Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI), India's first Consumer Organization established in 1966, welcomes you to their website.

Post-independence, India has been striving to develop and strengthen its industrial base. In this pursuit of “self-sufficiency,” consumers have had to endure the use of substandard products and services. Adulterated foods, short weights and measures, spurious hazardous drugs, exorbitant prices, endemic shortages leading to black marketing and profiteering, unfulfilled manufacturer guarantees, and a host of other problems are common.

In the 1960s, exploitation of consumers by manufacturers and service providers was rampant in India, with a few monopolistic business houses controlling the industry. In one infamous case, 40 persons suffered dropsy and glaucoma after consuming groundnut oil adulterated with toxic argemone oil. The victims did not get any justice from the country and the culprits escaped without punishment.

This outrage energized nine women to organize a movement to fight and protect consumer rights by establishing the first consumer organization in India, the “Consumer Guidance Society of India” (CGSI), in 1966 to resist the silent suffering of consumers and their exploitation in all forms. After CGSI’s formation, several public-minded citizens and illustrious persons joined their cause over the years.

CGSI carries out its administration strictly as per the CONSTITUTION. To date CGSI has about 3000 lifetime members spread all over India, with all Managing Committee Members (office bearers) at the helm being unpaid honorary volunteers.