Ref.: Er/Press/’03/Success.33/dG

At Bhadol, near Kalol in Gujarat, when Mrs Jyotiben Patel first heard from a family friend about Consumer Education and Research Centre, Ahmedabad, she did not know what it was all about. Nor could she guess how CERC could be of any help to her in her lone, unequal struggle for justice against the mighty, monolithic Life Insurance Corporation of India. (1 PHOTOGRAPH OF JYOTIBEN PATEL ENCLOSED.)
“CERC ? What does it stand for ?” This was the initial response also of Ms Priti P. Dharma (Gujarat), Mr. Gaurav Mathur (Rajasthan), Mr. Sanjay Goel (Maharashtra) and Mrs. M. L. Barretto (Goa), all in the West, or Mr. S. K. Malhotra (Delhi) in the North, or Dr. Hari John (Tamil Nadu) and Dr. Shamshad Hussain (Andhra Pradesh) in the South, or of Mr. Biswajit Sengupta (Kolkata) in the East. And of thousands of others of their like all over India, East, West, North, South.

The one common thread that bound them together was, when they eventually knew what CERC stood for, they knocked its doors as aggrieved consumers and, at the end of the day, in most cases, they returned home satisfied, almost each with a success story.

CERC, which completes 25 years this 18 August, had the opportunity to stand by them, to jointly fight for justice, shoulder to shoulder, through these two and a half decades. True, it could not satisfy all. Also true that it did not gain only friends all these years. But never did the social or economic status of the complainant — or the complainee, for that matter — weigh with CERC in pursuing a consumer’s complaint. Nor did the monetary worth of the product or service complained about. CERC sided with the wronged, regardless.

Along the way, consumers and CERC fought over from Rs 3 worth of telephone calls that never materialised, to a saree worth Rs. 70 damaged by the laundry, to compensation worth lakhs of rupees for the death of an only minor son of a daily wage-earner. Or over making the LIC change its own policy instead of those of its consumers.

The story of CERC is thus a saga of consumers’ own success stories, of their bravery, their courage of conviction; of wronged, exploited, misled, cheated, or harmed consumers who chose to fight back — to stand up and be counted.

HE LIVED 2 DAYS TOO LONG

Back to the story of Mrs. Jyotiben Patel, the widow who took on the LIC.

She had lost her husband, Amrutlal, on 9 April 1982, 92 days after he had been bitten by a dog. Earlier, he had taken a life insurance policy worth Rs. 35,000 under the accident benefit scheme. The LIC would pay her the death claim but not the amount due on account of his death by accident. The reason : Amrutlal should have died within 90 days of the dog bite to make his widow eligible for the accident benefit. But, alas, he had outlived the eligibility by full two days.

But why, she wondered, should CERC take interest in her complaint, her agony, when no one else had ? Nonetheless, insisted on by the family friend, Jyotiben walked into CERC offices and told them her tale of woe. She was glad she did. After a long battle, Jyotiben got her due. More importantly, the case forced the LIC to change its terms and conditions vis-a-vis the accident benefit policy. The limit of 90 days was extended to 120 days with the provision that if death occurs in between 120 and 180 days, the LIC may pay the accident benefit at its discretion.

That Jyotiben could never get over her gratitude to CERC is another story.

FROM PICNIC TO FUNERAL PYRE

Satbir, merely of 15 summers, stretched out his hands from deep waters, gasping. His head bobbing up and down. He was fighting a last-ditch battle for life in the treacherous river at Dholeswar, near Gandhinagar, away from his parents at Ahmedabad.

He had gone on a picnic from Nelson Higher Secondary School, Maninagar, Ahmedabad, along with 325 other students and a staff, 15-member strong. The day 26 October 1993. Time : 10.30 a.m.

On arrival at the picnic spot, several boys went to the water and, within minutes, Satbir was drowning, sinking down under, inch by inch, minute by minute. His first picnic - and last - lasted 5 minutes.

The dreams of Satbir’s petrified father, Jashbirsingh Jassal, autorickshaw driver, and mother, Rajinder Kaur, lay shattered. Jashbirsingh’s brother advised him to approach CERC. It filed a case in the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Gujarat State, against Nelson School. (1 PHOTOGRAPH OF SATBIR’S PARENTS, JASHBIRSINGH JASSAL AND RAJINDER KAUR, IS ENCLOSED.)

About nine years after the boy’s death, the Commission attributed the death to “nothing but negligence” on the part of the school. It directed Nelson School to pay Rs 4 lakh with interest and New India Assurance to pay Rs 10,000 to the bereaved family.

But will any compensation heal the two bleeding hearts, ever?

WAITING FOR ICE-CREAM

In Delhi, Mr S. K. Malhotra was hot and fuming with a new refrigerator, costing Rs 13,700, that would take 12 hours to form ice-cream. His correspondence with the manufacturer resulted in workmen’s and engineer’s visits but not in ice-cream. A flustered Mr. Malhotra complained to CERC. It picked up the threads where Mr. Malhotra had left them, dejected. Sixteen months after the purchase of the fridge with a 5-year warranty, the manufacturing company refunded the full amount to Mr. Malhotra in lieu of the apparently unrepairable refrigerator.

TAKEN FOR A RIDE

Down South, in Chennai, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Jain purchased a car in October 2000 and ever since was left high and dry. He complained to the dealer about brake noise, brake pedal going in and self-starter problem. The dealer’s promise of “immediate action” eluded fulfillment. Mr. Jain took recourse to CERC’s help. His complaint was resolved.
* * *
From 18 August 1978 to 17 August 2003.

From a corpus fund of Rs. 250, a rented office costing Rs 2,000 a month, and 3 volunteers to an Endowment Fund of over Rs 3 crore, an infrastructure worth Rs 15 crore, a 10,000-sq. mtr. plot of land with office premises covering 3300 sq. mtr., and a staff of 85. From individual donations ranging from Rs. 11 to Rs. 1 lakh, and organisational grants ranging from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 2.25 crore. Its annual expenditure today stands at Rs. 1.25 crore. (1 PHOTOGRAPH OF CERC BUILDING COMPLEX ENCLOSED.)

All this, from 18 August 1978 till date.

And this about sums up the growth of CERC during the past 25 years. But then the growth of CERC has not been all money or manpower. In terms of activities, it all began with writing ‘Letters to the Editor’ and articles in newspapers and representations to the authorities concerned. But then a series of arbitrary decisions on the part of the authorities galvanised the fledgling organisation to take up the issues in a big way - and alter the decisions of the high and the mighty. For CERC, for the next 25 years, there was no looking back.

Today its activities include research, education and awareness campaign, library and information service, internship programme, publication, advocacy, mediation, arbitration, legal advise, litigation, organising regional, national and international meets, participating in those organised by other consumer organisations, experience sharing and networking, and comparative testing of consumer products, evaluating, rating and ranking them, recommending the ‘Best Buy’ and dissemination of the test findings for consumer empowerment.

On the threshold of its 26th year, CERC renews its pledge to continue its war on all forms of consumer exploitation, unfair manufacturing practices, poor unsafe products, a perfunctory grievance redressal mechanism...and to continue its movement for consumer rights, consumer empowerment and total consumer protection. With these objectives in view, CERC rededicates itself to the consumers of India.

A week-long programme has been drawn up to celebrate the Silver Jubilee which, in other words, is a celebration of the success of the Indian consumer so far and an occasion to renew the resolve to fight on. The programmes will include, among others, a painting competition for children, an Open House, an Open Seminar, and a Public Meeting.

Date : 08/08/2003
Place : Ahmedabad

Pritee Shah
Editor
INSIGHT - The Consumer Magazine

Encl. : 1 Photograph of Mrs. Jyotiben Patel
1 Photograph of Satbir’s parents, Jashbirsingh Jassal and Rajinder Kaur
1 Photograph of CERC Building Complex
CERC Silver Jubilee Programme Copy
—————

INVITATION
TO
PUBLIC MEETING
ON
CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
- PRESENT DIMENSIONS AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS

Monday 25 August 2003
Venue : Bhaikaka Hall, Next to British Library Time :
Law Garden, Ahmedabad 05.00 p.m. – 07.00 p.m.

Invocation : Dr.Monica Shah
5.05 – 5.10 p.m.

Welcome Address : Prof Manubhai Shah
CERC Through 25 Years Chairman Emeritus – CERC
5.10 – 5.20 p.m. Ahmedabad

Partners in Our Growth : Shri P Jagjit Singh
5.20 – 5.30 p.m. Executive Director- Marketing, LIC
Mumbai

5.30 – 5.40 p.m. Shri P P Vora
Chairman & Managing Director, IDBI
Mumbai

5.40 – 5.50 p.m. Shri Glenn Whaley
Director – EEE, USAID
New Delhi

5.50 – 6.00 p.m. Shri Arvind Narottam Lalbhai
Chairman, Arvind Mills Ltd.
Ahmedabad

Guest Address : Hon’ble Justice Shri M S Parikh
6.00 – 6.10 p.m. President, Gujarat State Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission
Ahmedabad

Chief Guest Address : Hon’ble Shri Sharad Yadav
6.10 – 6.25 p.m. Minister for Consumer Affairs &
Public Distribution, Government of India
New Delhi

6.25 – 6.30 p.m. Felicitation to Prof Manubhai Shah

6.30 – 6.40 p.m. Prize Distribution for Painting Competition
By Shri Abhay Mangaldas

Presidential Address : His Excellency Shri Kailashpati Mishra
6.40 – 6.55 p.m. Governor of Gujarat

Vote of Thanks : Shri Ashok Tandon, IPS (Retd.)
6.55 – 7.00 p.m. Managing Trustee – CERC, Ahmedabad

07.00 p.m. – 07.30 p.m : REFRESHMENTS

INVITATION
TO OPEN SEMINAR
ON
CONSUMER RIGHTS, YOU AND CERC

Sunday 24 August 2003
Venue : Ahmedabad Management Association Hall Time :
ATIRA Campus, Ahmedabad 04.00 p.m. – 08.00 p.m.

? Welcome Address : Shri Ashok Tandon
04-00 pm – 4.10 pm Managing Trustee – CERC

? Special Guests : Shri Mihir Ramesh Bhatt
Director, Disaster Mitigation Institute, Ahmedabad

: Shri Shalin Niranjan Mehta
Advocate, Gujarat High Court, Ahmedabad
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION I : CONSUMERS WHO KNOCKED AT CERC’S
04.10 p.m. – 05.20 p.m. DOORS
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

? Chairperson

Mrs Swarn Kohli
President
CERS, Mumbai

Speakers

Complainants :

Ms Joitiben Patel - Husband died 2 days too late
Village Bhadol

Shri Kamalbhai N Shah - A Husband Challenges unfair
Ahmedabad Terms of Contract

Ms Manjulaben Parmar - Bananas and Pears
(Shri Girish Parmar, Son of
Manjulaben)
Rajkot

Ms Kinnari U Kantharia - Alternate Dispute Resoulation
Ahmedabad

Shri Jasbir Singh B Jassal - A Bereaved Father Recalls
Ahmedabad ]

Shri Pravin Parekh - Evolution of Law and
Chairman, CERC Settlement of Disputes
New Delhi
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION II CERC AND PUBLIC INTEREST ISSUES
05.20 – 05.30 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Shri Shyam Divan
Trustee – CERC
Mumbai
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5.30 - 5.40 p.m TEA BREAK
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION III CERC’S RESPONSE TO SOCIETAL NEEDS
05.40 – 06.40 p.m.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chairperson

Prof Upendra Baxi
Governing Body Member - CERS
New Delhi

Speakers
Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt - Environment Protection
Governing Body Member – CERS
Chamoli (U.P.)

Dr S A Dave - Investor Protection
Trustee – CERC
Mumbai

Dr Prem Chandran John - Comparative Product Testing
Chairman – TORCH
Chennai

Shri S L Rao - The Working of Regulatory Mechanism :
Trustee – CERC Role of CERC
Bangalore

Prof Manubhai Shah - New Challenges Ahead
Chairman Emeritus – CERC
Ahmedabad
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION IV CONSUMER GROUPS AND CERC
06.40 –07.10 p.m.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chairperson & Speaker

Shri Shirish Deshpande
Director Consumer Psrotection
MGP, Mumbai

Speakers

Shri Chandra Prakash Ramnani
Managing Trustee
Rural Consumer Awareness &
Research Centre, Jaora, Ratlam (M.P)

Mrs Chitra Sirur
President
CGSI, Mumbai
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SESSION V YOU AND THE GOVERNMENT
07.10 –07.40 p.m.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chairperson

Shri B. K. Goswami
Trustee – CERC
New Delhi

Speakers

Prof. Manubhai Shah
Chairman – Emeritus, CERC

Shri Wajahat Habibullah, IAS
Secretary
Dept. of Consumer Affairs
Ministry of Consumer Affairs &
Public Distribution, Government of India
New Delhi

Hon’ble Shri Kaushikbhai Patel
Minister for Revenue, Food & Civil Supplies &
Consumer Affairs
Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar

DISCUSSION OPEN TO PUBLIC

Vote of Thanks : Smt. Alice Garg
Trustee – CERC , Jaipur
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REFRESHMENTS