India’s Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued 172 notices for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices since October 2020. According to Leena Nandan, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, 37 notices related to misleading advertisements and unfair trade practice, 135 notices were issued to companies for violation of declarations norms, including  failing to put on the package the name of country of origin.

She said after analysing the complaints, CCPA has requested insurance regulator IRDA, for early settlements of claims, telecoms and broadcast regulator TRAI for resolving portability, network , broad band related issues and the central bank Reserve Bank of India for adhering to adhering to timely settlement of claims.

Addressing the media, Nandan informed that during Covid19 times many instances were noticed of misleading advertisements that primarily related to immunity boosters and virus-killing capabilities of products that forced the government to issue an advisory on January 21, 2021 requesting industry associations to disseminate information on Consumer Protection Act 2019 regarding misleading advertisements.

The media briefing was an effort to enlist government’s initiatives on empowerment of consumers through outreach and grievance redressal programmes.

The secretary informed that on an average 70,000 complaints get registered at National Consumer Helpline every month. Out of this e- commerce sector related grievances comprise 22 per cent of total complaints.