Bhubaneswar: A day after asking collectors of 10 districts to hold meetings of District Consumer Protection Councils (DCPCs) on time, the state government Monday directed the collectors of 17 districts to submit proposal for reconstitution of these councils in their districts without further delay.
“The proposal for constituting DCPCs under Section 8A of Consumer Protection Act 1986 has not yet been received from your districts,” said Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FSCW) department additional secretary A K Bhuyan to the collectors of the districts in question, while reminding them that a letter to this effect has already been sent to them by the FSCW secretary in November 2017.
“Submit the proposal for constitution of DCPCs in your districts without further delay,” the joint secretary said to the collectors.
The districts are Bhadrak, Bolangir, Cuttack, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Nuapada, Puri, Sambalpur, Sonepur and Sundargarh.
As per the Consumer Protection Act of 1986, the state government establishes in every district, by notification, a district consumer protection council to promote and protect the rights of the consumers. These panels are to be reconstituted once in three years following expiry of their terms.
The objective of the DCPC is to protect the rights of consumers that include the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services.
The council generally comprises the district collector as its chairman and a number of officials and non-officials as members.
Saturday, the government had asked the collectors of Balasore, Boudh, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nawarangpur, Nayagarh
and Rayagada to convene their meeting on time.
The existing of the consumer protection act mandates DCPCs to hold periodic meetings.
PNN
