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------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ph:2252660 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- Goa Needs a Powerful Consumers' Lobby ------------------------------------------------------------- by Nandkumar Kamat
THE lack of awareness about the International Consumers Rights Day on March 15, indicates the failure of the wealthy civil society of Goa to come to terms with their fundamental rights as consumers. What is the point in coronating the consumer as a king just for one day and thereafter dumping him for the rest of the year? It is my staunch belief that business would multiply fast in Goa if consumers are serviced well and are treated as kings. This does not cost a fortune or loss of profit. It is the honesty, sincerity, attitude and the belief in quality on the part of the goods seller or the service provider which could make a difference.
I make this statement not as an armchair marketing consultant or a consumer activist but as one with some authority because my roots are in a family of traders and I was always taught the importance of good business ethics and good customer relationship. Till his last breath, my father, a well-known small general merchant of Panaji, continued to impress upon us the importance of credibility and reputation in business and why the ideas from customers need to be respected and valued.
The old generation of merchants, traders, stockists, dealers, wholesalers, retailers in Goa do not need any guidance in customer service and consumer satisfaction. Because it was nursed on an age-old business value system.
With growing urbanisation, nuclearisation of families, dispersal of business and entry of the new confused and adventurous businessmen, the old value system has disappeared. It is now sought to be replaced by cumbersome consumer rights laws which are rarely enforced. Agencies are reluctant to enforce the spirit of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). The traders suspect persecution, corruption and harassment under CPA. The consumers have little knowledge of CPA.
The CPA and the rules thereunder are not available in Konkani or Marathi. So the rural people are not aware of these. A few consumer cells are active in some urbanised areas. But there is no statewide movement. So, consumers have only individual voice and very little choice.
Goa needs someone like Ralph Nader of the United States to make the consumers rights movement a truly representative mass movement. As consumers we are often insulted, humiliated, ill-treated, discriminated and if we are serviced well occasionally, then it comes as a pleasant shock. Attitudes differ. Generally I have experienced a tremendous difference between the attitudes of the new and inexperienced entrants in business and those who run family businesses for years.
The first lot is impatient, rash, rude and expects immediate success. The second lot is patient, polite, helpful and makes the consumer comfortable. There is an exception - the traders of non-Goan origin who are generally excellent salespersons. They realise that to get a firm foothold they would have to win the trust of the consumers. They do not waste time in arguments. Without any reference to ethologist Desmond Morris's tomes on body language, they read the intention of the consumers.
Many fruit and vegetable vendors in the municipal markets of Goa fall in this category. They do not have any magic but they behave as if the customer is the king. Compared to them, the Goan counterparts, with few exceptions, appear discourteous, disinterested and treat the consumers indifferently. I have not really understood the reason behind the lethargic and often hostile attitude of many Goan traders towards the local consumers. They behave sometimes as if they do not need any business. Actually this would be an interesting subject for detailed research. It is no use shouting "Goa first!" before we analyse the success stories of the non-Goan fruit, vegetables and fish vendors. There are some black sheep.
Once a young non-Goan vegetable vendor in Panaji market refused to return small change he owed me. He advised me to leave his stall - "Zay zalyar ghe tuka. Na zhalyar vhoch" (If you need, take the goods or just get out). This indicated the municipalities' failure in disciplining the traders to be courteous with the consumers. Another case. During the mango season, I had encountered a Goan fruit seller who took sadistic pleasure in not disclosing the price of the mangoes in her basket and taunted me by saying that "I would not be able to afford the price". Obviously she was implying that only rich buyers need to be treated as consumers.
Shopping for routine items is not a pleasurable activity in Goa. Shopkeepers and hoteliers have been installing spying cameras, CCTVs without authorization from competent authorities. This shows the increasing distrust of the common consumers and probably the tourist visitors. In one or two self servicing private departmental stores in Panaji, I had to question the salesgirls and the owners whether they suspect me as a shoplifter and a thief because they were suspiciously watching my movements despite knowing me for at least two decades. Can anyone do business by assuming that every consumer entering the shop could be a shoplifter?
The consumers need to first reject any bills printed on electronic cash registers out rightly because the printouts do not give any details about the sales tax paid on the taxable items. There is no way to know whether the collected tax is deposited in the treasury. The legal instrument verifiable by sales tax authorities is the proper printed cash memo for the taxable goods. What is the need for the consumers to demand the cash memo after every purchase - it should be obvious to the trader that without request the cash memo is to be given to the consumers. The booming roadside garment shops or those operating from hired temporary premises do not care for consumers' rights.
It is high time that the government comes out with clear guidelines for this booming business which has driven out many established local businesses. The consumers are totally at disadvantage when they make purchases from such temporary shops because it is easy to follow a case with a well established permanent business but difficult to trace the whereabouts of the fly-by-night operators. A classic example in the financial sector is that of the non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and plantation firms which looted Goans for years before performing the vanishing trick.
If the consumers of Goa begin to educate themselves and assert their rights then it would help everyone. But it appears that with the changing times, an unhealthy competition and due to a soft government, the consumers in this state would always be assumed wrong. This is a tragedy. Countries with powerful consumer movements have prospered. For prosperous Goa, therefore, we need a powerful consumers' lobby. ------------------------------------------ The Navhind Times 10/03/03 ------------------------------------------ ======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy =======================================
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