints about defective
products or deficiency in services and renders legal
consultation to consumers for obtaining redressal in the
consumer courts. In addition, CGSI also provides access to
consumer oriented information through education and training
for various groups of consumers. It tests products and
publishes results in 'Keemat'. Hence CGSI assists consumers
to obtain value for money (in terms of P.Q.R.S i.e
Performance, Quality, Reliability and Service). The 'value' of a
product is not just the money paid (or its cost in monetary
worth) but the total P.Q.R.S which constitutes real value.
What is Consumer Guidance Society of India? What is
its importance?
The Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI) helps
consumers (whether a member or not) to be aware of their
rights (and responsibilities as well) and assert them in the
market place. CGSI assists consumers in obtaining
redressal for grievances against goods and service
providers. CGSI offers indicatory help in sorting out
complaints about defective products or deficiency in
services and renders legal consultation to consumers for
obtaining redressal in the consumer courts. In addition,

3. CGSI also provides access to consumer oriented
information through education and training for various
groups of consumers. It tests products and publishes
results in 'Keemat'. Hence CGSI assists consumers to
obtain value for money (in terms of P.Q.R.S i.e
Performance, Quality, Reliability and Service). The 'value'
of a product is not just the money paid (or its cost in
monetary worth) but the total P.Q.R.S which constitutes
real value.
What is Consumer Guidance Society of India? What
is its importance?
The Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI) helps
consumers (whether a member or not) to be aware of
their rights (and responsibilities as well) and assert them
in the market place. CGSI assists consumers in
obtaining redressal for grievances against goods and
service providers. CGSI offers indicatory help in sorting
out complaints about defective products or deficiency in
services and renders legal consultation to consumers
for obtaining redressal in the consumer courts. In
addition, CGSI also provides access to consumer
oriented information through education and training for
various groups of consumers. It tests products and
publishes results in 'Keemat'. Hence CGSI assists
consumers to obtain value for money (in terms of
P.Q.R.S i.e Performance, Quality, Reliability and
Service). The 'value' of a product is not just the money
paid (or its cost in monetary worth) but the total P.Q.R.S
which constitutes real value.

4. When was CGSI started and tell us about its progress over the years.
The Consumer Guidance Society of India(CGSI) pioneered the consumer movement in the country. It was born
out of the melting pot of food adulteration and harmful food additives, spurious and hazardous drugs, quality
defects and quantity deficiencies of consumer goods, shoddy services, rising prices coupled with endemic
shortages, black marketing and its alter ego, profiteering by a group of nine housewives who took the initiative in
founding CGSI in 1966. When it assessed the safety and performance of domestic pressure stoves, two-thirds
of the samples failed in safety parameters. This gave rise to the concept of product testing in 1977. Many other
products were tested and the reports were published in the society's monthly journal 'Keemat'. Keemat is now in
its 32nd year of publication and is the only consumer magazine in India to be published regularly every month.
CGSI does not accept advertisements in its magazine nor donations from business houses in order to maintain
its independence from spheres likely to influence its decision
making process. CGSI is a full member of Consumers
International, the oldest Indian member and is also on the
council of international body since 1973. It was through
CGSI's initiatives, the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, was
enacted, which is a unique legislation among the statutes in
force. The well-intentioned Consumer Protection Act was not
able to fulfil its professed objective due to the complexity of
the regular judicial system. The question facing CGSI is: Is
our 2000 and odd members an indicator of consumer apathy,
lack of focus or want of strategic planning? Or does it mean
that CGSI is unable to offer, 'value for membership'? The
future seeks answer from the present by learning from the
past.
What types of complaints do you come across from
consumers?
Some of the complaints resolved during October'02-March'03
were regarding Railway refund, overcharging by milk vendors,
drug stores, milk adulteration, medical case papers not
given,etc. There were also complaints regarding a famous
detergent, masala and tea packets of being short weight. Soft
drink bottles with foreign substances like gutkha empty pouch,
misleading gift offers by famous insect killer, horoscope not

5. received inspite of payment, branded cloth shoes were torn
and given for repair, door of a famous Refrigerator brand
rusted, refund not received for cancelled flight from a reputed
airline, Damaged door of famous car manufacturers at time of
purchase, defective furniture, computers, audio cassettes,
xerox machines, floor tiles and more. Counterfeit goods,
which were once shoddy imitations of the real thing, are today
almost indistinguishable to the lay consumer from the genuine
article. This is the world of Counterfeit goods! According to
market researchers, A.C Nielsen 10% to 30% of the
cosmetics, toiletries and packaged food are counterfeit, 61%
of computer software and 40% of music cassettes sold are
pirated, the FMCG segment alone loses about Rs.18000 crore
due to counterfeiting.
How can you help to get redressal for consumers who
come with complaints to you?
In the initial stage we try to mediate between the consumer
and the goods and service provider. In case that does not
happen which occurs in around 25% to 30% of the cases
complained then we help them in drafting a complaint to the
consumer court, which is commonly called the Consumer
Court. These consumer courts have specialized judicial
authorities set up by the Act of Parliament at different levels to
redress complaints in a speedy and economical manner.
How is consumer protection looked after in India and how is
it compared to the developed countries?
India must be proud, as it is one of the very few countries, which
has got the Law of Consumer Protection. This law followed UN

6. convention on Consumer Protection taken from the given
guidelines of consumer protection which was adopted by the
parliament within one day from the presentation in the parliament
in 1986. The system is good, unfortunately the reality is that
because of the large number of cases filed and the lack of
infrastructure, the cases get choked and therefore do not get
quick justice.
How can one get help in case of deficiency in services like
inferior services for example?
Inferior services are also included in the definition of Consumer
Rights and the only question is that the consumer must first take
the complaint himself to the service provider and if he doesn't get
redressed then he must approach the consumer guidance society
or any such other bodies in the country who can intervene on
their behalf and finally go to the court
How does C.G.S.I. help in curbing unethical practices?
When unethical practices result harm to consumers economically
then we intervene. We also have the class action suits i.e you
can file public interest litigation as a consumer body. That facility
we have at our command but that is only expensive and there is
delay.

7. It is quite rampant in areas of education where you are given
a lot of false promises by institutes about job guarantees.
These are redressals which are quite difficult to address.
Does education also come under the purview of C.G.S.I?
Absolutely! Education is one of the services recognized as a
consumer right and any deficiency in that can be taken to the
consumer court. They are well defined like medical negligence
Education comes under our Consumer Law. Unfortunately the
sufferers, who are aggrieved don't come and expose themselves
.
What are the other similar bodies? How do they differ in
their roles?
C.G.S.I. is the oldest consumer body in the country. The other
body in Mumbai called the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, mainly
engages in the distribution of essential goods like household
requirements. The other organisation specializing in medical
negligence cases is Association for Consumers Action on
Safety and Health (ACASH). These specialize in medical
negligence with health issues but this requires integration of
expert doctors. All the above mentioned organizations are in
Mumbai. There are similar bodies in Delhi and Chennai.

8. What role does the government play in encouraging
consumer protection?
There is a Consumer Welfare Fund - the money which has
come from various sources such as the unjust enrichment of a
certain pharmaceutical company. The money invested in
consumer welfare fund comes to the registered consumer
organizations by way of projects or even consumer education
or product testing. Some consumer bodies like ours show our
products in the market place and we test them.
How effective or powerful is your intervention in
grievance redressal? In other words what percentage of
the people do get the redressal?
About 70% success is there especially those organizations,
which are actually consumer friendly. They try to settle the
matter across the table but there are certain cases where a
suit has to be filed and then pursued in court. This amounts to
almost 30% of the complaints received. By and large the
majority of issues are settled by our mediation.
What are the consumer rights?
The Consumer Protection Act 1986 lays down the following

9. rights to promote and protect the interests of the consumers:
The Right to Safety
The Right to be Informed
The Right to Choose
The Right to be Heard
The Right to Redress
The Right to Consumer Education
The Right to a Healthy Environment
The Right to Satisfaction of Basic Needs
What way consumer can play his role to get his rights
protected?
First, he must be aware of his rights. He must be alert of what is
happening in the market place. After all that he must know how to
get redressal. Redressal is already understood by the consumer
bodies and if he is unsuccessful on his own, approach the
consumer guidance body and then if the consumer bodies also
fail they will tell him to go to court. We often hear of rights for the
consumer - the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to

10. choose and the right to be heard. Equally important, however, are
the responsibilities of the consumer.
Some of these are:
To become an alert and well informed buyer of goods.
To think before buying without being influenced merely by sales
talk or advertisement.
To protest in writing when there is a cause for complaint and to
keep on protesting till redressal is obtained
Not to be afraid to speak the truth when cited as a witness.]
How is going to a consumer court simpler then going to the
other courts?
The consumer court is so simple because you need not hire the
services of a lawyer. A complaint can be filed on plain paper and
must cover the following:
Name and address of the complaint in full.
Name and address of the parties against whom you intend
complaining.
Time, place and cause of complaint

11. Particulars in detail, along with supporting documents as exhibits
in Marathi, Hindi or English. If the company against whom you
are complaining is in another territory outside Maharashtra then
make the complaint in English. Three copies of the complaint
together with all the annexures for the forum and extra sets for
each of the opponents should be filed.
Relief claimed by you should be in clear words: Replacement/
Removal of defect or return price, compensation for expenses
incurred as well as physical/mental torture, if any. The claim
amount should be within reasonable limits and justifiable.
Three copies of the complaint together with all the annexures
for the forum, and extra sets for each of the opponents should
be filed plus one extra for the office and one for your own self
and everything else will be done by the Registrar of the court.
No lawyers are necessary. And you avoid the inconvenience
of receiving adjournments which is the case in Courts.
In what way can consumer get redressal for deficiency in
service? What are various services covered under consumer
protection?
Consumers who complain allow themselves to be brainwashed
into believing that they are troublemakers. Consumers must not
hesitate about complaining against adulteration, sub-standard
drugs and cosmetics, shoddy product quality, unsatisfactory after
sales service. Indian consumers are fortunate to be covered by
the Consumers Protection Act 1986. Special consumer courts

12. and a Directorate to implement the Act insist that the weight,
price, date of manufacture and ingredients are marked on all
packages. This Act as well as the “Agmark” and the “ISI” mark,
can be of substantial assistance in the fight for consumer's rights.
Guidelines as to how to complain are as follows:
The complaint must be sound and it must be presented politely.
Preserve cash memos and warranty card.
First approach the retailer, he may have a valid explanation.
If he is unresponsive, write to the manufacturer, quoting No. and
date of cash memo, No. and date of Warranty Card.
Retain all originals and keep copies of your letters.
In cases of suspected food and drug adulteration, write to the
state health authority. Retain samples where possible.
If products with ISI and AG mark certification perform poorly,
write to the respective agency. ISI certification guarantees
replacement.
If there is no response, write to the Consumer Guidance Society
of India, Block 'J' Mahapalika Marg, Mumbai 400001 or any other
consumer society you know of.
Don't give up if your complaint is valid. Stand your ground.
If a consumer organisation is unable to get your complaint
redressed, you may complain to your District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Forum if your compensation complain is below Rs 5
lakhs; to the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission if
your claim is between Rs.5 lakhs and Rs.20 lakhs. If your claim
exceeds this amount you will have to refer your complaint to the

13. National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission at New
Delhi.
Ex: Mr A purchased a VCR in August 1989 for Rs.15300.
Soon after it developed defects in recording and reproduction.
The company's service engineer could not repair the defects
and recommended that the VCR be replaced. However the
replacement was delayed on various pretexts. Eventually, Mr.
A filed a case in the district forum which passed an order for
VCR replacement plus Rs 2000 compensation to Mr. A. The
company appealed to the State Consumer Dispute Redressal
Commission. As 5 years had elapsed since the VCR problem,
the same model could not be replaced. Therefore the
commission decided that Mr. A be given a refund of Rs.15300
plus interest at 12% between purchase and payment dates.
Which are the various organizations abroad like CGSI is here
in India?
Fortunately abroad there are very powerful organizations. There
is a Consumers Union in US, Consumers Association in UK,
another similar association in Netherlands whose membership is
in millions. One can imagine 4 million members in Consumers
Union in USA speak in one voice representing so many million
people. Whereas we, the oldest organizations here have a
membership of just 2250! Another advantage, which they have, is
that they do product testing and when they do product testing
they publish those findings,. They have so much database with

14. them that they can do that. We have also done a few analysis.
We recently tested 'mithai', which was published in the
newspapers and gave the name of the parties, who were infected
by food poisoning and bacteria by consuming the product. The
main thrust of the consumer bodies is to test the products and
expose, not only the products but also the services. The rights of
the Consumer are P.Q.R.S (Performance, Quality, Reliability, and
Service) - that should be the motto of everyone
How does C.G.S.I connect to its counter parts in India and
world over?
We have got worldwide participation of consumer bodies just
for Consumers International. It is a worldwide body which has
about 4 million members from 115 countries which formed this
Consumer International. Few of our Indian organizations are
members. Recently in October we had a World Congress also
and we are affiliated to them as a consumer body. We get lot
of access to information abroad. We can also make
representations in UN assemblies which are called Health
Assemblies. Recently there was an assembly for anti-tobacco
measures. So there are ways of getting access to worldwide
exposure.
.

15. How did you happen to join this movement?
I was drawn in the consumer movement since 1978 because
of my technical background. Initially, I advised the complaints
committee and Testing Committee on technical aspects.
Later, I joined the Testing Committee of which subsequently I
became the Chairman (in October 1995 till end 1997). In 1996
I was elected to the Chairman's position of the Society (till
1998).
What is your role in this organisation?
I am a member of the managing committee and act as a
scientific Advisor continuing to be on the testing committee. I
also edit the 'Keemat' magazine for the past six years.
In what way a citizen can play his role to strengthen
consumer movement?
My message to the consumers is to support the consumer
movement either as active members or joining the committees of
various societies, consumer guidance bodies or spreading the
message of consumerism. Consumerism does not mean buying
consumer goods, it means knowing your rights to protect yourself
as consumers.

16. How would you define an alert consumer?
An alert consumer must first of all know his own rights and
how to exercise his rights. He should not be afraid of
exercising his rights, because it will be a threat to his
economic prosperity. He must exercise his rights without fear
of fear.
Your message to readers
Remember, you have the power to cast your vote in the market
place through your purse. Do not be short changed, be aware of
what you buy. Read the label carefully because the label is an
important document informing the buyer of the price,
manufacturing/ packaging date, or best before/expiry, storage
instructions, key ingredients, contradictions if any, name /address
of manufacturers etc. Do not make a purchase decision on
impulse. Buy what you must in quantities that you need. Be
careful of discounts, sale, free gifts and other promotional
gimmicks. Do not be swayed by advertisements (particularly
children). Boycott if there is black marketing of goods. The right to
Boycott is an important consumer right. Advertising tactics are
even done by services such as taxis and auto-rickshaws. You
can teach them a lesson by walking that extra kilometer- good for
your physical fitness. Finally support the consumer movement

17. with your active participation, by enrolling as member and
contributing your time, expertise, knowledge and committee work.