Andhra Pradesh

Long way to go in implementing Consumer Protection Act

TIRUPATI: Prof. Deshpande, Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, said that though ‘Consumer Protection’ might appear to be a dream come true, there are lots of ifs and buts in the process of implementing the Act.

These have to be carefully manoeuvred, he said delivering the key-note address at a two-day national conference on “Emerging Trends in Consumer Protection and Welfare in Global Environment,” which got underway in the SVU here on Saturday under the aegis of its Department of Commerce.

He said there is a distinct lack of interest within the institutions to work on improving the quality of service and issues concerning customer care. He also spoke of the ‘crucial failure’ due to ineffective communication between the service providers and the consumers. There are hardly any attempts to improve this or to create and develop database on consumer complaints and profile of consumers, Deshpande said. He pointed out that though the country adopted a policy platform of liberalization, globalization and privatisation without much public debate. It is only wise to meet the situation squarely and correct the mechanism with the best tool - information, he said.

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