Storyboard: In conversation with D Shivakumar on the impact of Consumer Protection Bill 2019

Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Consumer Protection Bill 2019, which seeks to give enhanced protection to interests of consumers and timely settlement of their grievances. This Bill, which will soon be taken up in the Rajya Sabha for discussion, has the provision for setting up an executive agency called Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) with a mandate to carry out investigations into violations of consumer rights, recall of unsafe goods and services and discontinue unfair trade practices and misleading ads. The CCPA is also empowered to impose penalties on manufacturers of unsafe goods, along with this the endorsers and publishers of misleading ads. Today, Storyboard talks to D Shivakumar, chairman, ASCI on the impact of this development on consumers and Advertising Standards Council of India.