--------------------------------------------------------------------- Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your family members, relatives, neighbours and friends. Help others be BETTER INFORMED, The time is come for the people of Goa to ORGANISE not AGONISE !! -------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- GOACAN intensifies its drive against fake helmets as part of its "Road Safety Campaign" --------------------------------------------------------------------
Volunteers of GOACAN succeeded in seizing a total of 26 fake helmets from helmet sellers in South Goa along the road side of the National Highway 17 in two separate raids from 3 different sellers. The helmets which were seized from road side sellers near Verna Industrial Estate were later handed over alongwith a complaint to Mr. D.G.P. Angle, Police Inspector, Traffic Cell Margao. The complaint which highlights the modus operandi of the seller to shift their base from Panjim to Verna in South Goa has been copied to DGP, SDPO Margao, SDPO Vasco, SP Traffic, Director of Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Controller Legal Metrology, Director of Transport, Asst. Director of Transport (Enf.), Margao and the Police Inspector, Verna. Since launching its drive against fake helmets during the Road Safety Week last year GOACAN has reported a total of five cases in Panjim, one in Porvorim and now two in South Goa. The use of helmets has been emphasized for motorcycle riders in Goa as an integral part of road safety, it is mandatory that the rider uses a helmet that is safe and follows certain manufacturing standards. The helmet must have the ISI mark and when in use the strap must always be in place. As Road Safety and Traffic Management is a priority for all Consumer Forums, GOACAN has taken the initiative to weed out fake helmets from the market as one of its priorities through a combination of letters, discussions with consumers as well as booking of complaints on sale of such helmets with the appropriate authorities. Interestingly, after the Traffic Police and the officials of the Directorate of Transport started issuing challans for non use of helmets on highways, there has been an increase in the sale of these fake helmets along the highways. These substandard helmets are in fact FAKE as they do not possess the ISI mark, and just consist of thermacol lining provided to a thin sheet of fibre-glass. In fact it is this cheap material that is used that allows these helmets to be sold for as little as Rs.100 to 200. Further bargaining on the price is possible depending on the "brand names" such as LML Freedom, Bajaj CT100, Hero Honda, Pulsar, Gold, Reebok and Ambition. GOACAN has been campaigning amongst consumers that if they are convinced that they must use a helmet for safety reasons then they must use ISI marked helmets and use them properly which means wearing the helmet strap as well. Consumers have also been cautioned that the roadside sellers also have ISI Mark stickers which are available for Rs.50 extra. It may be noted that the ISI mark includes two specific numbers - one being the number for the product (helmets in this case) and other is the licence number given to the manufacturer by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The roadside sellers have an excellent marketing strategy wherein they convince consumers that their products brought from Delhi are the best as they call them "formality helmets". These they say when used by a rider will help to hoodwink the Traffic Police and Transport Department officials in Goa waiting along the highways to issue challans for non-use of helmets. > They also say that if a rider buys their "formality helmet" there are also other benefits such as there is no ISI Mark and so there are no extra costs and any way this extra costs only go > to tax authorities so why contribute to the Govt. treasury and the other benefit is in case the > helmet gets stolen then the rider only losses Rs.100/ to Rs.200 while if it were a proper helmet the loss would Rs.800/- and above. GOACAN volunteers also noticed that these roadside sellers have been briefed as to how they can beat the police system for example in the last two complaints the seller was identified near the old Mandovi bridge where in before the police Control Room van could arrive he simply abandoned the helmets and disappeared under the bridge while in another case as there was police patrolling near the bridge due to the Assembly session the sellers had moved to selling the helmets below the bridge. The other trick adopted by the sellers is to stay out of a certain police jurisdiction to avoid being caught, as one seller explained to the consumer activists on condition of anonymity " the police personnel advised us to sell the helmets beyond the Heera Petrol Pump at Panaji as that area falls within the jurisdiction of the Old Goa Police Station and the Panaji police personnel will not have the trouble of catching us sellers everyday as they constantly patrol this area". From the present cases it is becoming evident that sellers of these fake helmets are trying to use the same strategy by selling these helmets near the Verna Industrial Estate. In the wake of road accident fatalities having crossed the 300 figure every year, GOACAN calls upon the consumers using two wheelers to make a choice between using a fake helmet to avoid a "Challan" versus "Safety" by using an ISI marked helmet, as the fine through challan is Rs.100 and the "formality helmet" is also available for Rs.100/-. GOACAN is determined to continue its drive against fake helmets in both districts as one of the points of its Road Safety and Traffic Management Campaign by calling for a joint meeting of all the relevant Govt. officials to take a firm decision to put a complete stop to the sale of fake helmets. With the ongoing Road Safety Week 2007, GOACAN will intensify its campaign on "Road safety is a Consumer Right" by involving the village based Consumer Forums, the college based Consumer Welfare Cells and the HSS and School based Consumer Welfare Clubs by drawing up a comprehensive strategy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- GOA CIVIC AND CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK ----------------------------------------------------------------------- promoting civic and consumer rights in Goa ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GOACAN Post Box 187 Margao, Goa 403 601 GOACAN Post Box 78 Mapusa, Goa 403 507 mailto: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.16.1/611 - Release Date: 12/31/2006
