The Association of Professional Detectives and Investigators (APDI) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, apprising him of substandard and counterfeit products being sold to "innocent" people amid coronavirus lockdown.
These spurious products, the association said, pose serious health and safety chanllenges for the country.
"I am writing to bring to your notice the danger of substandard counterfeit products flooding our markets during the COVID-19 lockdown and beyond, potentially causing a mammoth health and safety challenge," APDI chairman K Vikram Singh said in a letter to Modi earlier this month.
The letter stressed that these challenging times are being used as a potential opportunity by fraudsters, "especially counterfeiters who indulge in manufacturing and selling spurious products to our innocent and unassuming fellow citizens".
As per industry estimates, counterfeiting causes a loss of over Rs 1 lakh crore annually to the Indian economy. Every single successful brand is suffering from this menace including pharmaceuticals, FMCG, automotive, liquor, cement, electronics, etc.
Actions of these counterfeiters directly pose as a health, safety and security risk to Indians.
The APDI and its members have been working closely with the brand owners and the law enforcement agencies in fighting this menace by identifying and investigating these perpetrators for the past two decades.
It is believed that upwards of 10,000 enforcement actions are annually undertaken by various law enforcement agencies across the country.
"We suspect that this disruption to the usual supply chains of most goods across the country will give counterfeiters an unprecedented access to supply dangerous and substandard goods whilst the original manufacturers are abiding by the national lockdown. It is just the supply that has been curtailed due to the lockdown, not the demand," it said.
The APDI has urged the Prime Minister to instruct the law enforcement agencies to give due importance to this menacing problem at this crucial and challenging time for the nation.
"Your patronage will save lakhs of innocent consumers from being duped and suffer from serious health issues. On behalf of thousands of private investigators and brand protection professionals, I assure you of our total and unflinching support to your national mission to save our country from the prevailing pandemic," it added.
The APDI commended the Prime Minister for leading the nation through these challenging times and for taking the tough and far sighted decision of successfully implementing a three-week national lockdown.
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