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"There are many fake supplements coming these days, we have to be alert about all the supplements. Is there any body in India or Mumbai which can decide whether the supplement is pure and original, like a governing body for the supplements in India whether Imported or Indian brands?"
- Unfortunately up to date, there is no regulatory or watchdog body which is in charge of regulating and managing the import, manufacture or distribution of supplements. They currently come under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1958 (PFA Act) which as you can see is an archaic act. The result has been a slew of unregulated, adulterated and fake supplements making their way into the Indian market over the past decade.
- Luckily in offing & hopefully to come into effect next year is the all-new FSSA (Food Standards & Safety Act), currently FSSB- Food Standards & Safety Bill which was passed in Parliament last year. This Act finally recognizes "DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS" as a separate entity and is modelled on the lines of the DSHEA, CODEX and the EU Food Laws. Needless to say that it is a state-of-the-art ACT.
Now coming to the question that what do gullible consumers do at present. NEULIFE recognizes this huge problem and has been working since the very beginning to help out customers overcome this problem.
A.) Please visit www.neulife.in/hologram to find out how to decipher a genuine NEULIFE product.
B.) If you purchase any non-NEULIFE brand, this is what you MUST do-
1. Go to the US company's official website---> go to Retailers--->International and find out the name of the US company's official India guy
2. Buy either directly from the official India dealer OR ONLY from an Authorized Dealer of the Company as confirmed by the Company
3. Insist, and I repeat- ABSOLUTELY INSIST on an official TAX PAID BILL in which the TIN# AND VAT# of the seller is clearly printed.
Now there are 3 further tricks which the grey market uses to con customers. But for each trick, I'll give you a solution. Read on-
Trick #1.
They give you a dummy challan/ cash memo which looks like a bill BUT ISN'T A BILL AT ALL! If you look at this bill closely it does NOT mention either the company's TIN# and VAT# , and neither does it have a separate VAT amount charged. It's a simple all-inclusive rate as shown on their website.
FAKE BILL without the Company's TIN# and VAT#
Solution #1
Look closely and you will see neither of the VAT or TIN nos mentioned nor any 12.5% tax charged separately.
Trick #2.
They put a FAKE TIN# and VAT#. Now a consumer isn't going to book supplements expenses in his IT Returns so for all practical purposes, the bill would never get caught by the authorities as Fake.
FAKE BILL with a FAKE TIN#
Solution #2-
Go to the VAT department website (it is different for each state so just google it) or simply go to the following website- http://www.knowyourtin.com/2010/01/know-tin-vat-number-punjab-by-name-tin.html and put in the TIN# in search field and you would instantly know whether the TIN# printed on the bill was a fake or genuine. This site is beautiful...it even has a "search by name" option:)
Trick #3
Third is the most daring kind of grey marketeer who assumes that NO CUSTOMER is going to book the supplement bill/ invoice in his IT Returns so the bill can never be caught by the tax authorities. So he actually puts his own and correct VAT TIN# on the bill, but once the parcel has left his premises, the invoice is deleted from his records. This is the most dangerous kind of grey marketeer.
Solution #3
I have only one solution for this trick- Stop putting your health on the line and spend a couple of hundred bucks more and BUY ONLY FROM AUTHORIZED RESELLERS.
P.S:-
One more thing- many US companies do not state their international dealers on their website (including many NEULIFE brands such as BSN and VPX). In such a case, you would have to mail them to get hold of their official India guy. For example, we receive dozens of such mails from BSN and VPX regarding India inquiries.For anu further queries, you can reach us directly at info@neulife.in
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