Voice Outreach
Car safety initiative
As part of their ongoing ‘car safety’ initiative in India, the Consumer Voice team organised workshops at Ranchi (Jharkhand) on 10 August and at Patna (Bihar) on 11 August, in collaboration with state partner Janaki Foundation. The main purpose of the workshops was to generate awareness among consumers on various safety features of cars as well as Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme, in addition to spreading the message that safer cars are needed on Indian roads to save precious lives.
In both the workshops, authorities from various fields such as automobile and insurance companies, government authorities and other technical experts shared their thoughts on the subject matter. A short film on car safety was also shown. Participants had their questions on various safety aspects answered by the experts.
Road safety initiative
Consumer Voice COO Ashim Sanyal represented the team in the Global Road Safety Leadership Course organised by Global Road Safety Partnership in collaboration with John Hopkins University, at Baltimore, US. The three-week course was aimed at building leadership capacity to design, advocate for and implement effective road safety programmes and policies. Representatives from 20 countries participated in the course.
Digital literacy initiative
As part of their ongoing ‘digital literacy’ initiative, Consumer Voice organised an interactive workshop at Riverside Club, Mayur Vihar Phase-1 Extension, New Delhi, on 19 August. The main purpose of the workshop was to help consumers become digitally literate and gain the confidence to join the digital economy and society. Various aspects such as a digital accessibility, platforms available for digital transactions and services, safety tips while using digital platforms, how to ensure digital security and privacy, consumers’ rights and available redressal avenues were covered in the workshops.
Consumer Conversation Series: Telecom services
As part of the ongoing monthly Consumer Conversation Series, Consumer Voice organised a seminar on the topic ‘The Future of Consumers in this Telecom Era’ on 18 August 2017, at Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. COO Ashim Sanyal of Consumer Voice explained that along with the huge growth in telecom, cases of not delivering promised services were also on the rise. Most consumers feel powerless faced with the big market players and prefer to adjust to the poor quality of services. Hemant Upadhyay, senior expert-IT, Consumer Voice, highlighted the state of the industry, the prevailing problems and the grievance redressal mechanism. Mahesh Uppal, director, ComFirst India, summarised his experiences in the industry.
A diverse audience comprising of participants from different backgrounds asked questions to the experts on aspects of problematic telecom services and expressed interest in more information that would help them learn about their rights.