IANS | 07 Jul, 2024
The Centre’s Department of Consumer Affairs has asked automobile
manufacturers to enhance efforts towards democratisation of repair manuals and
videos accessible to all, fostering a robust ecosystem for third-party repair
services and upholding consumer rights.
The issue was taken up by Secretary, Department Consumer Affairs, Nidhi
Khare at a meeting with Automobile Associations and their partner companies in
the Automobile Sector with the objective of onboarding auto companies onto the
Right to Repair Portal India, according to an official statement issued on
Saturday.
The meeting was attended by various representatives of Automobile
Associations like ACMA, SIAM, ATMA, EPIC Foundation and companies including
Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, TVS, Royal Enfield, Renault and
Bosch, Yamaha Motors India, Honda Car India were also present.
The Government has launched the Right to Repair Portal India
(https://righttorepairindia.gov.in/) to provide consumers with easy access to
information for repairing their products and enabling them to reuse it, thereby
contributing to the circular economy as well as reduction of e-waste in a
hassle-free manner.
In the meeting, it was emphasised that products that cannot be repaired
or are subject to planned obsolescence—designed with an artificially limited
lifespan—contribute to e-waste and compel consumers to purchase new products
due to lack of repair options or extremely expensive repair options for reuse.
Therefore, the goal is to eliminate obstacles such as restricted access to
tools or repair information, ensuring that consumers have complete ownership of
the products they purchase.
“Over time, it has been noted that repair services are increasingly
constrained due to significant delays in service and absence of repair
documentation for vehicles. Additionally, products are sometimes repaired at
excessively high costs, leaving consumers dissatisfied with repair services
which often delays repairs, even if necessary, due to limited repair options,”
it was pointed out at the meeting.
A major constraint is also the availability of genuine spare parts at
affordable prices. Often their unavailability at affordable prices forces
consumers towards purchasing counterfeit spare parts from the grey markets.
Further, lack of accessible information for minor repairs or do it yourself
guides, exacerbates consumer distress, adding to their financial burden and
overall dissatisfaction.
Stress was also laid on offering roadside assistance to consumers,
especially on highways and introducing a repairability index of the vehicle
that provides information on the life of the product, easy repair ecosystem,
availability of spare parts, detailed manual on self-repair, warranty on
different parts.
These measures aim to empower consumers with informed choices regarding
the post-sales service of their products, besides ease in enjoying their
products fully. The meeting concluded with the consensus to onboard the Right
to Repair Portal and adopt a greater collaborative approach in providing a
vibrant post-sale services to the consumers.
The discussions also covered topics such as aligning standardisation of
parts along with standardisation of skilled workmanship, companies developing
catalogues that should benefit consumers for post-purchase service and
longevity of product life, and measures for addressing deceptive practices in
repair workshops in the name of motor insurance that contribute to unnecessary
generation of plastic waste.
It was stressed that details of Companies Service Centre across India
and Recognition third-parties repairers, if any, by the companies and
Information on country of origin to be explicitly mentioned.
Some companies like TVS have shared their post-onboarding experiences on
the portal. Companies including Tata Motors and TVS discussed how, based on
complaints received from the National Consumer Helpline, they identified key
repair issues and subsequently created repair videos accessible to consumers
via their official YouTube channels.
--IANS