FDSA Pune Work shop News Letter - Federation of Direct Selling

The Federation of Direct Selling
Association (FDSA) organised a one
day workshop at Pune on June 2, at
The Pride Hotel. About 34 new
companies attended the workshop.
Asserting that the MLM is not a
illegal industry, but only a
misunderstood industry, Mr. A P
Reddy, President, FDSA, called
upon all the companies that are into
MLM/Direct Selling to change and
abide by the guidelines set forth by
the association. “Adapting and
implementing the guidelines is the
only way to save the industry from
an imminent collapse, The
government is inclined to close
down the industry as a fall out of the
money circulation companies. You
can see what happened in the cases
of RMP Infotech and RCM. Both the
companies were simply targeted. All
the companies need to be more
careful and should see that they do
not come under the ambit of the Prize
Chits and Money Circulation
(Banning) Act”, he said.
Suggesting to change the
terminology that is being used in the
industry, he asked all those
concerned to use the word ‘Direct
Selling’ instead of ‘MLM’. “Direct
Selling/MLM is the only industry
which can create wonders in the
world. If the government gives us an
oppor tunity, we are capable of
bringing the US$ down. When the
economy is not developing, the
rupee value will come down and the
economy of the country collapses.
Small countries that are dependent
on tourism are developing, just
because the tourists come and
spend in that country. Unless the
government take steps towards
increasing the earning capacity of
an individual, the economy will not
improve, because, unless a person
earns, he cannot spend. And MLM
is the best prove method the world
over to improve the earning capacity
of an individual. MLM is legal in
countries like USA, UK, Singapore,
Malaysia, Denmark, Thailand,
Indonesia among several other
countries”, he added.
Observing that the Indian
intelligence is very high, he however
pointed out that we are always
attracted towards negativity much
faster than anybody else in the
world. “We need to curb this
tendency of moving towards
negativity and pitch ourselves to
fight for the single cause of getting
an identity to this industry. It is
towards this goal that FDSA is
moving. I appeal everybody to join
their hands and assist the industry
in achieving the goal. When we are
genuine, no one dares to touch”,
he said.
“Today Direct Selling/MLM is an
orphan. It is intentionally targeted.
This intention has to change. To
build up the business it takes years,
but it takes a few minutes to destroy
it. FDSA is there with all the genuine
companies and I assure you all that
the association would stand by all
the genuine companies that are
following the FDSA guidelines”, he
said.
Mr. Kishore Varma, General
Secretary, FDSA, while making a
presentation on FDSA and the
introduced guidelines said that
several regional companies are
facing problems and hence, regional
workshops have become necessary.
“We have come up with guidelines
to bring common discipline among
Mr. A P Reddy,
President, FDSA
lobbying against the industry and they feel that if RMP Infotech in South
India and RCM in North India are closed, there will be no more MLM in
India. These forces are working behind the screen. It took 10 years for
RCM to build a network of 1.35 crore people and these forces want to
play with the lives of all these people”, he said.
Calling upon all the member companies to make a customer
complaints redressal cell mandatory, he said, “This would save the
all the members of FDSA. We have sent
a copy of the guidelines to all the state
governments. We have received
positive responses from some of the
state governments. The New Delhi
government replied that they have
forwarded the guidelines to the
respective department. In Rajasthan too,
the government had responded
favourably and process is on to concede
to our request. However, we have
observed that certain forces are
respective company from many
embarrassing situations in
case problems related to
customers arise. Direct Selling
is totally different in India, when
compare to other countries”.
Observing that the payout
should never be on head
count, he said, “Payouts
should always be on the sales
affected. Multiple IDs is yet
another problem that is
bogging the industr y. The
judiciary do not have
complete understanding of the
industry and hence, we need to be
very cautious and abide by the
guidelines that FDSA had set forth”.
Detailing
on
legalities
associated with network industry, Mr.
Premlal, Legal counsel, RMP
Infotech Pvt. Ltd., said, “FDSA
guidelines should be implemented
state wise. Guidelines and a
‘Regulatory Authority’ are a must.
Then only the confusion in the
industry could be removed. The
‘Distributors’ should be guided on
what to talk and what not to talk.
Many a time, because of the
‘Distributors’ ignorance problems
creep in. All criminal laws are
prohibitory in nature. They don’t tell
you what can be done. They only tell you what you should not do”.
“Money circulation is the base for any business. Unless you spend money
you cannot enjoy the benefits of life. The MLM industry is helping the
economy as it increases the earning and spending capacities of an
individual. There is always a right way and a wrong way of doing business.
There are people who do it the right way and there are people who do it the
other way. Hence, ‘Guidelines’ or an ‘Act’ is a must to ensure proper
functioning of the MLM companies. To achieve this, we need to show our
strength. Protests will not be of any help. Campaigning should be done
through media only, and this calls for educating the media on the various
aspects of the industry”, Mr. Premlal opined.
He also suggested all MLM companies to have detailed documentation
on their various modules and purchase order. There is no compulsion on
KYC (Know Your Customer). He further clarified that insurance lead
generators can not be paid commissions and added that clubs should have
separate registration.
The workshop saw a very positive response from the industry and
concluded on a high note.
For further details visit: www.fdsaindia.org.