Kolkata: The state Consumer Affairs (CA) department has begun engaging with industries to raise awareness about consumer rights and help prevent the public from falling victim to fraudulent practices, including cybercrime. The Kolkata Port Regional Office (RO) held a consumer awareness programme in collaboration with the Cyber Crime Police Station of Lalbazar at an industry based in Garden Reach. Moumita Das, Assistant Director (AD), Kolkata Port RO of CA department spoke elaborately about the structure of the department, rights of the consumer, how an aggrieved consumer can seek legal aid and get redressal, the functioning of the consumer assistance bureau 87 participants attended the session, that included 42 in offline and 45 in online.
“We have emphasised topic-based awareness about burning issues of today by roping in experts and supplementing the programme by highlighting consumer rights associated with that topic. We have organised sessions at several higher educational institutions in the city and are presently focusing on the industries with the Port division being an industrial belt,” said Das. Archisman Mukhopadhyay, Consumer Welfare Officer, briefly pointed out various provisions of CP (Consumer Protection) Act 2019. Sub-Inspector Ranjan Chakraborty, of Cyber Safety and Security Cell (CS&SC), discussed in detail the latest trends of cyber frauds, possible precautions to prevent such frauds, and the procedure to lodge complaints in case of an emergency etc. Following the awareness programme, Saswati Mondol of CS&SC guided the industry officials to a specially designed cyber bus, equipped with audio-visual tools, interactive features, and educational materials aimed at raising awareness about cyber threats and promoting preventive measures. Webel, under the aegis of the state Information Technology and Electronics department, has introduced this specially designed cyber awareness bus -‘Cybuzz’, which is presently being used by Kolkata Police.