Cheated by Pureit Water Purifiers

Consumer Organisations in India demands “fair financial services” and a strong regulatory authority
on Standards of Advertising in India on the occasion of World Consumer Rights Day
World Consumer Rights Day occurs on 15 March every year. It is an international day of action and
awareness, observed by consumer organisations and civil rights groups around the world. The date, 15
March, marks the day President John F. Kennedy told the US congress: 'Consumers by definition include
us all. They are the largest economic group, affecting and affected by almost every public and private
economic decision. Yet they are the only important group... whose views are often not heard.'
Leading consumer organisations in India who are members of Consumers International (CI), which
represents 220 consumer organisations in 115 countries, released a set of international
recommendations for strengthening consumer financial protection on 15 March, World Consumer
Rights Day. The recommendations are in response to the G20 commitment to address consumer
protection in financial services at the Seoul Summit in November 2010
Drawing on evidence from CI's worldwide membership [2], who consistently report poor financial
services as one of the top consumer complaints, the recommendations highlight what can be done to
support fairness, safety, access and competition in financial services.
Mr. Bejon Misra is the voice of the consumer of the country, known crusader for consumer movement
in India and who has to his credit enactment of various rights for consumers in India. He is a Consumer
Expert & Founder Healthy You Foundation. He has been in Indian Consumer Movement for the past 27
years. He is currently the Chairman of the Cell for Consumer Education and Advocacy (CCEA) Society
and Managing Director & Trustee of Consumer Online Foundation. Bejon has been working with
Governments at National, regional and international level on consumer protection policies He is a
member of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and also a member of the American
Society for Quality (ASQ), apart from several other leading professional bodies. He also intends to bring
consumer related issues in developing countries as a thrust area in development and poverty
eradication. His specialties include developing regulations and policies to empower the consumer and
skills on comparative testing of products and services.
A strong regulatory authority on Standards of Advertising in India :
On a recent complaint made before the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) by a leading
consumer organisation of India based in Delhi, Healthy You Foundation, against the T.V. Commercial of
“Pureit Water Purifier”, which is said to have appeared on several popular TV channels like Zee TV,
Colors and others since December 2010 has been upheld by the Consumer Complaint Council (CCC) and
has directed Hindustan Unilever Limited to immediately withdraw the advertisement as it violates the
Code of Conduct of Advertising applicable to the members of ASCI.
As per the complaint made by Healthy You Foundation (HYF), the advertiser claims that “there is a Times
of India report wherein a government institute, National Institute of Virology (NIV), has failed most of
the water purifiers because they do not remove all bacteria and viruses”. Since this laboratory report
has not been made public nor the brands of purifiers failed have been reported, the advertiser has no
right to show the products of different brands and disparage them. Also, the advertiser displays
products which are identical to the competitors like “Kent Gold+ storage water purifier” which is a
registered design.
The advertiser claims that “the same laboratory report states that only Pureit removes 1 crore viruses
and this is proof of safety”. This is a totally false claim as The Times of India very clearly states that the
names of the brands which have passed or failed have not been disclosed. Further, in addition, the
Advertiser should have provided supporting technical submission, details of tests/trials conducted, with
comparative data in substantiation of the claim, “only” Pureit removes 1 crore viruses, which was
missing and was not submitted to ASCI.
Bejon Misra’s take on this :
It has come to our attention that HUL PureIt has taken out front page advertisements (see attached) in
national dailies across India wherein they cite having met the "germkill safety" standards of US EPA.
This advertisement for their recently launched Marvella variant, uses the same TCCA tablets for germ-
killing as do all variants of PureIt storage water purifiers. Therefore, all the safety issues identified on
PureIt by our study "Safety Issues Concerning Storage Water Purifiers" apply to PureIt Marvella, which is
an online purifier. This is an example of misleading advertising implying US EPA has approved PureIt
when in fact it has not and more importantly, the TCCA used in the manner and method in PureIt is in
contravention to US EPA's strict regulations concerning the use of this chemical.
So, this advertisement is misleading on two counts - one is twisting of facts to imply germkill
performance implies chemical safety, when in fact our study clearly showed both are entirely different.
In fact, our study posits that consumers should choose safety first before performance. Killing
efficiency of germs does not imply the underlying technology is safe - our study uses the
following example to make the point: a small cup of household liquid bleach when added to water can
kill crores of germs but does not make the resulting water safe to drink. Second misleading point is to
take a chemical like TCCA that US EPA has clearly put restrictions on use and make in-home water
purifiers (the entire range of PureIt) that violates US EPA's strict regulations concerning TCCA. The
largest worldwide use of TCCA is for sanitizing swimming pools and even there, there are restrictions on
how to administer it. To make an in-home water purifier out of such a chemical, and to give it the false
and misleading assurance of "one crore safety challenge" is one of the most egregious examples
of fooling the Indian public. The fact that public is fooled by the misleading marketing is amply
supported by the estimated 3 million homes in India where PureIt has been sold making it the largest
selling storage water purifier in organized sector - a risky safety 'experiment' on a grand scale in India.
We sincerely request the Goverment of India and Advertising Standards Council of India to issue stern
warnings to HUL to withdraw its misleading advertising and to stop making atrocious claims until the
underlying safety issues raised by our Study are resolved. Our Study has specifically asked for 3 letters
from world-renowned regulatory and certifying agencies (namely, US EPA, WHO and NSF) specifically
addressing the safety concerns about PureIt. Until these letters are produced by HUL, PureIt remains a
potentially dangerous 'experiment' in mass scale conducted everyday in millions of lower income
consumer households by HUL.
Sincerely,
Bejon Misra

Cheated by Pureit Water Purifiers

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Consumer Organisations in India demands “fair financial services” and a strong regulatory authority

on Standards of Advertising in India on the occasion of World Consumer Rights Day

A strong regulatory authority on Standards of Advertising in India :

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