NEW DELHI: Stressing that " consumer protection " is one of the priorities of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that stricter guidelines are in the offing to protect people from misleading advertisements. "The government prioritising consumer protection is in line with our resolve of New India . We will change it to consumer prosperity on the way ahead," said PM Modi at the International Conference on Consumer Protection for East, South & South-East Countries in New Delhi.He added that the government is working on a new consumer protection law which would lay out stricter guidelines on advertisements and ensure that people are not misled. A Central Consumer Protection Authority with executive powers will be constituted for quick remedial action," he said.This new law will replace the Consumer Protection Act 1986, and will instead incorporate the revised 2015 UN guidelines on consumer protection.In his address at the conference, which saw participation from 24 countries, the PM credited the new Goods and Services tax ( GST ) regime for giving the country "a new business culture. "GST will boost competition between companies, which will decrease prices of goods, in turn benefiting poor & middle class consumers," he said.

Source: Times of India October 26, 2017 06:32 UTC