National Consumer Rights Day 2023
This day aims to protect consumer rights and protect them from market abuse and social injustices that may undermine their rights. In India, National Consumer's Rights Day is celebrated every year on December 24. The day serves as a reminder that consumers have the right to be protected from unfair business practices and to have access to safe, quality goods and services. It also highlights...
World Consumers Rights Day – 2022 “Fair Digital Finance”-for testing
BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICE World Consumer Rights Day was inspired by John F Kennedy, who was the first leader to send a special message on 15 March 1962 to the US Congress in which he formally discussed consumer rights concerns. In 1983, it was first marked by the consumer revolution and now mobilizes every year because of important issues and campaigns which is now celebrated...
World Consumer Rights Day – Shifting to Clean Energy for a Greener and Cleaner World
BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEWorld Consumer Rights Day was inspired by John F Kennedy, who was the first leader to send a special message on 15 March 1962 to the US Congress in which he formally discussed consumer rights concerns. In 1983, it was first marked by the consumer revolution and now mobilizes every year because of important issues and campaigns which is now celebrated every year...
World Consumers Rights Day – 2022 “Fair Digital Finance”
BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEWorld Consumer Rights Day was inspired by US President John F Kennedy, who sent a special message to the US Congress on 15th March 1962, in which he formally addressed the issue of consumer rights. The consumer movement globally now marks 15th March as World Consumer Rights Day every year, as a means of raising global awareness about...
Consumers: Know Your Rights
BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEA food system is defined as a system that embraces all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructure, institutions, markets and trade) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution and marketing, preparation and consumption of food and the outputs of these activities UN Secretary-General António Guterres will...
UN Food Systems Summit 2021 – It’s a People’s Summit
UN Food Systems Summit 2021 – It’s a People’s Summit Let’s join and contribute to a healthy world! BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEA food system is defined as a system that embraces all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructure, institutions, markets and trade) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution and marketing, preparation and...
Road accidents have claimed more lives than the pandemic
Road accidents have claimed more lives than the pandemicBY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEClaiming the road accident situation in India to be more precarious than the "dangerous COVID-19 pandemic", MoRTH Minister, Mr Nitin Gadkari in a recent press conference said that India could save upto Rs 90 lakh per person by preventing deaths and reducing injuries to minor ones in such incidents. Every...
How has Coronavirus impacted the Indian Economy
How has Coronavirus impacted the Indian Economy BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEAs I sit down to write, there are reports of more than 3.68 lakh fresh corona cases in India in the last 24 hours and 10 states account for 73.78% of the new cases registered. This is likely to slow down India's economic recovery, but the overall impact will be milder in comparison to last year's devastation....
National Consumer Day 2020 – Time for consumers to awake and arise
National Consumer Day 2020 – Time for consumers to awake and ariseBY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEEvery year 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day in India with a specific theme. On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the President. The enactment of this Act is considered as a historic milestone in the consumer movement in the country. This day...
Light of Hope for Consumers
Light of Hope for ConsumersBY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEAs we begin 2019—a year that already portends to be among the most tumultuous in memory— I certainly welcome “the coming of hope for consumers, rich or poor.” After all, at Consumer Voice, we are in the business of hope - for better future of consumers across the globe and especially in India. Our hope for our communities of consumers...
Is Artificial Intelligence a friend or foe?
Is Artificial Intelligence a friend or foe? BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEI remember the first day when my son brought home his dream robot assistant Alexa. In fact it was a parting gift from his former company. Being an engineer he sat for a week to set the backend coding of Alexa to suit his requirements. Lo and behold, everything in his room was controlled by Alexa on his command-...
It’s time for consumers to wake up from their deep slumber!
It’s time for consumers to wake up from their deep slumber! BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEArise and awake consumers ! Something we all have been hearing since the last 3 decades or more! This is true for most of the developing nations where the businesses rule the markets and we often hear about consumers being duped either by fly by night operators or by known corporate houses. This is...
Is India ready for E-commerce?
Is India ready for E-commerce? BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEDriven by the rising smart phone penetration, the launch of 4G networks and increasing consumer wealth, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow in leaps and bounds in the near future. But is India e-commerce ready? Ecommerce can change the economies of the developing nations like India. It can integrate Indian markets to...
If you want to Breathe, Protect the Environment NOW!
If you want to Breathe, Protect the Environment NOW! BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEWe cannot continue with our wasteful way of life. Saving the environment is not just about helping the animals or birds, it is about us as well. It is also about how we treat the environment at large and the entire eco system. As individuals we are constantly trying to make our lives comfortable but at the...
The fight against NCDs and trans fat
The fight against NCDs and trans fatBY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICENon-communicable diseases (NCDs) have emerged as the leading cause of human mortality and morbidity in low, middle and high-income countries alike and India is not an exception. WHO has flagged off this as a major disaster for future and their control program REPLACE lists out the basic control measures. Food Regulator in...
The Curse of Child Labour and Generating Consumer Awareness
The Curse of Child Labour and Generating Consumer Awareness BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEAccording to the Census of India 2011, 10 million children are engaged in labour or seeking work. This picture is alarming. Add to that, instances of children working in the harshest of conditions like mining, zari and carpet factories, the case of child labour becomes grim. And inadvertently we as...
It takes time to Empower Consumers !
It takes time to Empower Consumers !BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEThe year 2019 will be remembered as the year of consumer empowerment with the passage of Consumer Protection Act 2019 after 30 years. It has been a long haul for many consumer organizations working in the space of consumer education including Consumer Voice, to finally get the Bill passed into an Act. Just to remind everyone...
The Price of Misleading Advertisements
The Price of Misleading AdvertisementsBY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEDid you know irresponsible advertising can boomerang? Businesses are not allowed to make statements that are incorrect or likely to create a false impression. The Consumer Protection Act 2019 provides provisions for deterrent punishment to check misleading advertisements. The authority will have power to impose a penalty on...
Consumerism – Present and Post Covid-19
Consumerism – Present and Post Covid-19BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEWe have already started thinking about how and how much consumerism and the role that it plays in the future, will change in the post Coronavirus scenario. COVID-19 is spreading like wild fire throughout the world creating a path of death and destruction. Unfortunately, India has also fallen prey to this. The world is in...
Sustainable products and consumption – Are we ready?
Sustainable products and consumption – Are we ready?BY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEHow optimistic are we about sustainable products? We as consumers do talk about sustainable products and some survey results even show that consumers are willing to pay more, but when it comes to sustainability, actions speak louder than words. Sustainability as we all know is based on three pillars – economy,...
front-of-package-labelling-fopl-healthy-choice-for-consumers
Front-of-package labelling (FOPL) – Healthy choice for consumersBY ASHIM SANYAL, COO CONSUMER VOICEDid you know that poor diet is not limited to insufficient intake of nutrients but also excess intake of salt, sugar and fat which is one of the biggest cause of non-communicable diseases worldwide, with India being no exception. According to the National Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy Survey...