The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre, states and Union Territories on a PIL seeking mandatory disclosure of details of distributors, dealers, sellers and shop owners so that redress can be sought for unfair trade practices and unscrupulous exploitation of consumers.

The petition comes in the backdrop of another plea filed by social activists challenging the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments’ directives to shopkeepers along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their names and identities, which has been seen as religious profiling by the BJP governments in the two states.

The latest petition has been filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

He argued that every consumer has the right to know not only about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard, manufacturing, expiry date and BIS, FSSAI certification of good and products, but also about the details of the distributors, dealers, traders, sellers and shop owners so they can seek redress for unfair trade practices, restrictive trade practices and unscrupulous exploitation of consumers under Sections 2(6) and 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019.

He also stated that the Centre and the states must ensure that distributors, dealers, sellers and shop owners display details of registration and licence, including names, addresses, number of employees and phone numbers, at the entrance in bold letters on a display board visible to an ordinary person.

He said that the right to know about distributors and dealers had to be protected under the Consumer Protection Act, read with Article 19 of the Constitution (freedom of speech and expression). Therefore, every consumer has the right to access details of products and services before making a purchase.