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Editorial Team

Sandeep Sajwan Dr. M.K Laxman, Prof. Vinod Jain, Shri Vijay Pal, IPS, Manish Singh (EG Classes), Mayank Dwivedi, Deepanshu Singh Suraj P Modi, Pradeep Kumar, Atal Tiwari, Abhijeet Singh

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CAO GIST Yojana & Kurukshetra

DECEMBER 2017

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CONTENTS KURUKSHETRA ............................................................................................................. 2 Theme: Rural Tourism ............................................................................................... 2 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 Rural tourism in India: Scope and Potential ..................................................................... 3 Government Initiative for Development of Rural Tourism ............................................... 4 National Tourism Policy: The Potential Game Changer .................................................... 8 Rural Tourism: Infrastructure and Capacity Building ........................................................ 9 Employment potential in rural tourism .......................................................................... 10 Panchayati Raj institutions: Promoting Village Tourism ................................................. 11 Circuit Tourism: A Unique Model for Indian Tourism ..................................................... 12 Community Based Eco-Tourism for North--East............................................................. 14 Marketing Needs for Rural Tourism in India .................................................................. 15

Yojana ............................................................................................................................. 19 Consumer Awareness (Jago-Grahak-Jago) ...................................................... 19 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 19 Consumer Protection: Sine Qua Non for Good Governance .......................................... 21

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Consumer Protection in India: Genesis and recent Development .................................. 23 Justice Delivery for Low Income Consumer .................................................................... 26 Consumer Inclusion in Financial Services ....................................................................... 29 Consumer as Co-Protector in Health Services ................................................................ 31 GST: Impact on the Consumers ...................................................................................... 34 Educating the Rural Consumer....................................................................................... 36 Creating awareness through a Internet & IT .................................................................. 38

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Corridor Concept to road development ......................................................................... 43

www.currentaffairsonly.com

EG Classes (Mukherjee Nagar)


DECEMBER 2017

KURUKSHETRA


Theme: Rural Tourism

Introduction

Tourism is the practice of travelling for pleasure especially on one’s holidays. It is an organized journey during which several places are visited.

Motives/Purposes behind of Tourism

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Tourism serves some purposes such as

It causes us to go to near or distant places, to see things with our eyes, and to fulfill our curiosity.

It satisfies our hunger for natural-beauty. A beautiful mountain scene, a lovely beach, or

an exquisite sculptural work, casts an irresistible charm on our mind, and tourism lets us enjoy it to the full.

It makes us tolerant and broadminded so as to appreciate different people, their speech and dress, their manners and customs, their social and economic conditions.

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It encourages intercultural contacts and intercultural activities.




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Rural tourism in India: Scope and Potential Any form of tourism that showcases the rural life, art, culture and heritage at rural locations,


thereby benefiting the local community economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and the locals for a more enriching tourism experience can be termed as rural tourism. Rural tourism is essentially an activity which takes place in the countryside.

Major Tourist Spots in India

There are a few countries which can compete with India in respect of worth-seeding tourists’ spots. Hill

stations: India has such hill

stations as

Darjeeling, Shillong, Gangtok, Manali, Shimla and

Kashmir, Ooty and Panchmari. Sea

beaches: India has magnificent sea

beaches at Puri

and Pandicherri,

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Kovalam and Goa. Architectural

beauty: Sculptural marvels like the Taj Mahal,

Khajuraho and

Konark, temples

caves liked Ajanta and Ellora, forts like Agra and Lalkilla.


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Kanyakumari,

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like Meenakshi and



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Forests: Forests like the Sunderbans, and sanctuaries like Kaziranga and Jaldapara, are important tourist destinations.


Religious places: Places of worship like Sringeri Math and Vaishno Devi for the Hindus,

Pawapuri and Dilwara for the Jains, and Jama Masjid and Khaja Baba Mosque for the Muslims. Metropolitan cities: Metropolitan cities liked Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai add to the unending list of her marvelous tourist spots.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that “INDIA LIVES IN VILLAGES” It is the place where you can meet the ‘Real India’.

Scope

It can generate job in villages.

Reduce migration towards cities. Preserves dying art forms.

Potential of rural tourism

It is an effective way of providing experiential travel and diversifying the tourism product as well as helping rural communities by increasing their income Contributes to Indian economy

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Extincting cultures can be protected

Government Initiative for Development of Rural Tourism

Major types of Rural Tourism in India Agriculture Tourism: To explore more about the agricultural industry and how farmers work with

crops.

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and festivals.

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Cultural Tourism: To allow tourists to be immersed in local culture related activities, like rituals




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Nature Tourism: Responsible travel to natural areas, which conserves the environment and

improves the welfare of local people.


Adventure Tourism: Any constructive activity which tests the endurance of both a person and his

equipment to its extreme limits is termed as Adventure.

Community Eco-tourism: When tourism is for a purpose. It is a rather responsible travel to

natural areas that conserve the environment and improves the well-being of local people

Schemes of the Government of India Swadesh Darshan The Objective

Identify and develop theme-based tourist circuits based on interest, sustainability and

competitiveness, by integrating resources and local participation of state and local communities. Theme-based high-interest tourist circuits to include

Pilgrimage and Spirituality – India has a long history of opening itself to all religions and

today, each has a vast following in India and overseas. Pilgrimage sites for Hindus, Sufis, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, etc., all offer tremendous potential for development.

Heritage– Historical places beginning with the Taj Mahal, Red Fort (Delhi), Ajanta Caves, the temples of South, etc., all have tremendous potential for further development.

Culture– Themes around festivals, fairs, cattle fairs, community fairs, all continue to attract large number of tourists each year.

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Eco-tourism– Preserve and promote bio-diversity and ecological conservation through responsible tourism.

The Approach Create local awareness of the value of local history, heritage, culture, tradition and the importance of outsider interest to know these aspects.

Involve local youth and communities to train them for direct and indirect employment opportunities in promoting tourism in their area.

Promote local arts and crafts to add value to the tourist experience.



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and access to all tourists.

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Invest in local infrastructure development to ensure an high-quality of comfort, convenience


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Involve states to develop integrated strategies with support and guidance from the central government.

The Benefit


Increased local employment opportunities to generate more incomes and lead to an improved quality of life.

Preservation of local culture, tradition and customs.

Development of hotels, guest houses and home-stay opportunities.

Development of tourism-related service support infrastructure like transport, catering, excursions and retail.

Few successful regional schemes Sham-e-Sarhad

This is a project in the village of Hodka in Gujrat

Tourism could enable the communities in improving the quality of their life by creating more livelihood options

while also enabling them to conserve and develop their

unique culture.

Govardhan Eco-Villages

Sham-e-Sarhad village resort

It has developed the village into a community that has

a symbiotic relationship with the visitors and has

increased community participation as well as helped in raising the income and educational levels

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in this once backward area.

PRASAD scheme It aims to promote pilgrimage centres by adopting a holistic approach to infrastructure development through the entire stakeholder chain.

The Approach Government plans to encourage development of budget hotels/hotel chains that offer clean

rail and road.



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Establish travel access points for international and domestic tourists to arrive through air,

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and comfortable experience to the pilgrim at an affordable cost.


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Improve local sanitation and sewerage systems along with making clean drinking water available to all.

Develop last-mile connectivity by encouraging local participation in getting involved in providing low-cost, clean and affordable local transport.


Train local youth with the aim of creating more employment opportunities in all services related support infrastructure.

Promote local arts and crafts; encourage presentation of local culture of dance, music and costume through performances; promote local cuisines through training; and encourage more retail points to serve tourists.

The Benefit

Local infrastructure development through affordable housing, hotels and guest houses Road and walkways;

Improved and affordable catering options; more retail points

Better local transport options; improved connectivity with other regions; higher employment opportunities along the support chain

Preservation of local culture and tradition.

Impact of rural tourism Positive

Create employment especially for

The rural people can be

Income level will rise.

The rural people have to

Demand for other goods and services will increase.

Improvement in the public services.

Generate revenue or the government.

Modernization of agriculture and other rural activities.

Local small businessman will be benefited.

depend on the urban

entrepreneur, so the benefit may not reach them.

The urban investor will take away most of the profit.

Rural people may be under paid

Local artisan may not get benefited.

Due to competition the local handicraft and farm produce

products will be sold at lower price.


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Generate foreign exchange.

exploited.

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the rural youth.

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Negative



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Scope for improvement


For sustainable development it is essential to optimize the positive impacts and minimize the negative impacts

National Tourism Policy: The Potential Game Changer

Why there is need for tourism policy?

To know this, we have follow the trend of tourism in India

As it is evident from the figures above,

Indian tourism is doing remarkably well but the major challenge lies in providing

adequate infrastructure and logistic support to sustain this growth

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National Tourism Policy

To position tourism as a major engine of economic growth.

To harness the direct and multiplier effects of tourism for employment generation, economic development and providing impetus to rural tourism.

To focus on domestic tourism as a major driver of tourism growth.

To position India as a global brand to take advantage of the burgeoning global travel trade and the vast untapped potential of India as a destination.


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facilitator and catalyst.

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To acknowledges the critical role of private sector with government working as a pro-active



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To create and develop integrated tourism circuits based on India's unique civilization, heritage, and culture in partnership with states, private sector and other agencies.

To ensure that the tourist to India gets physically invigorated, mentally rejuvenated,


culturally enriched, spiritually elevated and "feel India from within"

Rural Tourism: Infrastructure and Capacity Building

The Endogenous Tourism Project-Rural Tourism Scheme (ETP-RTS)

It is a joint project of Government of India-Ministry of Tourism and United Nations Development Programme (Gol-UNDP) to support the rural tourism initiatives of the Gol which would serve to create sustainable livelihood opportunities among low income villagers

Supply chain for tourists and major organisations in India

Tourism is linked to a larger private sector network. Requirement of travel trade include sanitation and hygiene, safety of tourist at the rural tourism sites.

Government Schemes

Apart from the support of Rs50lakh per site, MoT also support the ETP-RTS project by providing assistance through its various marketing initiatives in foreign countries.

MoT & UNDP partnered rural tourism location showcased their site attraction through impressive on-site art and craft demonstration.

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Capacity building

The capacity building for Service Providers Scheme (Software) aims to develop a sustainable

Rural Tourism product, converging with the Ministry’s Rural Tourism Scheme (Hardware) through tourism awareness, capacity building for tourism/hospitality services, gender equity, gurukul, environment care and marketing.

Challenges

and vibrant.


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problems in understanding and management of travel and tourism sector which is most dynamic

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Rural people and farmers have inadequate knowledge, education and exposure which construct



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Employment potential in rural tourism


Tourism is currently the world’s largest industry and the fastest growing sector of the market.

Need for an Entrepreneurial Approach It is the key for economic development of any sector

To facilitate the use of local resources (both human and non-human).

To create additional scope of employment for every type of rural labour. To achieve a better standard of living and increased income sources.

To explore the possibilities of forward and backward linkages through vertical and horizontal integration of labour.

To preserve and maintain the traditional culture and value system along with refinements on these via the assimilation process of tourist linkages. To grow consciousness of eco-biodiversity.

Skilling the unskilled

Inspite of the developments in technology, telecommunication and transport facilities, still a substantial portion of rural India retains the rural ambience and pride

Most of the agricultural operation are seasonal, villagers have long spell of time that can be utilized by engaging themselves in tourism and allied activities.

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Ecosystem for Rural Tourism Four pillars of tourism Accessibility Accommodation

Attraction Amenities

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ATMs and telecommunication facilities, internet connectivity are essential for promotion of tourism in rural area




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Panchayati Raj institutions: Promoting Village Tourism Panchayats are India’s ancient autonomous democratic institutions. Whose description is found in


the ancient Indian text ‘Rigveda’ in the form of ‘Sabhas’ and ‘Samities’. At various points of time these autonomous bodies of governance have proven their importance inspite of the political disturbances within the country.

Functions

Drinking water supply, cleaning and maintenance facilities.

Maintenance of public lamp posts, roads, drainage system, cleanliness programmes, primary schools and maintenance of other public assets.

Construction of Panchayat Bhawans for meeting halls and for the residence of secretary of Gram Panchayat. Construction of Gramin Kisan Bazaar and Livestock Markets.

Construction of underground water drainage system for the objective of environmental cleanliness.

Strategy for development of village tourism Swagat (Welcome)

Surakhsha (Security)

Soochana (Information/communication)

Samrachana (Structure)

Swachhta (Cleanliness or Sanitation) Suvidha (Facilitation)

Sahyog (Cooperation & Coordination)

These are seven Ss capsules for promotion

Why there is need for promoting Panchayati Tourism?

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Uniqueness in term of people’s participation through the institutions of Panchayats, Gram Sabha and various subject committees.

Farm Tourism may be another tourist products, tourist may like to eat fruits by taking it from tree itself.

Cleanliness and Village Tourism

It will accelerate people movement for sanitation


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Seva movement in Uttar Pradesh from a village in Kanpur.

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On the 15th of September, 2017, President Ram Nath Kovind had launched the Swachhata Hi



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Circuit Tourism: A Unique Model for Indian Tourism A tourist who enters at the entry point should get motivated to visit all the places identified on


the circuit. The objective of having a tourist circuit is to

increase the total number of visits to all the destinations on

A tourist Circuit

the attractions of all the destinations located on the circuit.

It is defined as a route on which

the circuit on the one hand and to provide to the tourist

Working of circuit tourism

Each circuit comprises five to six tourist hotspots and can be completed in one day.

Economics of Circuit Tourism

at least three major tourist

destinations are located such that none of these are in the same

town, village or city. At the same

time, they are not separated by a long distance. It should have well defined entry and exit points.

Most of the tourist spots are located in either rural or tribal belts.

No of tourist vehicle coming to these circuits has huge leap in the past few months. This in turn, led to establishment of new fuel filling station, repair sheds and service stations in these areas thus employing local youth.

Kerala model for INDIA

It provides unique development model to the entire country.

Kerala needs high revenues to finance it’s welfare needs-from pension to healthcare to education.

Revenues are not going to be generated from rapid industrialization.

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Tourism gains huge importance in the Kerala story.

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Kerala calls itself “God’s own country” because of how nature has been kind to Kerala



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Community Based Eco-Tourism for North--East North East is a land of diverse cultures, loaded with hidden potential for tourism that would bring inclusive development in rural communities.

Issues with community based tourism

Cleanliness Accountability is generally lacking in Indian tourism.

Tourist destinations are littered with plastics and packaged food containers.

Example of successful community based tourism

Dzuleke Village

It is situated relatively close to

Kohima, the capital of Nagaland

This village has population of

around 200 with household of 33. Tribe : Angami Naga Tribe

Attraction

Stone walkways surrounded

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Bird and butterfly watching

by forest and rice fields

Nature walk and trekking Snow trout

Project Initiation of Eco Tourism in Dauleke The Dzuleke’s village Council has set up the Dzuleke Eco-tourism Board (DETB) to manage

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tourism activities.




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Objectives To support the conservation effort of the village by involving local communities and promoting

economic activities for preserving nature and local culture through the introduction of community


based eco-tourism.

It would enhance the community’s pride in their rich natural and cultural heritage, which would motivate them to conserve these resources

Community Ownership and Management Supported by stable community institutions Village council-Eco tourism board

Conclusion

Community-Based Tourism sees visitors hosted by locals – accommodation, tours and travel. It offers the tourist a deeper experiential, participatory, cross-culturally interactive insight into local people, culture and the environment than they would otherwise get, and the community as key stakeholders can exercise greater control and accrue more benefits than they would otherwise receive.

Communities can promote their history, if they don't have any history they can make up grand events, the sort that bring visitors from miles around.

This flow of money pays wages, makes taxes, promotes further development.

Communities should learn to take care of its tourists, you don't want insecurity to drive them

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away.

Marketing Needs for Rural Tourism in India

Marketing in rural tourism is specific in the fact that the main object is not a product but a service.

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Product

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Most small-town businesses live or die based on their local customer base.




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Basic product The basic benefit that motivates customers to purchase.

Stay in rural areas (contact with nature, peaceful environment), farming (contact with


agriculture and animals, domestic consumption of food and agricultural products).

Usable product

The basis of a product such as accommodation and sports infrastructure.

Expected product

What the customer expects when buying a product. Style and quality of the offer.

Cleanliness and quiet environment.

Extended product

Includes additional services and benefits.

Additional activities (horse riding, fishing, educational courses, crafts, etc.).

Potential product

Represents the direction of future developments in the business.

Environmental protection, environmental behaviour, production of organic products.

Promotion

Marketing communication includes five communications tools which form a so-

called communication or promotional mix. In the rural tourism sphere, all tools of promotion are

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utilized.

Public relations (PR) These are programmes for the improvement, maintaining or protection of the entity's image. PR

thus represent an efficient form of indirect communication and the development of good relations inside as well as to the outside.

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souvenirs, sponsorship, speeches and personal appearances on TV and on the radio etc.

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Among the main means of PR in rural tourism are articles in the press, seminars, gifts and




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Advertising Paid form of non-personal product presentation.

Some of the following might be used: catalogues, printed and broadcast advertising in different


media, internet sites, promotional material, posters, leaflets, postcards, phone books, symbols, logos etc.

Sales support

Sales support can be realized through using methods of special communications and so called specialised offers, represented for example by coupons (i.e. as proof that the given customer is entitled to reduced price of listed services), reduction of price e.g. when introducing new

services, also competitions, games, presentation of tourism entities and their services at fairs, exhibitions, seminars etc.

Its part can also be an offer of samples (e.g. tastings of various meals), services of the

"higher level for free" type, whereby the clients have the possibility to use a higher level of services than they paid for.

Personal selling

It is represented by direct personal communication with one or several potential customers with the aim of sales realization. Within personal selling, the participants can mutually react to their behaviour, explain and answer questions.

Direct marketing

It means an immediate conveying of messages and gaining direct answers from certain

customers and a survey of their opinions. This form of sale includes all activities representing

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a direct contact with target groups of customers.

The main tools of direct marketing are catalogue marketing, mail order service, telemarketing and internet marketing etc.

Important tool of tourism promotion is the Internet. The global reach of the Internet (no geographic boundaries exist between users).

The Internet commodity is information (information retrieval is the main reason why people "surf" the net).



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people with common interests to create different user communities – social networks).

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Formation of communities with shared interests (the Internet is a place where you meet


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The Internet is a medium for providing permanent services (Internet access is now available almost anywhere and at any time).

Flexibility (the Internet can offer the latest and at the same time the most comprehensive


information).

Paryatan Parv

Each day of the “Paryatan Parv” organised by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with other Central ministries, State governments and Stakeholders from 5th to 25th october 2017 was full of activities.

Components of Paryatan Parv Dekho Apna Desh

This program is designed to encourage Indians to explore their own country. It will include blog

competitions, video, photograph and painting competitions. The prime focus is on promoting travel to North Eastern State and Jammu & Kashmir.

Tourism For All

This component is designed to promote tourism events at sites in all the states, nation-wide. The event is designed to encourage people’s participation. Exhibitions showcasing handlooms,

handicrafts, cuisine and culture; cultural programmes such as including theatre, dance and music will be organized at all the sites.

Tourism and Governance

Interactive workshops and sessions will be organized with the stakeholders on various themes

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like “Innovation in tourism”, “Inducting ex-servicemen as service providers for Taxi Operations, “Developing Rural Tourism in locations near established destinations”, “Skill development in tourism sector” etc.

Outreach Programmes Union Ministry of External Affairs would be organizing outreach programmes in the overseas markets through the Indian Missions with the aim of encouraging people to visit India. It will

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primarily lay its focus on Persons of Indian Origin who have never visited India.




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Yojana


Consumer Awareness (Jago-Grahak-Jago)

Introduction

Who is a Consumer We are the consumer

Any individual who purchases products or services for his personal use and not for manufacturing or resale is called a consumer. A consumer is one who is the decision maker whether or not to influenced by advertisement and marketing.

A person is not a consumer if

Consumer awareness

Purchases any goods or avails

In this age of capitalism and globalization, the main

any service free of charge.

Purchases a good or hires a

service for commercial purpose. Avails any service under contract of service

objective of each producer is to maximize his profit. In each and every possible way the producers are

trying to increase the sale of their products. Therefore, in fulfillment of their aim they forget the interests of consumer s and start exploiting them for example –

overcharging, under weighing, selling of adulterated


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he/she:


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Who is not a Consumer?

buy an item at the store, or someone who is


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and poor-quality goods, misleading the consumers by giving false advertisement etc. Thus in order to save himself from being cheated, it is necessary for a consumer to be aware.


In this way, consumer awareness means creating awareness of a consumer towards his rights and duties.

Need and importance of consumer awareness To achieve maximum satisfaction:

Consumer should get the goods which are measured

appropriately and he should not be cheated in any way.

Protection against exploitation: Producers and sellers exploit the consumers in many ways as underweighting, taking more price than the market price, selling duplicate

goods etc. Big companies through their advertisement also mislead the consumers

Control over consumption of Harmful goods:

There are several such goods available in market

which cause harm to some consumers. For example, we can take goods like cigarette, tobacco,

liquor etc. The consumer education and awareness motivate people not to purchase such goods which are very harmful for them.

Motivation for saving:

The awareness controls people from wastage of money and extravagancy

and inspire them to take right decision. Such consumers are not attracted by sale, concession, free gifts, attractive packing etc due to which people can use their income in a right way and can save money.

Knowledge regarding solution of problems: The consumers are cheated due to illiteracy,

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innocence and lack of information. Therefore, it becomes necessary that the information about their rights should be provided to them so that they cannot be cheated by producers and sellers.

Construction of healthy society : Every member of the society is a consumer. So, if the consumer is aware and rationale, then complete society becomes healthy and alert

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towards their rights.




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Consumer Protection: Sine Qua Non for Good Governance


Sine Qua Non: A necessary condition without which something is not possible

Consumer Protection Act, 1986

It was enacted to provide a simpler and quicker access to redress of consumer grievances.

The Act seeks to promote and protects the interest of consumers against deficiencies and defects in goods or services. It also seeks to secure the rights of a consumer against unfair trade practices, which may be practiced by manufacturers and traders.

The Act applies to all goods and services unless specifically exempted by the Central Government. It covers all the sectors whether private, public or cooperative.

Basic rights of consumers include

Right to be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property.

Right to be informed about the quality, quantity, standard and price of goods or services so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.

Right to be assured, wherever possible, access to variety of goods and services at competitive prices.

Right to be heard and to be assured that consumers interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums.

Right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices.

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Right to consumer education.

Consumer redressal forum

Under the Consumer Protection Act, every district has at least one consumer redressal forum

also called a consumer court. Here, consumers can get their grievances heard. Above the district forums are the state commissions. At the top is the National Consumer Disputes Redressal

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Commission in New Delhi.




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A written complaint to the company is taken as proof that the company has been informed.

The complaint must be backed by copies of bills, prescriptions and other relevant documents, and


should set a deadline for the company to respond. Consumers can also complain through a consumer organisation.

Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) Act 2016 brought into force with effect from 12th October, 2017 It was notified on 22nd March, 2016

The Act establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India. The Act has enabling provisions for the Government to bring under compulsory

certification regime any goods or article of any scheduled industry, process, system or service which it considers necessary in the public interest or for the protection of human, animal or plant health, safety of the environment, or prevention of unfair trade practices, or national security.

The new Act also allows multiple type of simplified conformity assessment schemes including self-declaration of conformity against a standard which will give simplified options to manufacturers to adhere to the standards and get certificate of conformity.

The Act enables the Central Government to appoint any authority/agency, in addition to the BIS, to verify the conformity of products and services to a standard and issue certificate of conformity.

Further, there is provision for repair or recall, including product liability of the products bearing Standard Mark but not conforming to the relevant Indian Standard.

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Portals for consumer awareness

INGRAM (Integrated Grievance Redress Mechanism) This portal was launched for bringing all stakeholders such as consumer, central and State Government Agencies, private companies, regulators call centers at one platform. It helps in creating awareness among consumers.

the details of the product.


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This is a mobile application to enable consumer to scan the bar code of the product and get all

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Smart Consumer Application



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GAMA The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) is one of the two Departments under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. The mandate of the Department is consumer


advocacy. In its endeavour to address the problem of misleading advertisements, the Department of Consumer Affairs has launched this portal for registering online complaints for Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA).

Consumer Protection in India: Genesis and recent Development

Consumer protection owes its origin to the USA.

In the early 1960’s when consumers were unhappy with business firms because of their unfair business practices.

Filing of Complaint

Consumer redressal forum

Under the Consumer Protection Act, every district has at least one consumer redressal forum

also called a consumer court. Here, consumers can get their grievances heard. Above the district forums are the state commissions. At the top is the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in New Delhi.

A written complaint to the company is taken as proof that the company has been informed. The

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complaint must be backed by copies of bills, prescriptions and other relevant documents, and should set a deadline for the company to respond. Consumers can also complain through a consumer organisation.

Who can file a complaint? A consumer.

The Central Government.

registered under the Companies Act, 1956

A legal heir or representative of a

or any other law. for the time being

deceased consumer.

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enforced.

Any State Government.

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Any voluntary consumer association




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Ground of filing a complaint Section 2(c) of the Act defines the meaning of the term complaint and it requires to


have minimum one of the following allegations:

Unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade practice by the trader

Defect in the product Deficiency in Service

Offering goods which are hazardous to life

Selling the goods in excess of the fixed price.

Where to file a complaint?

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Procedure of filing a compliant How to file a Complaint?

The complaint can be filed on a plain paper. Stamp paper is not required for declaration.

It should contain the details of the complainant and the opposite party.

Complaint can be registered, in person, by the complainant or through his authorized agent or by post addressed to the Redressal Agency.

It is not compulsory to engage a lawyer to file a case.

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The fees charged are very nominal according to the value of the claim.



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What are the Reliefs available to Consumers from Consumer Fora? Removal of defects from the goods.

services which are hazardous in

Refund of the price paid

If the loss or injury has been suffered

Replacement of the goods.

Removal of defects or deficiencies in the services.

Award of compensation for the loss or

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injury suffered.

Discontinue and not to repeat unfair trade practice or restrictive trade practice.

To withdraw hazardous goods from being offered for sale.

To cease manufacture of hazardous goods and desist from offering

nature.

by a large number of consumers who are not identifiable conveniently, to

pay such sum (not less than 5% of

the value of such defective goods or services provided) which shall be determined by the forum.

To issue corrective advertisement to neutralize the effect of misleading advertisement.

To provide adequate costs to parties.


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Highlights of the Bill

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The Consumer Protection Bill, 2015



The Bill replaces the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The Bill enforces consumer rights, and

The Bill classifies six contract terms as ‘unfair’


provides a mechanism for redressal of complaints

DECEMBER 2017

regarding defect in goods and deficiency in services. Consumer Dispute Redressal Commissions will be set up at the district, state and national levels for adjudicating consumer complaints.

The Bill establishes a Consumer Protection Authority

to investigate into consumer complaints, issue safety

Payment of excessive security deposits;

Disproportionate penalty for a breach.

Unilateral termination

notices for goods and services, and pass orders for

without cause.

advertisements.

consumer at a disadvantage

recall of goods and against misleading

One which puts the

If a consumer suffers an injury from a defect in a

good, he may file a claim of product liability against the manufacturer. claim.

The consumer must establish seven conditions in order to prove such a

Justice Delivery for Low Income Consumer

Alternative Dispute Resolution

It is the procedure for settling disputes without litigation i.e. outside the court, such as arbitration,

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mediation, or negotiation. ADR procedures are usually less costly and more expeditious. They are increasingly being utilized in disputes that would otherwise result in litigation, including high-profile labor disputes, divorce actions, and personal injury claims.

Why was it needed? The Courts are backlogged with dockets resulting in delay of year or more for the parties to have their cases heard and decided. To solve this problem of delayed justice ADR

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Mechanism has been developed in response thereof.




DECEMBER 2017

Objective The goal of Alternative dispute redressal is enshrined in the Indian Constitution’s preamble itself,


which enjoins the state: “to secure to all the citizens of India, justice-social, economic and political-liberty, equality and fraternity”.

Types of ADR

Arbitration, Conciliation, Mediation, Judicial Settlement and Lok Adalat. Sec. 89. Settlement of disputes outside the court. –

(1) Where it appears to the Court that there exist elements of a settlement which may be

acceptable to the parties, the Court shall formulate the terms of settlement and give them to the parties for their observations and after receiving the observations of the parties, the Court may reformulate the terms of a possible settlement and refer the same for – arbitration

conciliation

judicial settlement including

settlement through Lok Adalat mediation.

Arbitration

When two or more persons agree that a dispute or potential dispute

between them shall be decided in

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a legally binding way by one or

more impartial persons in a judicial manner, the agreement arrived after such settlement is called

‘arbitration agreement. The process is called the ‘arbitration’ and the

decision when made is called the ‘award

agreement. A conciliator may do this by expressing an opinion about the merits of the dispute to



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Conciliation is a process in which a third party assists the parties to resolve their disputes by

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Conciliation


DECEMBER 2017

help the parties to reach a settlement. Hence, conciliation is a compromise settlement with the assistance of a conciliator.

Mediation


Mediation is a process for resolving disputes with the aid of an independent third person that assists the parties in dispute to reach a negotiated resolution. Mediation is the acceptable intervention into a dispute of a third party that has no authority to make a decision.

Negotiation

Negotiation is a process by which parties resolve their disputes. They agree upon course of action and bargain for advantage. Sometimes, they try to adopt such a creative option that

serves their mutual interests. Because of its mutual advantages, people negotiate in almost all walks of life, from home to courtroom.

Lok Adalat

Lok Adalat generally means the people’s court. It is not a court in strict sense of term, nut it is a forum where voluntary efforts are made for settlement of disputes between the parties. In other words, Lok Adalat is a forum of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). This system based on

gandhian principles. It provides alternative resolution or devise for expedious and inexpensive justice.

Online ADR Mechanism

In the context of the Internet, where parties located in different corners of the world can contract with each other at the click of a mouse, litigation of online disputes is often

inconvenient, impractical, time-consuming and prohibitive. Providing an alternative approach to

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resolve online disputes might assist in redressing grievances and gaining consumer confidence in e-commerce. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is an appurtenant candidate for such an approach.

The Virtual Magistrate Project, launched in 1996, initiated the idea of using ADR to resolve

Internet-related disputes. The joint statement promoting the use of ADR in cyberspace, made by the European Union and the United States at a summit in Washington D.C. on December 18,

2000, set the ball rolling. Since then, various entities, including governments, consumer groups,

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effective means to implement ADR globally on the Internet.

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lawyers, academia, and international organizations have been catapulted into arriving at an




DECEMBER 2017

Consumer Inclusion in Financial Services Financial inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable


financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way.

Access to a transaction account is a first step toward broader financial inclusion since it allows

people to store money, and send and receive payments. A transaction account can also serve as a gateway to other financial services, which is why ensuring that people worldwide can have access to a transaction account is the focus of the World Bank Group’s Universal Financial Access 2020 initiative.

Why financial awareness is needed?

The financial services sector is more complex, there are many complexities exposing the consumer

For e.g. Customers are bombarded numerous offers through e-mail which may not be easy to understand

Is there any separate consumer law for financial service?

Sectoral legislation

Issue

These laws are quite difficult for a consumer to be understood

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Improving financial literacy requires a multi-stakeholder framework.

Consumers are to fulfill their role of enhancing market discipline, other actors must also play their roles.

Consumers should be educated and able to voice their opinions about the financial services they are

purchasing; Financial institutions should actively participate in providing an environment where

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ensure both sides are meeting on a level playing field.

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consumers are protected; Governments should provide oversight and enforcement to




DECEMBER 2017

Consumer Financial Services Payment:

Mechanism for money transfer and payment for goods & services (Cash, cheques,


payment cards, postal and money orders, wire transfers, remittances, online funds transfer, etc.)

Borrowing:

Using future funds now (Secured and unsecured - credit cards, overdrafts, payday

loans, student loans auto loans, mortgage loans and margin loans, pawnbroking. Also implicit borrowing built into commercial structures, e.g. hire purchase)

Saving:

Storing future funds (Saving accounts, fixed deposits, variable annuities, provident funds)

Management of Risk:

Mitigating financial risks (Principally insurance, but also financial products,

e.g. put options to protect portfolio declines) 5. Investment: Increasing future funds (Mutual funds, investment products of financial institutions)

External threats to financial inclusion

‘Big data’ and abuse of financial

information:

Developments in the way information is

collected and analysed raises many difficult issues.

This can be positive in terms of tailoring

products and services to consumers’ needs but without a proper governance and

regulatory framework, it may be abused

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and result in greater financial exclusion and discrimination.

The impact of the new economic and financial reality on financial services business models: Post financial crisis, we are in a new economic and financial reality with high levels of household debt, low earnings growth, poor economic growth prospects, and low financial returns. But we don’t find that mainstream business models have yet adjusted to this new reality and become

focus on better off households, this could result in greater financial exclusion.



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With an increased use in technology and information to segment consumers to allow industry to

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more responsive to consumers’ needs or more efficient.


DECEMBER 2017

Legacy business models and transition risks: Related to the above, we hope that the industry will make the transition and become more

efficient, responsive and consumer focused. But during this transition, there will still be major


conduct risks as inefficient firms may be tempted to adopt aggressive business practices such as price gouging

United Nations guidelines for consumer protection Objectives

To assist countries in achieving or maintaining adequate protection for their population as consumer

To facilitate production and distribution patterns responsive to the needs and desire of consumer

To encourage high levels of ethical conduct for those engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services to the consumers

To assist countries in curbing abusive business practices by all enterprises at the national and international levels which adversely effects consumers

To facilitate the development of independent consumer group

To further international cooperation in the field of consumer protection

Consumer as Co-Protector in Health Services

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Health services and consumer protection The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017

In India, the Mental Health Care Act 2017 was passed on 7 April 2017. The law was described in its opening paragraph as "An Act to provide for mental healthcare and services for persons

with mental illness and to protect, promote and fulfill the rights of such persons during delivery of mental healthcare and services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Bill seeks to prevent and control the spread of HIV and AIDS, prohibits discrimination against persons with HIV and AIDS.


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The HIV/AIDS Act, 2017



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DECEMBER 2017

It provides for informed consent and confidentiality with regard to their treatment, places obligations on establishments to safeguard their rights, and creates mechanisms for redressing their complaints.


Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006

Food Safety and Standards Act received the assent of the President on 23rd August, 2006 and came into effect on 5th August, 2011.

Prevention of Food Adulteration Act(PFA) of 1954, Fruit Products Order of 1955,

Meat Food Products Order of 1973,

Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order of 1947,

Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation)Order of 1988, Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order of 1967,

Milk and Milk Products Order of 1992 and also any order issued under the Essential Commodities Act,

1955 relating to food

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Recent Initiative

The Clinical Establishment (Registration & Regulation) Act, 2010 It is an Act of the Parliament of India. It seeks to regulated all clinical establishments in India.

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treatment guidelines for common diseases and conditions.

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The Act requires all clinical establishments to register themselves and provides a set of standard




DECEMBER 2017

The Act cannot be directly applied to all states of India. The states have the choice of passing a

resolution to adopt the bill or passing a similar bill. The Act however directly applies to the states


of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Sikkim, as they had passed resolutions allowing such laws in their states

Plus Points

It would act as the first ever factual census of the number, category, speciality and location of all the physicians and all the medical establishments of all the systems of medicine in the country.

Registration without any inquiry or inspection, on the basis of the documents submitted by

the establishment, should be encouraging for many nursing homes / private clinics to come forward and get registered.

It will also help isolate and identify the hundreds of thousands of quacks that are playing havoc with the lives of millions of people all over the country.

Once in place, the system of registration will necessarily help in improving the standards of healthcare establishments within a couple of years. It will also bring about some uniformity in the standards of care across the country.

The Drug (Price Control) Order (DPCO), 2013

Under the provisions of DPCO 2013, only the prices of drugs that figure in the National List of

Essential Medicines (NLEM) are monitored and controlled by the regulator, the National Pharma Pricing Authority. Under the earlier avatar of the DPCO (1995), 74 drugs were subject to price control.

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In the 2013 version, the number of drugs under the price control was expanded five-fold to 348. The recent controversy over drug prices erupted after the NPPA decided to regulate the

prices of drugs outside the NLEM; the Government has now said that it should stick to regulating essential medicines alone.

In May 2013, NPPA notified that the maximum prices for these 348 essential drug formulations cannot exceed the average price of various brands (of the same underlying formulation) with a

market share of one per cent or more . This is a departure from the cost-plus pricing formula manufacturing cost. While the coverage of newer drugs used to treat cardiovascular problems and pricing mechanism has been positive for drug-makers too.


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diabetes under DPCO 2013 has benefited patients, the move from a cost- to a market-based

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used in DPCO 1995. Then, companies were allowed to make a nominal profit over



DECEMBER 2017

Why is it important? India is a branded generic market, which means doctors prescribe the brand of each medicine to


be consumed by patients, rather than the underlying formulation.

Despite availability of cheaper brands, doctors in many cases prescribe leading brands which are priced at a premium.

As patients are ignorant about cheaper substitutes, they seldom switch to the low-cost equivalents of the expensive drug brands recommended by their doctors. Patients have little discretion in the choice, making it necessary for the state to intervene and make essential drugs available to the needy at reasonable prices.

Way Froward

Providing Health education to consumer using technology Making consumer aware of their duties

GST: Impact on the Consumers

What is GST?

GST is one indirect tax for the whole nation, which will make India one unified common market.

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GST is a single tax on the supply of goods and services, right from the manufacturer to the

consumer. Credits of input taxes paid at each stage will be available in the subsequent stage of value addition, which makes GST essentially a tax only on value addition at each stage. The

final consumer will thus bear only the GST charged by the last dealer in the supply chain, with set-off benefits at all the previous stages

At the Central level, the following taxes are being subsumed

Duty commonly known as Countervailing Duty, and Special Additional Duty of Customs.


Additional Customs

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Additional Excise Duty,

Service Tax,

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Central Excise Duty,



DECEMBER 2017

At the State level, the following taxes are being subsumed Subsuming of State Value Added

Octroi and Entry tax,

Entertainment Tax (other than the tax

Luxury tax, and

Purchase Tax,


Tax/Sales Tax,

levied by the local bodies), Central

Sales Tax (levied by the Centre and

Taxes on

collected by the States),

lottery, betting and gambling.

What are final GST rate slabs?

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be levied at multiple rates ranging from 0 per cent to 28 per cent. GST Council finalised a four-tier GST tax structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, with lower rates for essential items and the highest for luxury and de-merits goods that would also attract an additional cess.

Service Tax will go up from 15% to 18%. The services being taxed at lower rates, owing to the provision of abatement, such as train tickets, will fall in the lower slabs.

Impact of GST

For business and industry Easy compliance:

A robust and comprehensive IT system would be the foundation of the GST

regime in India. Therefore, all tax payer services such as registrations, returns, payments, etc.

would be available to the taxpayers online, which would make compliance easy and transparent.

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Uniformity of tax rates and structures:

GST will ensure that indirect tax rates and structures are

common across the country, thereby increasing certainty and ease of doing business. In other

words, GST would make doing business in the country tax neutral, irrespective of the choice of place of doing business.

Removal of cascading:

A system of seamless tax-credits throughout the value-chain, and across

boundaries of States, would ensure that there is minimal cascading of taxes. This would reduce

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hidden costs of doing business.




DECEMBER 2017 Reduction in transaction costs of doing business would eventually

Improved competitiveness:

lead to an improved competitiveness for the trade and industry.

Gain to manufacturers and exporters:

The subsuming of major Central and State taxes in GST,


complete and comprehensive set-off of input goods and services and phasing out of Central

Sales Tax (CST) would reduce the cost of locally manufactured goods and services. This will

increase the competitiveness of Indian goods and services in the international market and give

boost to Indian exports. The uniformity in tax rates and procedures across the country will also go a long way in reducing the compliance cost.

For Central and State Governments Simple and easy to administer:

Multiple indirect taxes at the Central and State levels are being

replaced by GST. Backed with a robust end-to-end IT system, GST would be simpler and easier to administer than all other indirect taxes of the Centre and State levied so far.

Better controls on leakage:

GST will result in better tax compliance due to a robust IT

infrastructure. Due to the seamless transfer of input tax credit from one stage to another in the chain of value addition, there is an in-built mechanism in the design of GST that would incentivize tax compliance by traders.

Higher revenue efficiency:

GST is expected to decrease the cost of collection of tax revenues of

the Government, and will therefore, lead to higher revenue efficiency.

For the consumer

Single and transparent tax proportionate to the value of goods and services:

Due to multiple

indirect taxes being levied by the Centre and State, with incomplete or no input tax credits

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available at progressive stages of value addition, the cost of most goods and services in the

country today are laden with many hidden taxes. Under GST, there would be only one tax from the manufacturer to the consumer, leading to transparency of taxes paid to the final consumer.

Relief in overall tax burden: Because of efficiency gains and prevention of leakages, the


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Educating the Rural Consumer

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overall tax burden on most commodities will come down, which will benefit consumers



DECEMBER 2017

Rural areas currently are home to nearly 70 percent of India’s population and have historically accounted for more than half of Indian consumption


Market players and stakeholders actively involved in consumer education include Consumer organizations and another civil group whose objective is to promote consumer education

Industry and trade associations and individual companies. Universities and educational institutions

Teacher’s associations, practitioners, teachers and instructors Family and parent’s associations

Misleading Advertisements and Role of Media

Rural consumers today have access to diverse media with the advent of modern technology. Advertising is one of the major sources of information about newly introduced products.

Jago Grahak Jago

Jago Grahak Jago is a consumer awareness programme from Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India.

As part of this initiative, the government has used multiple channels to create consumer

awareness through Print media advertisements, Audio Campaigns, Video Campaigns,etc., are

being used for consumer information and education about initiatives like Insurance Ombudsman

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channel.

Tackling Adulteration Humans have adulterated food to increase its longevity or to improve its taste since pre-

historic times. In ancient Rome and Greece, wine was often mixed with honey, herbs, spices and even saltwater, chalk or lead, which served as both a sweetener and a preservative. In

middle ages, adulteration of food began for profit purposes, traders mixed spices with cheap substitutes.

By the end of the 19th century, the rise of analytic chemistry enabled manufacturers to mask

heroin and other drugs were sold without restriction, warnings or ingredient labels.



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At the same time, homegrown elixirs, tinctures and “medicines” containing opium, cocaine,

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food deterioration in ways that were tough to detect.


DECEMBER 2017

Adulterated food has direct consequences on the health of the consumers. As processed foods with multiple ingredients are increasingly sourced from numerous countries and the

supply chain has become more complex, tracing the sources of contamination—intentional or not—has become a significant challenge.


In 1986 the central government had amended the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and

authorized every citizen to become a food inspector and participate in the task of food safety.

Why it failed?

After the Food Safety and Standards Act came into force, through a separate set-up came into being to check food standards, the very same officials of various local bodies have been implementing the norms.

Creating awareness through a Internet & IT

The cabinet has approved ‘Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan or PMGDISHA to make six crore rural households digitally literate.

As per the 71st NSSO Survey on Education 2014, only 6% of rural households have a computer. This highlights that more than 15 crore rural households (@ 94% of 16.85 crore households) do not have computers and a significant number of these households are likely to be digitally

illiterate. The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) being initiated

under Digital India Programme would cover 6 crore households in rural areas to make them digitally literate.

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Earlier, the Government had implemented the National Digital Literacy Mission or the Digital

Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA) or National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) to impart IT training to

52.5 lakh persons, including Anganwadi and ASHA workers and authorised ration dealers in all the States/UTs across the country so that the non-IT literate citizens are trained to become IT literate so as to enable them to actively and effectively participate in the democratic and developmental process and also enhance their livelihood.

The Scheme is applicable only for rural areas of the country.

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Eligibility




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DECEMBER 2017

Eligible Household:A household is defined as a unit comprising of Head of family, spouse, children and parents. All such households where none of the family member is digitally literate will be considered as eligible household under the Scheme. Entry criteria


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The beneficiary should be Digitally Illiterate

Only one person per eligible household would be considered for training Age Group: 14 - 60 years

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Priority would be given to

Non-smartphone users, Antyodaya households, college drop-outs, Participants of the adult literacy mission

Digitally illiterate school students from class 9th to 12th, provided facility of Computer/ICT Training is not available in their schools

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Preference would be given to SC, ST, BPL, women, differently-abled persons and minorities

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The identification of the beneficiaries would be carried out by CSC-SPV in active

collaboration with DeGS, Gram Panchayats, and Block Development Officers. The list of such beneficiaries would be made available on the scheme portal.

The implementation of the Scheme would be carried out under the overall supervision of Ministry of Electronics and IT in active collaboration with States/UTs through their designated State Implementing Agencies, District e-Governance Society (DeGS), etc.

Training process

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The duration of the training program is for 20 hours which has to be completed in a minimum of 10 days and maximum of 30 days. Learning Outcomes / Competency Standards Understand the basics (terminology, navigation and functionality) of digital devices. Use digital devices for accessing, creating, managing and sharing information Use the Internet to browse in an effective and responsible manner Use technology to communicate effectively

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Appreciate the role of digital technology in everyday life, in social life and at work




DECEMBER 2017

Carry out cashless transactions using digital financial tools (USSD/ UPI/ eWallet/ AEPS/ Card/ PoS)

Use Digital Locker Use online citizen centric services.


Quality Assurance for the Consumer Indian Standards Institution (ISI)

It came into being on January 6, 1947. Symbolic of the role, the Indian Standards Institution (I.S.I.) was to play the first standard drawn for independent India.

In the Bureau of Indian

Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India formulates standards through technical

committees which have representatives from the manufacturers, technical experts and users. The

standards are documents of consensus which are finalized after taking the views of all those who may have an interest in it.

ISI Standard Mark

With the objective of satisfying the consumer in terms of product quality, the BIS has undertaken various quality certification activities. The domestic consumer is familiar with the ISI mark on a

product which is an assurance that the product conforms to the requirements as laid down in the specification.

VISION

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India, resolves to be the leader in matters concerning Standardization, Certification Quality.

OBJECTIVES

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To provide harmonious development of standards

To satisfy the customer’s need for quality and safety of goods and services through operation of Certification schemes.

To generate awareness on standards, standard mark, and safety and quality of products through seminars, awareness programmes and publicity Campaigns. To provide effective and timely services

investments in the real estate industry.


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It is an Act of the Parliament of India which seeks to protect home-buyers as well as help boost

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Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016



DECEMBER 2017

The Act establishes Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in each state for regulation of the real estate sector and also acts as an adjudicating body for speedy dispute redressal. The bill

was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 10 March 2016 and by the Lok Sabha on 15 March 2016.


Functioning

According to RERA, each state and Union territory will have its own regulator and set of rules to govern the functioning of the regulator. Centre has drafted the rules for Union territories including the national Capital. While many states are still behind on schedule for notification of RERA

rules, many have notified rules and a regulator will start functioning. Some of these states are Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

RERA seeks to address issues like delays, price, quality of construction, title and other changes. Delays in projects are the biggest issue faced by buyers. The reasons are many and the impact is huge.

Customer Satisfaction: Mantra of Banking Management

Know Your Rights as a Bank Customer

Right of fair treatment

The basic idea behind this right is that both the customer and the service provider have the right to be treated fairly. There shouldn’t be any discrimination on the basis of caste, gender, age or physical disability with any of the customers. However, this doesn’t mean that the financial service provider can’t have scheme specifically designed for a specific set of customers.

Right of transparency, fair and honest dealing

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It is the responsibility of the financial service provider (FSP) to make the customer understand the price of the product (interest rates), the inherent risk involved in the product, the various

terms and conditions. The FSP should disclose everything before entering into any agreement or contract. The most important terms and conditions associated with the product or service should be clearly brought to the notice of the customer. Also, the language of the contract should be

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simple so that it is easier for the customer to comprehend and understand.




DECEMBER 2017

Also, it is the responsibility of the FSP to convey any change in terms and conditions within 30

days of such change and if the changes are adverse for the customer a prior notice of 30 days should be given to the customer and options should be given to the customer.


If the FSP fails

to deliver any of these promises, you have the

right to report

this. You have the right to

complain against any threats

whether verbal or physical, coercive behavior or

harassment in

any manner. So, you have the

right to fair and honest services from the FSP.

Right to

suitability

This right has

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been brought to protect the

customers from being the victim of mis-selling. It is the responsibility of the FSP to offer a

product that is as per the needs and requirements of the customer. The FSP should ensure that

the staff sells a product after analyzing the financial situation and circumstances of the customer. As a customer you have the right to say no to the third-party product sold as quid-pro-quo by the FSP for any of the services availed.

from where you have specifically allowed the bank to provide it for a particular purpose (providing



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You have the right that all your personal information is kept confidential with the banks except

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Right to privacy


DECEMBER 2017

it to credit bureaus) or if such information is required under any kind of law. The customer should be communicated in writing about the mandated disclosures. The bank can’t share

personal information for marketing purposes unless the customer specifically authorizes the bank.


Right to Grievance Redress and Compensation

You have the right to hold a FSP accountable for any product or services offered and have a

right to easy and simple grievance redress system. The FSP must place its customer grievance

redressal mechanism public domain. As a customer you should first file an official complaint with the FSP, if it is not addressed you have the right to go the banking ombudsman, appointed by the Reserve Bank of India. You can file a complaint online on RBI’s website.

Benefit of complaints to Banks

A complain creates the scope to rectify the situation and regain the customer’s goodwill and create a basket of opportunities

What should be approach to tackle customers complain? Listen to the customers problems Identify the important points Sympathize

Show empathy

Thanks, the customer

Explain what can be done

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Act quickly

Corridor Concept to road development

Bharatmala Project It was given the nod by the Union Cabinet on October 25, is one of the biggest highway

construction projects in India in history. The government plans to get the project rolling by

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December next year.




DECEMBER 2017

It will look to improve connectivity particularly on economic corridors, border areas and far flung areas with an aim of quicker movement of cargo and boosting exports.

The project is expected to create nearly 100 million-man days of jobs during the road

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construction and subsequently 22 million jobs as a result of the increased economic activity




DECEMBER 2017

across the country. The construction will be billed via several routes including debt funds, budgetary allocation, private investment, toll operator transfer model etc.

Bharatmala includes economic corridors of around 9,000 km, inter-corridor and feeder routes of


around 6,000 km, 5,000 km roads under the National Corridors Efficiency Program, border and

international connectivity roads of around 2,000 km, coastal and port connectivity roads of around 2,000 km, expressways of around 800 km and 10,000 km of NHDP roads. The total length in phase 1 comes to around 34,800 km.

Bharatmala project will start in Gujarat and Rajasthan, followed by Punjab and subsequently

traversing the Himalayan belt through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,

parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur (next to the Indo-Burmese border) and then to Mizoram. Northeastern states have been given special

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focus in the project and international trade is a key aspect as well.

