North News
New Delhi, December 24
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi, presided over the National Consumer Day 2024 celebrations at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today. During the event, Joshi launched several pro-consumer initiatives and stressed the importance of virtual hearings in providing digital access to consumer justice.
The event saw top executives from 13 major e-commerce platforms, including Reliance Retail, Tata Sons, Zomato, Ola, and Swiggy, signing a safety pledge to ensure consumer rights protection. This initiative aims to strengthen consumer welfare by promoting responsible business practices within the e-commerce sector. This year’s National Consumer Day theme, “Virtual Hearings and Digital Access to Consumer Justice,” underscores the government’s commitment to improving consumer access to fair and transparent grievance redressal mechanisms. Joshi highlighted the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which has led to significant achievements in consumer protection, including a refund of Rs 1454 crore to consumers by travel companies for cancelled flights during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Joshi also praised the actions taken by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) in regulating misleading advertisements and greenwashing, alongside the delisting of non-compliant products from platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho.
The minister further applauded the launch of the E-Daakhil portal in 2020, which allows consumers to file complaints digitally, and emphasized India’s growing e-commerce market, now the second largest globally, with 950 million users. He noted the enactment of the Consumer Protection E-commerce Rules, 2020, aimed at enhancing consumer security in online transactions.
Joshi also highlighted the initiatives of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), such as the hallmarking of gold jewelry and quality control orders for consumer products. He recognized the National Test House for increasing sample testing and revenue in 2024.
In his address, the minister introduced new tools for consumer protection, including the ‘Jago Grahak Jago App’ and the ‘Jagriti App,’ designed to protect consumers from dark patterns in e-commerce. The National Consumer Helpline portal was also upgraded to NCH 2.0, incorporating AI-driven chatbots and multilingual support for improved grievance resolution.
Joshi concluded by launching the ‘Organic Food Testing Laboratory’ in Guwahati and the ‘Low Voltage Switch Gear Testing Facility’ in Mumbai to ensure food safety and electrical quality. Additionally, he introduced a new e-book on Packaged Commodities Rules and digitalized software testing facilities for weighing and measuring instruments.
