August 22nd 2023.
Consumer activists in Mumbai demanded action from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) on Monday. The demand came after the BEE issued two notices alerting consumers against the purchase of two models of Hitachi air conditioners. According to the notices, the split room AC failed to meet the rating of ‘3 star’, while the window room AC failed to meet the ‘5 star’ rating.
Jehangir Gai, a consumer activist, raised the question of how the air conditioners even reached the market without certification. He further suggested that the BEE should inform the Consumer Protection Authority and recall the products from the market that failed to meet energy efficiency standards. Gai noted that the electricity bill is usually higher than the cost of the air conditioner itself, so it's important that the product is energy efficient.
To make matters worse, the BEE website's search engine had revised the split AC’s ratings from ‘3 star’ in 2021 to ‘2 star’ in 2022. The window AC’s ratings were not visible on BEE’s website either. Advocate Shirish Deshpande, chairman of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, suggested that BEE should direct Hitachi to withdraw the stocks from the market, comply with the directions and change the display of advertising material. He also asked why only Hitachi’s flawed products were mentioned in the notice.
At the time of going to press, BEE and Hitachi had not responded to the questions. Meanwhile, LG Electronics India has started local manufacturing of Dual Inverter Air Conditioner Compressors. This is a sign that consumers can expect more reliable air conditioners in the near future.
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