If you thought it was only audio cassettes, T-shirts and underwear that is duplicated then you are in for a surprise. With automobile prices crashing, competition increasing and car financing becoming cheaper, authorities are finding that car components are under attack. Investigations show that fake products, duplicated to the extent of cartons, holograms and even sealing tapes, are easily available in the market.

The scale of counterfeit operations was significantly high for Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to add the automotive industry under India Brand Protection Committee (IBPC) recently. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd and TELCO are some of the companies that have launched an offensive under this banner.

"The total spares market for just Tata commercial vehicles is approximately 2500 crore, and spurious products account for a high 30 - 35 per cent of these sales," said T N Jha, senior manager, TELCO. The negative impact on the company’s sales is clear. Moreover, increasing consumer complaints about product failure, and the resulting negative impact on Tata’s goodwill, made the company take a relook at its strategy for combating the counterfeit menace.

The last four months have seen Tata Engineering get cracking on the issue. Eight raids have been conducted across India since April itself. In a recent raid conducted by the Crime branch on June 4 in Mumbai, the police recovered spurious auto spares worth over four lakh rupees from two shops in the Grant Road and Lamington Road areas.

Another raid in Delhi on June 13 led to the seizure of material worth five lakh rupees. However, loopholes in law often allow wrongdoers to go scot-free. "Conviction rates are very low, and even where charges are proved the sentences are paltry," says Sujata Tiwari, coordinator, IBPC. The result - Crawford Market and Ulhas Nagar have become the counterfeit trading and packaging hubs in Mumbai.

IBPC is also lobbying for changes in the Trademarks Act of 1999, which has been passed (but not yet implemented), which requires that prior permission of the registrar of trademarks be obtained before a raid can be conducted.