People should stop finding fault with sellers and manufacturers and become aware of their rights as consumers to protect themselves from being exploited, said Collector L. Subramanian.
Addressing the World Consumer Rights Day programme organised by the Department of Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection here on Thursday, he said, “People get cheated on a daily basis — they are sold expired goods, charged extra for water bottles kept in refrigerator, and so on. They must know their rights and exercise them with responsibility.”
Mr. Subramanian said one must exercise caution while buying over-the-counter (OTC) medicines since such goods were usually sold above MRP to unsuspecting customers.
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“Children should be wary of sweets and chocolates made using adulterated ingredients and sold under fake brand names,” Mr. Subramanian added.
Prizes were distributed to school and college students who won oratorical and painting competitions organised ahead of the World Consumer Rights Day.
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Speaking at the event, Joint Commissioner of Labour M. Saravanan urged consumers to be proactive.
They could file complaints with the labour department if they had grievances regarding quantity, price or quality of packaged products.
“We will soon introduce a facility using which consumers can register complaints by sending pictures of products through WhatsApp so that we can take appropriate action. We carry out raids regularly on shops near bus stands selling packaged products above MRP, and have confiscated unstamped and non-standardised weights and measures from weekly markets,” he said.
J.S. Arthur of Koodal Nagar Consumers’ Protection Forum said complaints should be redressed within three months and appealed to the Collector to look into the issue as it took a long time to resolve consumer disputes.
An exhibition was put up by the labour department where standardised and non- standardised and stamped and unstamped weights and measures were displayed to guide the visitors to identify them easily.