Events

• She is a senior Indian bureaucrat with over 33 years of distinguished service in various capacities in the State Governments of Bihar and Jharkhand, as well as the Government of India.
• Presently working as Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution w.e.f. 1st April 2024. She has also worked as Secretary, Department of Land Resources and Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and also looked after the additional charge of Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution from time to time.
• She has served the Department of Consumer Affairs in various capacities, where she was instrumental in setting up the Central Consumer Protection Authority - CCPA - a regulatory body established for class action against violations of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and misleading advertisements.
• As the first Chief Commissioner of CCPA, she initiated more than 500 cases and disposed-off 141 cases. These included securing refunds for consumers whose flight tickets were cancelled during the COVID-19 lockdown, imposing penalties on major coaching institutes for misleading advertisements, and taking action against online platforms selling faulty, sub-standard pressure cookers.
• Under her leadership, CCPA issued a series of Guidelines and Advisories to check unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements. These include the Guidelines on Misleading Advertisements, Guidelines on Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, and Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing. She also steered advisories on service charges, misleading COVID-19 claims, mandatory seller disclosures on e-commerce platforms, illegal jammers, sale of traditional medicines without prescription, car seat-belt alarm stoppers, and the prohibition of endorsements for unlawful activities such as betting.
• She has further taken firm and decisive action against e-commerce companies for the sale of unsafe and prohibited products including jammers, explosives, unauthorised drones, and hazardous chemicals and pesticides thereby safeguarding consumer safety in the online marketplace.
• Together, these measures have significantly strengthened transparency, accountability, and consumer trust across the country.
• Under her guidance, DoCA launched the Right to Repair Portal India in 2022, covering Automobiles, Consumer Durables, Mobile & Electronics, and Farming Equipment. So far, 66 major companies have joined to provide manuals, tools, and resources supporting a shift toward a circular economy. Department of Consumer Affairs has set up a committee for framework on Repairability Index for the Mobile and Electronics sector, for developing a standardized scoring method for OEMs to self-declare their index, promoting mindful consumption, innovation, and consumer choice. The Committee has has identified weightage of parameters for repairabilty index such as Disassembly Depth, Repair Information, Availability of Spare Parts, Software updates, Tools and Fastners.
• Furthermore, in a bid to empower consumers to access fast, hassle-free resolutions, she has strengthened pre-litigation grievance redressal mechanisms. Her efforts expanded the 24/7 toll-free grievance registration system, enabling consumers to register complaints via call, SMS, WhatsApp, web portal, mobile app, etc.
• Under her leadership, e-Jagriti (e-Justice and Grievance Redressal through Information Technology and Innovation), India’s digital platform for consumer dispute redressal, was launched by DoCA on 1 January 2025.  The platform facilitates end-to-end digital case management, including e-filing of complaints, online fee payment, digital scrutiny, virtual hearings, electronic service of notices, AI-enabled document management, real-time case tracking and online access to orders and judgments. Since its launch, e-Jagriti has registered over 4.36 lakh users, facilitated filing of more than 2.29 lakh consumer cases and disposal of over 2.07 lakh cases, achieving an overall disposal rate of over 90%, thereby significantly improving accessibility, transparency and efficiency in consumer justice delivery.
• The digital footprint of e-Jagriti extends beyond India’s borders, enabling seamless access to consumer justice for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas consumers. As on 22 June 2026, the platform has facilitated filing of various consumer cases from 60 countries, including the United States (290 cases), Canada (73), United Arab Emirates, Australia (40), United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and several other jurisdictions, demonstrating its global reach and accessibility. The platform has emerged as a significant step towards making consumer justice accessible anytime, anywhere, while supporting paperless adjudication, virtual hearings and technology-driven dispute resolution.
• Apart from Consumer Protection, she was actively engaged at the transformation of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and National Test House (NTH) with setting up of world class testing laboratories and making mandatory hallmarking for gold ornaments. 
 

Mr. Kumar Venkatasubramanian is a MBA from IIM, Calcutta and has completed his Bachelor of Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Durgapur. Mr. Kumar Venkatasubramanian started his career with P&G in India in 2000 and worked in various sales leadership roles across India. In his 25+ years career, he has led complex categories across some of the world’s largest markets including India, Brazil, and Australia. He rose the ranks in P&G India as he managed partnerships with various distributor operations and key customers. Until 2020, for a few years, he led the P&G India Sales function and the Oral Care category. In 2020, Mr. Kumar Venkatasubramanian was elevated to the role of CEO ‐ P&G Australia and New Zealand where he has delivered record business performance through strong category growth. Over the years, he has led large and diverse teams, with extensive leadership experience to complement his strong business acumen.

Jeyandran Venugopal, President & CEO – Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), has 25 years of global leadership experience across retail, e-commerce technology, and business transformation.  

Before joining RRVL, he served at Flipkart as Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO), leading a large cross-functional team across Product, Engineering, Design, and Data Science. IT, Security, and infrastructure, along with several business and P&L functions, including central revenue, customer growth and retention/loyalty, marketing monetization programs, and externalization/commerce cloud business.  He played a pivotal role in driving Flipkart’s growth, customer engagement, ecosystem expansion, and strengthening its leadership in India’s e-commerce landscape.

Earlier, as Chief Technology Officer at Myntra and Jabong, Jey led end-to-end product, engineering, and data organisations through a phase of rapid growth and profitability improvement, scaling Myntra into India’s largest fashion and lifestyle platform by integrating innovation with core retail disciplines such as assortment, pricing, and customer experience.

He previously was an entrepreneur, building, scaling, and successfully exiting a digital healthcare business. Before that, he held senior leadership roles at Yahoo and Amazon, building and scaling global technology and commerce platforms.  His career reflects a strong record in managing multi-billion-dollar digital retail ecosystems and leading large-scale business transformations.

Jey has served on industry body boards (NASSCOM Executive Council and Chairperson of the Deep Tech Council) and has engaged deeply in policy advocacy and advisory efforts on Retail/EComm and Technology (AI, data privacy, and others) with the government and the stakeholder ecosystem.

Jey holds dual master’s degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering Guindy.

In his current role as President & CEO – RRVL, Jey works closely with Ms. Isha Ambani and the Leadership Team of Reliance Retail, under the overall guidance of Shri. Mukesh Ambani and Shri. Manoj Modi to strengthen the Retail portfolio, accelerate omnichannel growth and drive technical and operational excellence across the value chain.  His deep understanding of consumer behaviour, commercial acumen, and technology-led retail transformation will be pivotal as we shape the next phase of RRVL’s growth journey.

Manish Anandani is the Managing Director, India at Kenvue, a leading global consumer health. Manish is also a member of the Kenvue Asia Pacific Leadership team.

A seasoned global leader in the FMCG industry, Manish brings over two decades of rich industry experience across Consumer Health, Food & Beverage, Consumer Packaged Goods with strong capabilities in brand marketing, sales, customer management, ecommerce having worked with eminent global companies in India and other international markets.  

Previously, Manish was the Managing Director for Kenvue Philippines where he led the region’s growth and expansion bringing robust technology-led data and insights to create long-term value for customers and the business.

In 2018, Manish joined Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health (now Kenvue), as Vice President, Sales and Professional Marketing for India and Southern Asia. In this role, he championed a digital-first approach in the sales function, spearheaded the e-commerce business and rapidly scaled capabilities in the India business delivering exceptional double-digit growth.

Prior to J&J, Manish worked with Colgate-Palmolive as Worldwide Director-Retail & Shopper Marketing and Customer Development Capabilities. During his tenure with the company, he developed long term sales strategies, people development and introduced disruptive solutions to improve business efficiencies and profitability. Manish began his career with PepsiCo India.

Manish holds a degree in Electronics, and an MBA in Marketing and Leadership from the Tuck School of Business in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.

Outside of work, Manish is an avid golfer and loves travelling.

Vipul Mathur is the Executive Director, Personal Care for Hindustan Unilever Limited.

A marketing professional with over two decades of experience, Vipul has worked across categories such as Home Care, Personal Care and Foods; and functions such as Marketing and Customer Development. He has a proven track record of developing winning strategies, driving P&L and shaping communication and media strategies.

As Head of Growth and Transformation, Vipul worked closely with the senior leadership team to drive transformation and performance management for HUL.

In his previous role, as Vice President for Modern Trade and e-Commerce, he strengthened HUL’s omnichannel strategy and drove portfolio transformation in high-growth emerging channels, by leading customer relationships and building in-house cross-functional capabilities.

Vipul also worked in HUL’s Laundry business and  led the  Mobile Marketing and Rural Marketing.  He played a pivotal role in launching the Cannes-winning Kan Khajura Teshan (KKT), India’s first mobile-based radio platform with branded content from 10 Unilever brands.

Vipul is an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He joined HUL in 2003 as a management trainee.

Dr. Ravi Prakash Gandhi is Group President and Head of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Reliance Retail Limited.

Prior to his current role, he served as the Chief Regulatory Officer at Bharti Airtel Limited. Prior to joining Bharti Airtel, Ravi was part of the Indian Telecom Services, Government of India. Dr. Gandhi is a transformational leader who believes that organizational development is paramount to success. His career spans more than three decades of geographically and functionally diverse experience in the realms of Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs in the telecommunications industry.

Dr. Gandhi has a proven history of taking on complex challenges, managing volatility, turning businesses around and delivering growth with a focus on problem solving. He brings a unique perspective to Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy by combining his innate knowledge in Business Management, Strategic Planning, Cross-functional Team Leadership and Management. 

Dr. Gandhi is a PhD. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and a B. Tech from National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra.

Mr. Aditya Prakash Rao is a Partner at PLR Chambers, an-award winning law firm specializing in Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to joining PLR Chambers, Mr. Rao worked with Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co., New Delhi as a Principal Associate (Designate) at the Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs practice group and as a Senior Consultant with Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs. A graduate of the Indian Law Society's Law College, Pune, he has over 17 years of experience advising multinational corporations, Indian businesses, industry associations and government institutions on public policy, regulatory strategy and legislative affairs.

Mr. Rao has been closely associated with the evolution of India's direct selling regulatory framework and has advised leading direct selling companies and industry associations on navigating complex policy, legal and regulatory issues. His work spans strategic government engagement with Central and State Governments, public policy advisory, legislative drafting, regulatory compliance, consumer protection, taxation, e-commerce, FDI, and emerging business regulations affecting the sector.

He has played a significant role in advancing policy discourse for the direct selling industry through research and thought leadership. PLR Chambers served as the knowledge partner to the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) for the landmark White Paper on the Direct Selling Industry in India, which informed discussions before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. The study advocated for a clear legal definition of direct selling, differentiated legitimate businesses from fraudulent pyramid and Ponzi schemes, and recommended a dedicated registration framework for direct selling entities, recommendations that substantially shaped subsequent policy discussions on regulating the sector. The FICCI PLR Chambers report on Ease of Doing Business in India – The Way Forward for the Direct Selling Industry was also coauthored by Mr. Rao wherein an analysis of the initiatives and reforms taken by the government with relation to Ease of Doing Business to further the Direct Selling Industry in India.

Beyond client advisory, Mr. Rao has contributed to several industry reports, policy papers and research initiatives in collaboration with industry bodies, think tanks and academic institutions, reinforcing PLR Chambers' position as a leading policy and regulatory advisory firm. His work combines legal analysis with practical policy solutions, enabling businesses to engage constructively with governments, anticipate regulatory developments, manage policy risks, and contribute meaningfully to India's evolving regulatory landscape.

Adosh Sharma is the Country Commercial Manager at IKEA India, where he leads customer experience, market growth, sales, e-commerce and food functions. He has played a key role in strengthening IKEA’s footprint through large-format stores and digital-first entries. With prior leadership roles across IKEA operations in Egypt, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, and Dubai, he brings rich experience in launching and scaling the brand across diverse markets.

Backed by over two decades at global names like Marks & Spencer, Robinsons, and Levi’s, Adosh has deep expertise in consumer insights, localisation, and retail strategy.

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