Tata Motors has launched a systematic multi-pronged campaign against the sale of spurious spare parts, under the brand name of Tata Genuine Parts (TGP).
The campaign is aimed at exposing the burgeoning spurious spare parts business. Reports show that 50 per cent of spares of all popular brands sold in the market are fake and unreliable.
The company has in the last six months conducted 27 successful raids in Tamil Nadu and 125 across the country.
The most easily duplicated products include clutch parts, air/oil fuel filters, belts, hoses, ball joints, seals, suspension items like liners and brake pads, gear parts, syncrocone, gaskets. And those engaged in the manufacture of such duplicated products also managed counterfeit packaging and labels, the company said in a release.
The enforcement team including the IPR enforcement, copyrights protection agencies, Tata Motors’ TGP team and the legal team, have been working closely to identify both manufacturing unit and selling outlets/locations of counterfeit spares and packaging centres, across major cities and trade hubs of India.
Stating that customer awareness is the key to curb the sale of counterfeit products, the Senior Vice President (HR and Legal) Tata Motors Rajesh Bagga said that a majority of customers tended to opt for counterfeit products after the expiry of the warranty period of the vehicle, thus giving room for manufacturers of such spurious products to thrive in the business. "They seem to be quite unaware of the safety risks posed by spurious/counterfeit products,' he added.
The TGP team has launched a series of pilfer-proof plastic packaging for gear and differential parts as well as lazer marking with Tata Logo, a slew of security enriched packaging stickers and labels and the Tata Dhaal hologram on the packaging, as identification aids to provide customers with additional assurance when they buy Tata Motors spares.
The company has also kick-started regular mechanic and retailer meets and other outreach programmes to educate customers/spare parts distributors and bring the sale of such products under control.