Need to provide quality products to consumers at affordable prices: Goyal

Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday stressed the need to provide quality products and services to consumers at affordable prices.

Addressing an event to mark World Consumer Rights Day 2023, the minister said that the "consumer is at the centre and core of all our activities".

"The very purpose of our activities should be a satisfied customer...We have gathered here to celebrate consumers' rights. We want to give confidence to consumers and want to win their trust," he added.

Goyal emphasised that it is the duty of the government, consumer courts and industries to protect the consumers' interests.

Customer service, customer awareness and customer redressal should be the focus, he noted.

Goyal added that there is also a need to guide customers on the path of a sustainable future, as the entire world talks about green growth.

The minister said the Prime Minister keeps consumers at the centre of all the government's programmes.

The government has focused a lot on the quality of products and services, he noted.

Stating that consumers are no longer happy with the sub-standard products, Goyal said the consumers are now aware, and demand quality products and services in the field of all sectors be it healthcare, education or food.

The World Consumer Right Day 2023 is a day of celebration and an opportunity to reinforce our commitment to protect the rights of consumers by providing quality products and services, he noted.

Goyal said efforts should be made to attract customers' demand towards quality as low-quality goods are dangerous for customers and also the economy.

After the strict testing in the case of toys, he said it was found that many of them were substandard and also unsafe for children.

Goyal also spoke about the need to strengthen our commitment towards quality.

He stressed giving focus on quality and competitiveness so that consumers get quality products at the right price and affordable price.

Nidhi Khare, additional secretary, the Department of Consumer Affairs, said the theme of World Consumer Rights Day 2023 is "Empowering consumers through clean energy transitions".

The primary thrust is on the deployment of technology to reduce the dependence on traditional energy sources, such as fossil fuels and enable a rapid transition to clean energy solutions that promote sustainability, security, affordability and access to consumers in the long term.

In line with the LiFE (Lifestyle for the environment) movement launched by the Prime Minister, Khare said the department has initiated the creation of the "Right to Repair portal" to protect consumers against planned obsolescence i.e. designing a product with limited life resulting in increasing e-waste.