Friday, January 15, 1999
today's calendar
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B U S I N E S S | Friday, January 15, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Consumers oppose cut in
interest rate
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DoT to delegate more powers Petrol
station opens |
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IOC to offload 5 pc equity NEW DELHI, Jan 14 — Public sector Indian Oil Corporation will hit the domestic market to offload 5 per cent of its equity in March this year as per government directive to garner an estimated Rs 800 crore, Finance Ministry officials said today. ‘Bima Nivesh’
launched
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Consumers
oppose cut in interest rate NEW DELHI, Jan 14 — Leading consumer organisations today told the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, that the Government’s decision to reduce interest on small savings was not fair to small investors and the previous rates of interests should be restored. The consumer organisations, which met the Finance Minister as part of the series of pre-budget discussions here, said the one per cent cut in interest on postal savings instrument had hurt investors interest. The representatives of the organisations also called for giving adequate publicity to the Citizen Charters framed by various departments. It was pointed out that as an instrument of mechanism to popularise these charters, the Government could consider laying of these charters in Parliament along with the Demands of Grants of the Ministries and Departments. Among the organisations which participated in the discussion were the Consumer Unity and Trust Society, the Federation of Consumer Organisations, the Tamil Nadu Consumer Protection Council, the Jammu Consumer Council and the Consumer Education and Research Centre. Consumer groups also
demanded a phased roll down in excise and Customs duties
as recommended by the Chelliah Committee while
emphasising that any benefit arising from this must be
passed on to consumers. |
WHEN Ms Revathi filed a complaint before the consumer court alleging defects in the photocopying machine purchased by her, one of the first objections raised by the manufacturer was that she had bought it for use in the “Xerox Centre” that she was setting up and therefore the purchase was for a “commercial purpose” and the complaint, outside the ambit of consumer courts. Similarly, when Mr Hajarimal Moonat filed a case alleging defects in the hardware items supplied to him, the question that came up before the court was whether Mr Moonat had purchased the goods for a “commercial purpose”. While providing for adjudication of complaints against defective or sub-standard goods, the Consumer Protection Act draws a clear distinction between goods bought for personal use and for commercial purpose. However, while keeping out complaints against goods bought for “commercial purpose” from the purview of the courts, it makes a small exception, in the form of an explanation introduced in 1993. The explanation states that “commercial purpose does not include use by a consumer of goods bought and used by him exclusively for the purpose of earning his livelihood, by means of self-employment”. But the Act does not define “self-employment” and this has led to some confusion in the interpretation of what does or does not constitute “commercial purpose”. If an architect, for example, buys a computer and uses it himself for his work, then it can be said that the purchase was not for commercial purpose as it was meant to help him earn his living as an architect. But if a large firm of architects buys a computer, then the question arises as to whether it comes under the definition of goods bought for self-employment or “commercial purpose”. Similarly, owners of many small scale units who have sought relief against defective machinery have argued before consumer courts that the purchase was not for “commercial purpose” as they were being used for earning a livelihood through self-employment. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, which is the apex consumer court, resolved this ambiguity in the Act to a certain extent by drawing a line between goods bought for use in small ventures to make a living and large scale manufacturing or processing activity carried on for profit. Thus where a widow bought a photocopier to earn her living through self-employment and engaged a person to run the service and the photocopier turned out to be defective, the National Commission held that the photocopier had not been purchased for “commercial purpose” and awarded compensation to the widow... However, two subsequent Supreme Court judgements have narrowed down this interpretation of the National Commission and held that in order to seek relief through the consumer court, the person who buys goods to earn a living through self-employment should be using or operating the goods himself. The consumer may take the help of one or two persons to assist him in operating the machine or goods, but self-use is a necessary criteria. In the case of Laxmi Engineering Works vs P.S.G. Industrial Institute (civil appeal no 4193 of 1995), the Supreme Court referred to the argument that such a narrow construction may not be warranted by the scheme and object of the enactment and that such an interpretation would deny justice under the CP Act to a widow or an invalid man who may purchase an autorickshaw or car or a machinery to be plied or operated by another person. Said the Supreme court: “While there is certainly some logic in the said submission it cannot be accepted in view of the language of the explanation (in the Act)”. The apex court pointed out that several words employed in the explanation made the intention of Parliament abundantly clear, that goods bought must be used by the buyer himself. Thus a person who buys goods and uses them himself, exclusively for the purpose of earning his livelihood, by means of self-employment is within the definition of the expression “consumer”, the Supreme Court said. In the case of Cheema Engineering Services vs Rajan Singh too (civil appeal no 14787 of 1996), the Supreme Court held that since “self employment” was not defined in the Act, it was a matter of evidence and it was the responsibility of the person claiming that the goods purchased were for the purpose of self-employment to prove so. Merely earning livelihood in commercial business does not mean that it is not for commercial purpose, the judgement pointed out. Said the Supreme Court: Self employment connotes altogether a different concept, namely, he alone uses the machinery purchased for the purpose of manufacture by employing himself in working out or producing the goods for earning his livelihood. “He” includes the members of his family. Thus “self use”
is the most important criteria to qualify as a
“consumer” under the CP Act for seeking relief
against goods bought for earning a living through
self-employment.
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DoT to
delegate more powers NEW DELHI, Jan 14 — In a bid to decentralise the administrative structure of the Department of Telecommunications(DoT), the government has decided to delegate more powers to Chief General Managers (CGMs). Speaking to mediapersons here today,the Union Communications Minister, Mr Jagmohan, said CGMs were now authorised to procure additional items to hasten the pace of implementation of projects. In the coming days the highest priority would be accorded to distant and remote areas like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and remote areas in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Regarding the new telecom
policy, the minister said by next month the final policy
was expected to be in place.The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) was likely to be made
“strong and totally independent”. |
Petrol
station opens CHANDIGARH, Jan 14 —
A petrol station (BP-21, Sector 21, Dakshin Marg) was
inaugurated here today by Mr M.B. Lal, Director (R),
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. A new environment
friendly semi-synthetic and low smoke lubricant for
two-wheelers named “Glide Gold”, was also
launched. A scooter rally was also organised. With
facilities like multi-product dispensers, digitised air
filling machines, shopping mart, auto car wash and smart
card, this petrol station has many firsts to its credit.
It is the first company owned and company operated retail
outlet of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in the
city. |
Bharti Telecom to be delisted NEW DELHI, Jan 14 (PTI) — Bharti Telecom has decided to delist its shares from various stock exchanges after the promoters increased their holding to 92 per cent through its second open offer that ended last week. Mr Akhil Gupta, Director (Corporate) of Bharti Telecom told PTI that the second open offer to buy the company’s shares by the Mittals of Bharti Group closed on January 5. The company was able to get the 9 per cent stake-held by Chennai-based Sterling Horticulture Limited through the offer. The offer, priced at Rs 96 per share, was made by the two group companies, Bharti Enterprises and its fully-owned subsidiary Bharti Global. Crisil downgrades Woolworth MUMBAI, Jan 14 (PTI) — Crisil has downgraded rating assigned to the non-convertible debenture (NCD) issue of Woolworth India Ltd from ‘BB’ to ‘C’, indicating high risk. The revised rating reflects delay in the revival of demand in the international worsted yarn industry, further weakening of the company’s financial risk profile, the group’s continued stretched liquidity position and Woolworth’s sustained high exposure to its group companies. Maharaja Intl name changed NEW DELHI, Jan 14 (PTI)
— Shareholders of Maharaja International Ltd (MIL)
today approved the change in the name of the company to
Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd (EKL). The name change was
approved at the company’s extraordinary general
meeting today. “Necessary applications will now be
made to the registrar of companies for their
approval,” the company said in a statement. MIL, a
subsidiary of Swedish multinational AB Electrolux since
February 1995, has been manufacturing refrigerators under
the Kelvinator brand name with technical and managerial
support from AB Electrolux. |
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NEW DELHI, Jan 14 (PTI) — Public sector Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will hit the domestic market to offload 5 per cent of its equity in March this year as per government directive to garner an estimated Rs 800 crore, Finance Ministry officials said today. This would be in addition to the 10 per cent IOC shares government decided to sell through crossholding to mop up Rs 1,700 crore for which Cabinet gave the green signal yesterday. The selling of government
share upto 12.5 per cent through cross holding, buyback
of equity or disinvestment in domestic and international
offerings will mobilise about Rs 8,000 crore to the
exchequer as against the targetted Rs 5,000 crore for
1998-99. |
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NEW DELHI, Jan 14 (PTI) — The LIC today launched a new policy “Bima Nivesh”, offering multiple benefits including safety and liquidity. The scheme offers choice of short-terms of five to 10 years to an age group of 35 to 70 years with annualised yield ranging between 9.3 per cent to 14.67 per cent, LIC Zonal Manager R Chandrasekaran told newspersons here. He said the returns on the scheme were based on the policy holders options - with or without tax benefits - and the amount assured by the policy holders. Single premium payable is eligible for tax exemption under section 88 of Income Tax Act. Highlighting the unique features of the scheme, Chandrasekaran said 2 per cent rebate would be provided on premium of over Rs 25,000. However, he said no loan
was available under Bima Nivesh scheme but the policy
could be assigned to other financial institutions as
collateral security. |
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| Forex rates MUMBAI, Jan 14 (PTI) — The following were interbank forex and RBI rates (in rupees per unit). U.S. $ Rs 42.49/50 The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.52. Gold falls Indica IDBI Wool council |
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