New Delhi: To protect consumers from misleading advertisements and sale of fake products, the government on January 13, discussed with the industry the possibility of setting aside part of CSR funds to create consumer awareness, especially in rural areas. At the first meeting held here on January 13, on this issue with industry bodies such as CII, Ficci and Assocham, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan discussed in detail six issues, including funding through corporate social responsibility (CSR) fuands that will help in strengthening consumer awareness and protection in the country.
"Both the government and industry should work together in addressing concerns of consumers. The companies are involved in some CSR activities. However, it is largely restricted to community development. I think they should set aside part of CSR funds for consumer awareness," Paswan said.
CSR funds can be used for raising consumer awareness, especially in rural areas, to prevent sale of fake products and check misleading advertisements, he added. To this, representatives of the industry bodies said the companies are more than willing to spend their CSR funds on consumer related activities but sought more clarity and direction from the government.
The issue of CSR funding came up for discussion as part of the six action points that the Consumer Affairs Ministry is planning to incorporate as part of the charter for the new 'Government-Industry Forum on Consumer Awareness' to be launched on March 15 commemorating the World Consumer Rights Day.
Besides CSR funding, it has proposed framing of self- regulation code to be adopted by the industry for prevention of misleading ads and check sale of poor quality goods and services in the market. It has proposed that industry evolve standards for speedy redressal of consumer grievances, linkage of national and state consumer helplines with the industry and industry- funded joint initiatives to promote consumer-related issues.
"On these points, we discussed how government and industry can co-ordinate. Response was good. These action points will be finalised by February," Paswan said. The industry bodies have been asked to provide their views on these points.
