Kolkata stands against parallel imports

The DQ Week has been covering in detail the cross-country movement with regards to parallel imports. Joining the uproar is now Kolkata, wherein the partners have decided to stand up and form an association to safeguard the interests of genuine dealers.

The current scenario of parallel imports viz-a-viz the products sold by the brands in the country, has created lot of misconceptions in the channel. In the initial stage, the authorized distributors are educating channel community on the advantages of avoiding parallel import material. Vinay Dugar from Supreme Technologies said, "Almost 99% of the business today is covered by genuine distributors, however, due to 1% of parallel import the entire channel stands at risk of losing business and bad customer experience." He further added, "We need to protect the interest of our customers and channel partners always, prior to indulging in sale of parallel imported material. All it does is take away the confidence that our customers have in us when they approach any of the dealers in our market."

Leading channel partners from this region have decided to form an association which will be called Genuine Dealers Association. The association will be floated towards the end of this month. There will be about 100-150 dealers who have shown interest and will be the members of this association.

Dugar said, "We will be coming out with catalogs with regards to parallel imports. We will be spreading awareness in schools and colleges. We aspire to spread knowledge about the right genuine products at the grassroot level itself."

A handful of partners to earn few hundred rupees more shift imported products and this has created a lot of problems in the market. Dugar said, "Most important factor is education and awareness with regards to products. One of our initiative is that we have started putting stickers on the box stating India genuine warranty. We always urge our customers and partners to check on the company website to check on the authenticity of the product."

On the association front, about 40 major partners will be having a meeting in the third week of June wherein the key agenda is to finalize the matters regarding the new association. "The next step is to spread awareness about this association to the other states of eastern India. And then, we will take this to the national level wherein we will align with other like-minded associations," said Dugar.