"The motivation to protest, fight and correct injustice is manifest in consumerism-a unique word which signifies both the opposites of consumption. The consumer movement is neutral to class, caste, gender, creed, race and religion, it is a non-partisan political movement wherein the rights of the richest and the poorest consumer deserve appropriate protection. "

Due to its pioneering work in the area of consumer protection, CUTS has not only risen to the forefront of the consumer movement in India, but also the world. It has spearheaded several campaigns and pioneered consumer empowerment. At the ground level, it has trained and created over 1000 activists and help establish over 300 independent groups in Rajasthan and elsewhere. In order to achieve cutting edge in its activities, the Centre has formulated its own vision statement. (PDF format).

In 1992, CUTS launched the All India Consumer Action Network (AICAN), a coalition of nearly 30 consumer representatives in the Government of India’s Central Consumer Protection Council. AICAN has since emerged as the Consumer Coordination Council, the apex body of consumer organisations in India. Currently it has about 50 members, the criterion being mainly that members will be recruited from such organisations who are or have been members of the Central Consumer Protection Council. The formation of the body was catalysed by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, New Delhi. CUTS has served as its founding member and has been responsible to draft its mission statement as well as the basic structure of its capacity building work.

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MISSION
To enable people, in particular women, to achieve their rights to basic needs and sustainable development through a strong consumer movement.

GOALS
To function as a dynamic centre for information, research, networking and action by increasing resources and outputs, and enhancing social action groups and work force in the field as well as media interaction as a complementary process in the evolution of a just society and equitable system.

STRATEGIES

MILESTONES

GRASSROOT LEVEL

Activities and accomplishments
Training, counseling and complaints handling at all the three centres: Calcutta, Jaipur and Chittorgarh. Handled thousands of complaints since inception and provided relief to a large number of people, often by negotiations. For instance, in a case of a lift accident victim, obtained an unprecedented compensation of Rs. 50,000 without going to court.

NATIONAL LEVEL

Policy research and advocacy
Nominated thrice to the Government of India's Central Consumer Protection Council, set up in 1988, and served on various critical working groups and committees set up under it. A unique honor was bestowed when nominated simultaneously on the state consumer protection councils of West Bengal and Rajasthan for three terms.

Responsible for the enactment, strengthening and enforcement of the dynamic Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (COPRA), likes of which are not seen elsewhere. Instrumental in getting the World Consumer Rights Day, 15th March adopted as the National Consumers Day, and a survey and lobbying on the irrational structure of local taxes led to a pro consumer change in policy. For more information, click here.

Pursuant to a public interest litigation on medical negligence by CUTS, the Supreme Court of India ruled that all government employees even if they or their families get free medical treatment, they would be covered under COPRA. The landmark judgment settled the controversy of medical negligence being covered under COPRA. In another landmark case involving strikes in a bank, where the banks down shutters, the apex court ruled that the banks have to provide alternative arrangements to consumers or face action. Since then, no long strike has taken place in any bank.

Networking
Active networking with consumer groups at the national level through the establishment of an apex body, Consumer Coordination Council (CCC), with the mission: "To be an effective national coalition of consumer protection groups so as to provide a thrust to common issues affecting consumers." CUTS is a founder member and has served on the first board of governors of the CCC while it follows a democratic process of eliciting members' views in deciding its campaigns. CUTS participates actively in CCC's national campaigns. One major one is on Citizens Charters. CUTS has been selected as the lead organisation for widening the campaign on citizen charter for the electricity sector in Rajasthan.

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Representation
Representing consumers interests at the national level through placing memorandum and raising debates on diverse issues of consumers interests. The Union Finance Minister has invited CUTS representative into a pre-budget consultation meeting with major consumer groups since the initiation of the process in 1997. CUTS has been instrumental for the government to adopt two major initiatives in 1999: formulation of a comprehensive competition law by scrapping the almost defunct Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, and adoption of an uniform sales tax across the country. For more information, click here.

click on the links to get the memorandum submitted to the union finance minister by CUTS.

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PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Power Sector Reforms
Road Safety
Economic Governance
MDG's
Consumer Action in Rajasthan

Block Level Activities
In the year 1997, a project on Consumer Action in Rajasthan started with the support of HIVOS, the Netherlands. The ultimate aim is to ensure that atleast one consumer group is available in each of the 237 blocks in 32 districts of Rajasthan.

The project is aimed at strengthening the grassroot consumer movement in Rajasthan by establishing social action groups at the block level through a scientifically structured work programme.

In the first phase, the project was implemented in four districts of Rajasthan namely Ajmer, Chittorgarh, Jodhpur and Pali. 8 blocks of Ajmer, 14 of Chittorgarh, 9 of Jodhpur and 10 of Pali were surveyed and the possibilities of creating social action groups were find out by identifying new volunteers or existing inactive organisations.

In 1998, the 2nd phase of the programme was established with the support of Canadian International Development Agency, New Delhi, and in four new districts namely Nagaur, Jalore, Kota and Bhilwara. Similar social action groups were created in 5 blocks of Kota, 11 of Nagaur, 11 of Bhilwara and 7 of Jalore.

The activities undertaken at the block level are:

• preliminary strategy meetings with the identified block level networkers responsible for forming social action groups in their blocks, and
• intensive skill trainings to the block coordinators along with few other members of their organisation.

This is followed by a rally or a campaign meeting at the district level.

These block level organisations are coordinated by a district-level organisation. Both the district group and block groups are financially supported by CUTS under a mother unit scheme. For more information, click here.

Capacity Building: Consumer Friends Training
On a regular basis, CUTS conducts Consumer Friends Training Programme in Rajasthan, which is a guideline to governments under the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, 1985. Over 26 such trainings have been organised in Rajasthan, reaching out to nearly 500 consumer activists, while two such programmes were also done in Darjeeling, West Bengal and Bhubaneswar, Orissa, respectively. For more information, click here.

Capacity Building: Training for Young Consumer Leaders
CUTS was born as a purely voluntary organisation. Over time, we learned the art of consumer activism through a simple process of trial and error, avoiding past mistakes. There was no training involved, just the belief and strong commitment to the cause.

But the world had become much more complex. In 1990s, borders were crumbling in the wake of globalisation of several protected economies, including that of India. Liberalisation of the economy had heralded newer forms of products and marketing, and created a very complex market leaving consumers confused and bewildered. Simultaneously, there had also been a sprut in the growth of voluntary organisations. The issues and consumer rights' abuses were many; and activists few.

In such a scenario, CUTS realised that the then consumer movement in India dominated by a handful of consumer activists, was incapable of tackling the new challenges. An urgent need was felt to scientifically promote a generation of young consumer leaders who could carry the flag for achieving consumer sovereignty into the 21st century.

The regional office of the International Organisation of Consumer Unions (IOCU) saw reason in this viewpoint. As part of its programme to strengthen the consumer movement in India, the IOCU selected CUTS to organise a series of training workshops to impart leadership traits among the young consumer leaders.

These workshops were organised in Calcutta, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and New Delhi. About 25 young activists were taken through a course in skills impartation, campaigning, media advocacy, strategic planning and organisational development.

Consumer Information Centre
In the various consumer rights vested in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (COPRA), the “Right to information” is one of the principal rights.

In order to give political direction to Right to Information, the Department of Food and Consumer Affairs, Government of India has decided to establish a “Consumer Information Centre” in all the 450+ districts in the 9th Five year plan. In the first phase 40 such Centres are to be set up, and operated by NGOs.

CUTS was selected to set up a Centre at Jaipur with the support of Consumer Welfare Fund. If this Centre is successful, CUTS will establish such centres at Chittorgarh and Calcutta, which have also been approved.

The services available at the Consumer Information Centre are:

On the whole this Centre is designed to work as library, research and consumer counseling centre, as well as a resource centre for other NGOs.

Promoting State Accountability
One of the strategies of CUTS, as a representative of the 5th Estate, is to interact with the other four estates of a democracy: the government and the polity, media and the judiciary so as to achieve for people their rights to basic needs and sustainable development.

Policies announced or formulated by the government are implemented through budgets and five year plans. Efficiency is also wanting. While there is a government appointed watchdog, the Auditor General and legislative committees: Public Accounts Committee at both the centre and the state, yet a huge amount of money goes waste. Therefore, CUTS took up Citizens' Accountability Project in Rajasthan in the year 1998. A report on macro analysis of Rajasthan state budgets for the period 1992-93 to 1997-98 is available. Following this pilot project, a bigger project was taken up in October 1999: "Promoting State Accountability and Citizen Empowerment through Budget Analysis".

Under this project, analysis of budgets, plans and development schemes will be done with the object of : "Informing and educating women, farm labourers and marginal farmers about the manner in which funds allocated for their benefit are mis/un-utilised at various level of government heirarchy and thus, provoke action by the citizen to make the government more open and accountable." This project for three years is being funded by The Ford Foundation, New Delhi. For more information, click here.

National Consumer Policy Statement
Governments declare their policy in relation to what they will do in areas which concern governance unless it involves state secrets like defence matters. In pursuance a policy statement is published for the benefit of people and guidance of the administrations.

The rationale behind the national consumer policy stems from Article 39 of the Directive Principles under the Constitution of India to be followed by the State to ensure overall welfare of the citizens of the country.

The draft National Consumer Policy of India is based on the consumer rights enshrined in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, 1985.

Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms

CUTS in association with Friedrich Ebert Stuftung has launched 3 year long programme with the aim of involving the consumers at policy making as well as its execution level, and to bring about minimum consensus amongst major political parties about the power sector reforms in the state of Rajasthan.

More on project

State of the Indian Consumer
There is a fairly well defined and formulated consumer policy statement at the international level: the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9th April 1985. The guidelines call upon governments to develop, strengthen or maintain a strong consumer policy, and provide for enhanced protection of consumer by enunciating various steps and measures around seven themes:

1. Physical safety,
2. Economic interest,
3. Standards,
4. Essential Goods and services,
5. Redress,
6. Education and Information, and
7. Health.

Implicitly it spells out what governments need to do to buttress the eight rights of consumers. The case for the guidelines is that they set out and codify the main elements of the consumer protection, and create an international framework within which national consumer protection polices can be worked out. They give consumer policy a clear set of objectives and provide a checklist against which governments can measure their own policies. Moreover, the guidelines cannot remain static. They need to change with time, especially when national economies are being globalised and the information revolution is shrinking the world every day.

The UN Guidelines, the most comprehensive policy framework aimed at protecting consumers rights around the world, has the following objectives to:

CUTS had taken up a project to research, document and hold national consultation on the implementation of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection 1985 in India. The objectives of this project are to:

The project is completed and the final report is being prepared. The abstract of the report is available as an Overview.

Consumer Rights and its Expansion
Since 1989, we in India are observing 15th March as the National Consumers' Day. On this day in 1962, John. F. Kennedy moved the Bill for Consumer Rights the US Congress. In this Bill he gave four basic rights for the American Consumer:

1. The Right to Safety,
2. The Right to Choose,
3. The Right to Information, and
4. The Right to be Heard.

The Consumers International (CI), formerly International Organisation of Consumer Unions (IOCU), expanded the charter of consumer rights contained in the US Bill of Right, which in a logical order reads:

1. Basic Needs,
2. Safety,
3. Information,
4. Choice,
5. Representation,
6. Redress,
7. Consumer Education, and
8. Healthy Environment.

CUTS is continuously working in the direction of consumer rights and its expansion. It has advocated the inclusion of two other rights: 1. The Right to Boycott and 2. The Right to Opportunity.

1. The Right to Boycott

Boycott can be defined as the social and commercial intercourse: to refuse to take part in, deal with, handle by way of trade, etc. It can be defined as the refusal to social and commercial relation with (a person, group, country, etc.) or refusal to handle or use the goods.

Taking a leaf out of the India's freedom movement, when Mahatma Gandhi had successfully organised various boycotts of foreign cloth, salt etc. we at CUTS declared and adopted the 9th Consumer Right on India's Independence Day- 15 August 1990: "The right to resist and boycott any person, goods or services in the event of conflict with consumer's interest".

2. The Right to Opportunity

Opportunity can be defined as the means through which human beings find the wherewithal to function in the society as consumers. The existence of opportunity gives a person the freedom of enlargement of his activities (both economic as well as social) in the dynamics of participatory governance.

Observing the social disarray created by government jobs and dole schemes, whether permanent or temporary, and how they maim the spirit of enterprise which prevails in the mass humanity of India, CUTS was inspired to declare and adopt the 10th (enabling) Consumer Right on 26th January 1991: "The right to opportunities to acquire basic needs which will enable one to work and to earn a living, without exploitation".

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PROJECTS COMPLETED

Power Sector Reforms

• Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan

Good Governance

• Measuring Effectiveness of Mid Day Meal Scheme in Rajasthan- Participatory Expenditure Tracking Survey(PETS)

EVENTS

• State level workshop Grassroots Reachout and Networking in India on Trade and Economics
  HCM-RIPA, Jaipur, India, December 21, 2005
• Rajasthan State Media Workshop under Grassroots Reachout & Networking In India on Trade & Economics (GRANITE) Project
  Jaipur, October 6, 2005
• Launch Meeting & Training Seminar – GRANITE
  February 24-27, 2005
• Seminar on “Advocacy & Networking for Child Rights”
  February 03, 2005, Jaipur
• ‘Sustainable Water Management & Distribution: Sensitising Consumer Groups/CSOs in Rajasthan’ CUTS-WSP(SA) Seminar, March 20, 2004, Jaipur
• 20th Anniversary Celebration of Gram Gadar April 13, 2002, Jaipur (Event Report)
• World Consumer Rights Day-Book Release “How to Survive as a Consumer”
  March 15, 2002
• 3rd Division Level Workshop, "Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan"
  December 27, 2001, Hotel Aravali, Alwar
• 2nd Division Level Workshop, "Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan"
  November 20, 2001, Abu Road,India
• Anti-corruption Programme by CUTS
  November 3, 2001, Jaipur, India
• 1st Division Level Workshop,"Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan"
  October 6, 2001, Chittorgarh, India
• Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan: Design and Launch Workshop
  August 20-21 2001, Jaipur India
• Girl Child Education Motivation Programme, 2001
  July 9, 2001, Kanpura, Nimbahera.
• World Consumer Rights Day 2001
• Workshop on New Competition Law of India – What does it mean to consumers?
  Calcutta, 11th February 2001
• Workshop on Regulatory Reforms in the Power Sector: Role of Consumers
  Held on Septembers 27-28, 2000, Jaipur, India
• Workshop on Citizen's Charter for the Electricity Sector
  A state-level workshop held at Jaipur, India during July 25-26, 1999, and organised in association with the Consumer Coordination Council, New Delhi, India.
• National Consultation on Consumer Policy
  A consultation held at New Delhi, India on March 5, 1998.
• National Workshop on State of the Indian Consumer
  A workshop held at Jaipur, India during October 18-19, 1997.
• Workshop on Women As Disadvantaged Consumers
  A state-level workshop held at Jaipur, India during June 29-30, 1997.
• Consumers in the Global Age
  An international conference held at New Delhi, India during January 22-24, 1997, and organised in association with the Consumers International, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Peneny, Malaysia. For proceedings of the conference, click here.

• Training Workshops for Young Consumer Leaders
  A series of four workshops held in different parts of India during 1994-96 in order to create a set of dedicated young consumer activists
• Skills in Documentation
  A series of four workshops held in different parts of Rajasthan during 1994 for creating a set of grass root level consumer activists on social entrepreneurship.
• National Workshop on Entitlements of Rural Consumers
  A workshop held at Chittorgarh, India during December 1-5, 1993.
• Orientation Workshop on Population Education
  A workshop held at Chittorgarh, India during March 4-5, 1993.
• National Convention of Consumer Activists
  A convention held at Calcutta, India during November 1-3, 1992.
• National Workshop on Consumer and Environmental Laws
  A workshop held at New Delhi, India during April 14-15, 1990.

Events: Power Sector Reforms

Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan: Evaluation & Design Workshop

March 18-19, 2004, Jaipur India ^New

Sixth training seminar of the CUTS-FES joint programme ‘Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan’ February 16, 2004, Abu Road

Fifth training seminar of the CUTS-FES joint programme ‘Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan’
January 13, 2004, Alwar Fourth training seminar of the CUTS-FES joint programme ‘Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan’

November 23, 2003, Sawai Madhopur

Third training seminar of the CUTS-FES joint programme ‘Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan’
October 22, 2003, Bhilwara

Second training seminar of the CUTS-FES joint programme ‘Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan’
September 24, 2003, Jalore

First training seminar under third phase of the CUTS-FES joint programme ‘Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan’
September 01, 2003, Chittorgarh

First of the Series of Focussed Workshop under the project ‘Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan’
August 19-20, 2002, Alwar
3rd Division Level Workshop, "Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan"

December 27, 2001, Hotel Aravali, Alwar.

2nd Division Level Workshop, "Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan"

November 20, 2001, Abu Road,India

1st Division Level Workshop, "Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan"

October 06, 2001, Chittorgarh, India

Involvement of Consumers in Power Sector Reforms in Rajasthan: Design and Launch Workshop

August 20-21, 2001, Jaipur India

‘Gram Gadar’ (Village Revolution), our rural wall-newspaper, has complete its 20 years. This newspaper was launched in 1983 with the aim of increasing awareness of rural folk and weaker sections of the society in Rajasthan.

To commemorate the completion of 20 years of this wall-newspaper, CUTS organised a Symposium on the ‘Role of Means of Communication in Rural Development’ on 13th April, 2002, Jaipur.

For more information please contact:

Dharmendra Chatturvedi/ Sri Prakash Sharma

Consumer organisations through out the world celebrate 15th of March as the World Consumer Rights Day. CUTS utilised this opportunity to release a book entitled “How to Survive as A Consumer” in English and “Adhikar Upbhokta ka, Rah Kanoon Ki” in Hindi, at Press Club of India, Raisina Road, New Delhi.

Mr. Sreenivasa Prasad, Hon’ble Minister of State for Consumer Affaires and Food, released the book written by Mr. Pradeep S Mehta. The publication of this book is a part of continuous efforts of CUTS in the direction of Consumer Awareness, in general and Right to Representation and Redressal, in particular.

Among the others, peoples from civil society organisations, various government establishments and from media participated in the event.

Click here to get agenda of the event

For more information please contact:
cuts@cuts.org

• Campaign on Consumer Rights

• Campaign on Consumer Safety

• Mahila Pratinidhi Sammelan

• Catalyst