AHMEDABAD, OCT 18
Leading healthcare and hygiene firm Eureka Forbes Limited (EFL) has seized a huge stock of duplicate products worth Rs 15.56 lakhs in Ahmedabad. The seizure includes 2,000 Cartridge and 150 units of RO Consumable kits fraudulently carrying the Eureka Forbes brand name and having duplicated several visual features of Eureka Forbes’ products, a company release said.
An FIR has been filed at the Naroda Police Station in Ahmedabad against Nirajsingh Vinodsingh Bhadoria and Rahul Mukeshlal Oberoi, partners of ‘R Pure Water Technology’, under the Copyright Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC), and both the accused are in police custody, the release added.
The manufacturers of the seized products have violated copyrights of EFL by using the Eureka Forbes and ‘Aquaguard’ brand names along with the star emblem and photo of the mother and child. In addition to this, fraudulent practice has also included copying the signature blue-and-white colour scheme and font style in a clear attempt to mislead consumers.
Moreover, the substandard spare parts list the name and address of Eureka Forbes as manufacturers of the material with the contact details and email ID of Eureka Forbes to contact in cases of complaints.
This practice has made it difficult for customers to differentiate between genuine and duplicate spares, leading to innocent customers being cheated and exposing themselves to potentially major health hazards.
Counterfeit products and frauds, such as these have occurred in the past as well, and Eureka Forbes has been making sustained efforts to ensure the curb of spurious products or purifier parts. Similar cases have resulted in FIRs being filed against Pournima Industries, Mumbai, and Aqua Care in Bangalore for misleading customers with fraudulent contracts. In December 2019, a similar FIR was filed at the Odhav Police Station in Ahmedabad against Abhishek alias Manjeet Khushwah and Dinesh Kumar, owner of a Macro Filteration Ltd, a factory indulging in cheating, forgery, and violation of copyright. Agencies such as these have been putting the health of many consumers at risk.
Shashank Sinha, Chief Transformation Officer, Eureka Forbes Limited, said, “Fighting malpractices such as these has been a sustained battle for us at EFL. The consumers have often lured with lower prices, and end up buying fake or assembled products, while we always encourage to verify the genuineness of the product by focusing on delivery and post-sales service. We are committed to providing the best solutions, not just world-class products.”
Eureka Forbes Limited strongly condemns such acts and has taken precautionary steps to protect consumers by introducing ‘Health Protect’, a safeguard feature built-in Aquaguard purifiers. This feature gives consumers advance intimation on periodic maintenance/replacement and usable life of filter cartridges and also ensures that no other grey market parts could be retrofitted into the unit. “We also have a consumer helpline to be able to help misled customers to identify/verifyEureka Forbes personnel.”
