State to pull up companies giving inadvertent ads

 The state Consumer Affairs minister Sadhan Pande said in the Assembly that the department would pull up companies giving “inadvertent advertisement” in print and electronic media to woo people.

He said the Lok Sabha would pass a bill on the matter soon. The standing committee has cleared the matter and once the bill was passed, the state government would take action against such firms.

He was giving a reply to a question raised by CPI(M) MLA Anisur Rahaman. Rahaman said he had recently purchased a product after getting to know about it in television. But after getting it he found that the advertisement was fake. He said thousands of people had been cheated by several firms who give ads in newspapers and television channels about products and offer financial benefits to the purchased who would book them online. But when the goods are delivered it is often found that the price shown in the advertisement was far less than the actual price and the buyers are forced to pay the additional amount.

Pande said the department had taken elaborate steps to create awareness among people. Consumer assistance bureau has been set up in every district and the officials help the affected persons to file their petitions and even provide them with lawyers. 

The department has also proposed to set up two circuit branches at Siliguri and Asansol so that people from remote districts will not have to come to the city to register their grievances. He said many schools and colleges had approached the Consumer Affairs department and awareness drives had been taken up in the educational institutions.