“Counterfeiting is a serious economic offence causing a huge loss to industry, to the government and also to consumers. But it is still not considered as serious offence” -Naina Lal Kidwai (Ficci president ) . Counterfeit goods cross every imaginable product. The trade in counterfeit goods is booming, and it’s shifting from relatively innocuous items like handbags ,shoes to things like medicine and pesticides that can carry serious health and safety implications. This article is about increasing awareness about Counterfeit products, What is the size of fake products, Why should we avoid fake products, Why should an individual care? Learn some tips about recognizing the fake products. And about the Indiblogger meet in Jan 2013 in Bangalore where presentation by HP cartridge manager made me aware of it.
Table of Contents
Experience of Counterfeit Products
Mr Sharma showed off his new Apple Iphone 5 which he had bought a week before. He was happily telling every one about his new Apple like I-phone and how he it was a steal at a fraction of cost of the original!
Shravan was gathering compliments for the latest Levi’s jeans. His friends were damn impressed by him wearing latest style. But Shravan was not that comfortable in his jeans , it was itching him which he attributed to the new fabric. One of his friend on close inspection noticed that the stitching was not that even!
Rekha went to college with a new Gucci bag. It was cool, awesome and all her friends ga-gaing over it. She felt to excited to pass off bag from road side as original.
Mrs Vidya got new cartridge for printer, which shopkeeper said was genuine cartridge. With children getting school projects every now, running to the shop for getting printouts was becoming a BIG task and so they had bought a printer.
Vidya’s maid had got new Duve soap for her daughter. It looked same as the Dove soap but was very cheap.
After Some Time
Mr Sharma can make and receive calls but he cannot hear what other person is saying. Phone disconnects the call by itself. He took to the shopkeeper who told him that there is no warranty and no service center. Mr Sharma is planning to buy basic mobile.
Shravan The color has faded, zipper does not work, buttons have come off and even after repeated wash the material itches. He is using to wash his motor-bike.
Rekha : The strap brokes, zip is not closing properly and she thinks it now looks tacky!
Vidya : The printout are not good, some parts are blurred and the ink finished much earlier than the before.
Maid’s daughter had rashes, after showing to doctor came to know that it is due to the soap . She is applying medicine.
Market of Counterfeit Products
The trade in counterfeit goods is booming, and it’s shifting from relatively innocuous items like shoes and handbags to things like medicine and pesticides that can carry serious health and safety implications. You can find fake, counterfeit, knock-off in following categories and more.
- Designer clothes, watches, and accessories
- Perfume, cosmetics and bodycare products
- CDs, DVDs, computer software, games
- Vehicle and other spare parts
- Medicines, chemicals and pesticides
- Power tools and household appliances
When it comes to fake products, the sheer size of the industry is staggering in India as well as the entire world!
The World: In 2008, Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, in a report, had said the impact of counterfeit products on G20 countries was estimated at $455 billion to $650 billion. This impact is estimated to rise to the tune of $1,220 billion to $1,770 billion by 2015. A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development put the value of counterfeit goods that crossed international borders at over $250 billion in 2007. That’s far larger than other scourges of the underworld economy, such as weapons smuggling and human trafficking. It even rivals the international trade in illegal drugs. Ref:CNN Money Counterfeit goods becoming more dangerous (Sep 2012)
India: The widespread sale of counterfeit products across various sectors such as electronic items, automotive components, consumer durables, pharma, herbal medicine & cosmetic has become so alarming as to capture a market size of Rs 55,000 crore through illegal channels by 2013, according to estimates made by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Ref: Assocham press release – Aug 2012
Effect of Fake Products India
(Image Courtsey Mail Online India)
Why Should You Avoid Fakes
Counterfeiting is not a victim-less crime. The manufacture, distribution and sale of fake goods:
- Threaten the safety of consumers through products that have not been properly tested;
- Offer a poor deal to consumers with no warranty or after-sales service
- Affect the commercial viability of legitimate businesses, whose products are faked
- Causes job losses,
- Harm the national economy through tax evasion.
- Fund other serious organised crime.
How are companies fighting counterfeit products?
Most of the business have separate departments to fight counterfeit products. Security departments of most businesses are working with police and local authorities to try to shut down internet sites and actual shops selling counterfeit products. But they are also investing in technology, packaging. Different ways through which companies are fighting fake products (Ref: vrittivaani’s Fake brands in the race to win the rural markets of India):
Vigilance : Companies like Coca-Cola have set up an elaborate system to curb the menace of duplicate manufacturers, offering incentives to informers. It has 48 consumer response coordinators across the countries who work with their teams and redress consumer complaints directly, including overcharging and spurious bottling. Besides, it has a large network of route salesmen who have a one-to-one relationship with the retailers on their beat and keep their ears to the ground. When they spot suspicious activity, they inform company officials.
Using Technology: Hindustan Lever has initiated special tamper-proof packs for its deodorant spray ‘AXE’, whose nozzle can’t be detached from the body while Procter and Gamble uses special labels for its Vicks Vapo Rub which does not peel off even if soaked overnight in water.
Upgrading : Upgrading the product packaging periodically or launching product variants so that the manufacturers of counterfeits find it difficult to copy their products.
Increasing Awareness : Stopping the counterfeits market is a long process and companies are trying to create awareness among the consumers about the ill effects about such fake products and the hazards they pose.
Case study of HP cartridge group fight against Counterfeit products.
HP cartridge group is very serious about counterfeit cartridges, it is taking various steps to fight Counterfeit cartridges
- Ongoing efforts to reduce the cost of the cartridge. The authentic HP cartridge starts from Rs 490.
- Can order cartridge using their dial-a-cartridge 1800-425-4999 or online at with free delivery within 6 hours.
- They have dedicated Anti-Counterfeiting Groups within the organization at global and local leves. Watch the interview(on Youtube) with the heads of the Anti-Counterfeiting Program.
- They have dedicated webpage Anti Counterfeit Information for information on anti counterfeit.
- HP places a security seal on the packaging of its cartridges so that it’s easy to distinguish between genuine HP versus fake. All genuine HP print cartridges come packaged in a box bearing the HP name and logo. The packaging should be undamaged and previously unopened.
- Color Switch Seal : On Turning the HP box from side to side.The colors on the seal change from light to dark.
- QR code seal : The newest HP security seals have Quick Response(QR)codes. It contains serial numbers to allow quick verification of product authenticity which you can scan with a camera-enabled smartphone to instantly verify authenticity.
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HP cartridge QR Seal
- Steps involved are
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- Download a QR code scanner app to your camera-enabled smartphone.
- Scan the QR code on the security seal.
- You’ll receive instant verification from HP.
- If your phone doesn’t have a camera lens, you can validate HP security seals online by going to HP.com/go/ok and entering the serial number from the seal.
HP fights counterfeit cartridges
Why Should I Care?
If you feel it’s company headaches to stop fake products you are right but partly.It may be hard to get worked up over the economic costs of bootlegged DVD’s or illegally downloaded music or fake Gucci bags . But
- When the toy you bought for you child that you thought was from Disney contains lead paint, then .. .
- When the medicine you bought was fake..then!
- When the food you eat, milk you drink is fake then!
- When the spare parts in your car are fake then!
- When the money in your wallet is fake then!
Awareness is the beginning of change. Say NO to Fake and YES To original for it’s your choice, If you don’t buy, I don’t buy and others also don’t buy then counterfeit products will not be sold!
IndiBlogger Meet
I had the opportunity to attend “an orginial experience” , HP, Harper Collins Indiblogger meet at Fortune park JP celestial Bangalore, on Sunday 20th Jan 2013. Despite being a Sunday evening, when 200 indi-bloggers meet under one roof it was fun filled event, different from the other meets(Samsung Tab, Surf Excel) that I have attended. There was music in the air, there was lots and lots of fun with loads of competitions, there was good food, lot of learning (using QR scanner app, eye-opening ) too What more could one ask for. I met some familar faces (The Fool,Sujata,Pooja Pradeep,Leo, Farida, Nabnita, Raj), missed few(Tina, Sebi,Ruchika) , made friends with new ones(Rachna,Vidya and may others). I felt so comfortable it was like meeting friends, thanks to Indiblogger Team efforts for creating the informal atmosphere where one can just sit back , relax and as they say in Bangalore “Enjoy Maadi”(Simple Enjoy). It was a pleasant surprise when few Indibloggers felicted the Indiblogger Team for their great work. Competitions were awesome :
- Each of us was given a sheet with QR code. We had scan QR code and find the sentence associated with it. The sentence was one-third of the quote. We had to look for people with the missing parts of our code.
- We were divided into groups of 15 and had to Mime out name of the given picture. Ours was Charlie and Chocolate and people were so busy trying to guess that they missed the wonderful tweets by our official tweeter.
- Prizes were given away for varied categories youngest blogger(Rachna’s son 10 year old was the winner) , blogger with no hair, the team that performed the worst mimic, for a original pose and for asking/answering random questions such as ‘why this Kolavari di? etc
- Many USB’s, books were given away and people were still begging for more! (image from Indibloggers facebook page)
Memories of Indiblogger meet
The presentation by HP cartridges country manager was an eye-opener to me. I had never realized that the problem of counterfeiting is SO serious. Like every Indiblogger meet, I came back from this Indiblogger meet with lots of memories, goodies and yearning for the next one !
Related Articles:
- Indiblogger Meet : Fully Loaded
- Indian Currency and its Security Features
Be Aware. Any item being sold at a ridiculously low price (50% or less of usual price) is most likely to be counterfeit.Misspelled labels and poor quality logos are an easily recognizable trait of all kinds of fake goods.If a deal sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.Get value for your hard-earned money. Say NO to Fake and YES To original.
Flipkart sold me dubious/counterfeit Lakme Eyeconic kajal thrice, albeit through different vendors within a total period of almost half a year. It been close to 6 months and despite bringing this to their notice during very first instance they have not taken any effective measure. It’s a hot selling product being sold in hundred, if not thousand, across India.
Though Flipkart is supposed to ensure the authenticity/ genuinity of products and atleast cosmetics which are intended to be applied to skin, despite being well informed about same during earlier two occasions; it seems that flipkart is in no mood to take it seriously. This could be perhaps due to the overconfidence of Flipkart to be immune to Indian judicial system. They pretend to play safe by acting as just a platform and not directly involved in sale of product. May I request the Indian legal experts that when somebody is made aware of the pirated products being sold through their channel and still they don’t curb its sale, then why can’t they be held liable for ignorance & mischief?
It’s not a speaker or mobile cover. Counterfeit cosmetics are far more harmful than fake electronics or clothes/accessories. It’s a cosmetic product for application around most vital part of body i.e. eyes and used by females of almost all ages. These Fake Lakme Eyeconic Kajals may have been made in unsanitised factories & may contain toxic levels of chemicals and other harmful substances such as arsenic, mercury and lead. All of these may cause allergic reactions, such as eye irritation, infection, rashes, as well as temporary or permanent vision impairment. A product containing heavy metal impurities may damage the vision/eyes temporarily or permanently.
When approached Flipkart have only one shot remedy of all such cases i.e. delisting of seller. But I would like to ask all the online shopping savvy consumers “is delisting sufficient damage control measure to get away with and isn’t it offers easy escape? Whilst counterfeit goods manufactures are exploiting every opportunity to fool customers into buying counterfeits in order for them to make some quick cash, e-commerce also equally contributes in putting peoples’ health, homes and lives at risk by not taking stringent quality control measures despite being well informed about piracy.
Given that flipkart is facilitating mass sales of fake product, Shouldn’t the website be banned for atleast couple of days on every such occasion; as being in-practice in UK/Europe? There should be law to suspended websites, atleast temporary, if caught assisting sale of fake cosmetics. We have not sought any refund against any of order and only requested to curb its sale with immediate effect.
This piracy will soon emerge as chronic problem with on-line shopping savvy customers. the product in question was supplied by three different vendors, the first one located in Delhi, second in Gwalior and third vendor is based at Surat. So you can well imagine the gravity of situation, the scale at which it is happening and revenue loss to the exchequer and to government owing to reduced tax collections. The onus is truly on Flipkart as it would have taken only 5 minutes of theirs to drop a mail during April 2015 itself, when it was first brought to their notice, that don’t promote sale of counterfeit cosmetics. The piracy which otherwise would have confined to one local area now has spread throughout India due to Flipkart intervention.
Regards
Dr. Satinder Singh
7666160529
8879526896
Shocked to read about it. Thanks for sharing
There is one solution for this problem : http://www.antifake.in
Hey there it was nice meeting up with you at the meet ( remember in the queue to the snacks counter) but I just forgot your name!!!
Wonderful account of being original!
Hey Sunita thanks for leaving a comment, I had forgotten your name. It was a great pleasure meeting you, hope you get back to blogging!
Thanks for encouraging words!
This is nice insight into the evil called imitations.. It was nice meeting you at the event. Hope to see you again sometime soon.
Thanks Farida, it was a pleasure meeting you at indiblogger meet. You are such an inspiration! Inshaallah we’ll meet soon!
Yes I did not realize that market of fake is so LARGE. It was an eye-opener for me!
I do fully agree that, as an awakened and responsible consumer, we should not buy conterfiet products, knowingly.
However, several management thinkers and proactive companies do try to see this beyond merely loss of buisness. Each of such atempts have resulted in business model, which may not necessaarily have totally the competion from this source, but have ceratinly given them quite valuable insights in terms of thier competitive strategy.
Thus, the problem needs to be addressed from both angles – more aware consumer and a producer willing re-design the business model for the relevant consumer segement.
Sir you are right that some companies do try to see it as beyond merely loss of buisness. . I saw that first-hand in case of HP Cartridge. Do you know of some companies what they have done , if you could share with us that would be great!
If it was in terms of a consumer buying KNOWINGLY a fake product it for cheaper cost, it is understandable as he/she is aware (to some extent) of results. But when one is duped ex: Mrs Vidya she paid for a genuine cartridge but got a duplicate then one is hurt both financially and emotionally, not to mention running around for fixing the problem if she faces one!