The Ministry of Consumer Affairs will take strong action against misleading advertisements that lure the public into making wrong choices, said the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs (Independent Charge), Mr K.V. Thomas.
Delivering the valedictory address at the two-day international conference organised by the Consumer Association of India on the theme “Is the Consumer really a King today?,” Mr Thomas stressed the need to protect the fair name of products and consumer interests at large.
Mr Thomas launched the Consumer Association of India's medical Web site which gives comparative costs of tests and procedures at various laboratories and hospitals in Chennai. “Government wants to put in place a reasonable mechanism to ensure that health services are made available at reasonable rates,” he said.
Mr S.K. Swamy of the R K Swamy-Hansa Group, called for Government support in making it mandatory for an MRP concept for healthcare services countrywide.
Dr Peter Sieber, Consultant, Consumer Product Safety Testing, Germany, said the consumer today was more like the prince-in-waiting rather than a King when it comes to satisfaction with products.
Mr Vivek Balasubramaniam of Renault and Mr K.B. Srinivasan, Tube Investments, talked about what was being done to ensure consumer satisfaction.
Mr Y.S. Chakravarti, COO, Shriram City Union Finance; Ms Devavani of Aircel, and Mr R Shivakumar, DGM, Health Insurance, United India Insurance; were the other participants at the conference.
Consumer Association of India is a voluntary charitable trust, headquartered in Chennai. It seeks to help consumers with the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 1986.