INVC,,
Delhi,,
ACMA, the apex body of the automotive component manufacturers in India today launched the next phase of its campaign to spread awareness on usage of genuine auto components and curb the menace of counterfeiting. A counterfeit is an imitation, usually one that is made with the intent of fraudulently passing it off as genuine. Earlier, through the very popular ‘ASLI-NAQLI’ shows launched in 2003 and organised each year alternatively at the Auto Expo and the Partmart, the association has been able to sensitize the consumers on the risks that they undertake towards life and property by using spurious components.
Inaugurating the next phase of the campaign with an ‘Awareness Kiosk’ at the busy Palika Bhawan in the busy auto-spares market in R K Puram, New Delhi, ACMA Chairman for Committee on Consumer Affairs & After Market, Mr Soumitra Bhattacharya said, “While the aftermarket for auto components in India stood at INR 330 billion in 2010, a current research finding by ACMA estimates that fakes contribute approximately 36% of the industry value. This is of great concern not only to the industry, but also is a huge drain on the Government exchequer. In most cases, the consumer is not aware while purchasing a fake component since the packaging and finish of counterfeits closely imitates that of original products. To educate the common man on the benefits of using genuine components, ACMA intends to organize 12 such road shows in the NCR region this year. We intend to conduct several such events across the country in a short time.”
Mr Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, ACMA, enumerated “The auto component counterfeiting market has been estimated at INR 122 billion with loss to government exchequer of INR 31 billion. Based on the primary research, it is estimated that around 20% of the total road accidents in India can be either directly or indirectly attributed to the use of counterfeit automotive parts. Use of counterfeits resulted in 25, 400 deaths and more than 93,000 injuries during 2009.”
