Consumer council wants standards set for piped drinking water

The Central Consumer Protection Council (CCPC), an apex body to advise the government in the consumer related issues, has expressed concern over quality of drinking water being supplied through pipelines and has recommended mandatory standards for drinking water irrespective of its source.

At present, the standards for drinking water set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) applies only for bottled water. CCPC wants the FSSAI to formulate standards for water being supplied through pipeline also and should monitor its quality.

The meeting, chaired by union food minister Ram Vilas Paswan, was attended by representatives of various government bodies, including FSSAI, voluntary consumer organisations and senior officials of various ministries.

Briefing the media about the deliberations of the meeting, Paswan said the CCPC was also of the view that there should be guidelines for brand ambassadors of products and services and in the case of gross misrepresentation of the facts or misleading advertisements, brand ambassadors should also be made responsible.

The consumer affairs minister said that `Grahak Suvidha Kendras' set up by his ministry are being directed to take up consumer complaints with the sector regulators or consumer courts on behalf of consumers. So far five such centers have been set up at Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Patna and Delhi, he said, adding that more centre are planned in other parts of the country as well.

Paswan also said the National Consumer Helpline is being strengthened and its capacity to attend consumer complaints is being enhanced three times more.