Consumer Complaints Surge: Government Acts

Consumer complaints have risen fivefold over the past five years, leading the government to urge FMCG, food, and retail companies to improve their grievance redressal systems. Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare emphasized the need to enhance testing infrastructure, incorporating AI and robotics to boost the capacity for testing product samples against quality standards. This technological integration is expected to increase testing from 30 to 300 samples daily, reducing costs and enhancing accuracy, particularly benefiting MSMEs.

The government is also simplifying Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) quality norms to aid industry compliance, with this effort slated for completion by World Standards Day on October 14, 2026. This initiative aims to make standards more understandable, especially for MSMEs. Furthermore, regulatory burdens are being eased, including a reduction in mandatory Quality Control Orders (QCOs) from 700 to 624. Provisions like improvement notices under the Legal Metrology Act are being introduced to allow manufacturers time to correct mistakes before compounding.

These steps are part of a broader strategy to build trust between consumers and manufacturers, moving away from treating minor, unintentional errors as criminal offenses. The government also noted that many countries voluntarily conform to standards, encouraging Indian businesses to adopt BIS standards voluntarily.