India May Launch QR Code To Tackle Counterfeit Branded Apparel
India is looking to lay down norms in the form of QR codes to counter the menace of counterfeit products, mimicking names and labels of brands of apparels.
The representatives from the garment industry stated that they’re ready to share available data on counterfeit products to aid better policymaking by the government.
These entities met with Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh and discussed checking the sale of fake or counterfeit brands of clothing
The government is mulling guidelines to install QR codes on branded apparel to ease identification by users, sources told CNBC-TV18.
A joint report issued by CRISIL and the Authentication Solution Providers Association (ASPA) in January 2024 pointed out that 25-30 percent of all products sold in India were spurious.
It termed counterfeiting the most prevalent in the apparel and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors.
The report claims 31 percent counterfeit products among apparel, followed by 28 percent in the FMCG segment, 25 percent in automotives, 20 percent in pharmaceuticals and 17 percent in consumer durables.
The report covered 12 Indian cities like Jalandhar, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Patna, Indore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
It also contended that 31 percent of consumers willingly bought spurious products, while 27 percent of consumers were unaware of having bought counterfeit products.
