Fleecing
the consumer on false promises
A
criminal act by all counts
by
Amba Charan Vashishth
Every producer of consumer goods has a right to promote his/her
goods. But can that be on the basis of false claims and promises?
Every other day we come across advertisements in the print and
the electronic media with a particular company coming out with very enticing
promotion programmes. Buy a particular good and, the advertisement announces, scratch
on the item and be "lucky" by grabbing fabulous goods as 'gifts' –one
of your numerous dream cars, hundreds of
laptops, scooters/motorcycles, refrigerators, coolers, watches, cookers and what
not, worth crores of rupees.
The consumer gets allured. He purchases goods which, at
times, he didn't need at once or even at all, but only to grab the lucky chance.
It is a gamble for him. But an overwhelming majority of the buyers scratch only
to discover dismay. If anybody gets, it is only a petty gift which one could
afford to live without.
It is true that companies are not legally bound to pack
every good with a costly gift. But, at the same time, they have the
responsibility to honour their
commitment to distribute these costly gifts worth crores of rupees. If not A, or
B, or C the Z must have got it. Companies never come out with an announcement
as to who exactly were the lucky winners of 10 lucury cars, 50 scooters/motor
cycles, 30 laptops, and a number of refrigerators and the like.
Some companies are smart enough to announce in print or
electronic media that A from Mumbai, B from Kolkata, C from Delhi and so on has
won it. But who exactly is this A or B or C? It is very easy to befool the
consumer with such announcements because you cannot locate A in Mumbai or B in
Kolkata and the like. Since the purchaser is made to give his full name, address
with phone numbers and e-mail address, the same should be displayed so that
others can be sure that the so-called promised 'gifts' have actually been
distributed.
Otherwise, it all amounts to cheating a consumer to part
with his money on false promises – a criminal offence.
Why should the Ministry of Company Affairs, Ministry of
Consumer Affairs and those concerned with protecting the consumer rights and
preventing unhealthy practices and allurements, not rise to the occasion and
make it mandatory for the companies announcing such alluring 'gifts' to publish
the complete list with full address? They should not be allowed to get away
with because of the laxity of the government agencies.
