PRINCIPLE 9
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Consumer and IT : Businesses should engage with and provide value to their consumers in a responsible manner
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Message from Our Leadership

"The Indian consumer is evolving rapidly. The pandemic has accelerated several trends that will continue to have far-reaching effects on the Indian consumer - an increased affinity towards holistic health and wellbeing, a massive shift in the adoption of digital technology and importantly, a heightened consciousness amongst consumers on sustainability and social equity. The Indian consumer is increasingly choosing superior products and brands that are also good for the people and the planet. We are focused on faster-better innovation, leveraging next generation media tools to reach consumers effectively and efficiently, and building engagement platforms enabling end-to-end consumer experience."

Srinandan Sundaram
Executive Director - Foods & Refreshment

PRINCIPLE 9 Highlights

0

%
CSR spent in Aspirational Districts

NIL

Consumer complaints on data privacy, cyber-security, delivery of essential services, restrictive trade practices, unfair trade practices

NIL

Product recalls on account of safety issues

NIL

Data breaches involving personally identifiable information
Essential Indicators

Describe the mechanisms in place to receive and respond to consumer complaints and feedback.

As a consumer-centric organisation, we value all consumer feedback and have set up various channels through which consumers can reach out to us. A PO Box number, email ID, and a toll-free number are on the back of pack of all brands, SKUs, variants, and formats. Consumers can also reach out to us through social media platforms, brand websites, WhatsApp number and our Contact Us form. There is a team dedicated to attend and address consumer feedback and queries.

2. Turnover of products and services as a percentage of turnover from all products/service that carry information about:

Category As a percentage to total turnover*
Environmental and social parameters relevant to the product 100.0%
Safe and responsible usage 100.0%
Recycling and/or safe disposal 100.0%

* As a company, we have a very large count of unique product base packs. We are in the process of creating a central repository of all product artworks with element level details. Above numbers are reported basis comprehensive review of base packs covering 60% of the total sales.

3. Number of consumer complaints in respect of the following:

FY 2022-23 Remarks FY 2021-22 Remarks
Received during the year Pending resolution at end of year Received during the year Pending resolution at end of year
Data privacy - - - - - -
Advertising 10 1 - 9 3 -
Cyber-security - - - - - -
Delivery of essential services - - - - - -
Restrictive trade practices - - - - - -
Unfair trade practices - - - - - -
Other - - - - - -

We have a very robust mechanism to receive and address queries, feedback and complaints received from our consumers. We have reported above complaints in relation to 'data privacy', 'advertising', 'cyber-security', 'delivery of essential services', 'restrictive trade practices' and 'unfair trade practices'.

4. Details of instances of product recalls on account of safety issues

We have a stringent mandatory quality standard in place against which compliance is verified through regular audits and self-assessments. These standards ensure we design, manufacture and supply products that are safe, of excellent quality, and conform to the relevant industry and regulatory standards in the countries in which we operate. Comprehensive management procedures are in place to mitigate risks and to protect our consumers and markets. We take prompt and timely action wherever and whenever we encounter products, which do not meet the standards and ensure right quality product go in the market.

Category Number Reasons for recall
Voluntary recalls Nil -
Forced recalls Nil -

5. Does the entity have a framework/policy on cyber security and risks related to data privacy (yes/no)? If available, provide a web-link of the policy.

Yes, we have extensive cyber security and data privacy policies, which are applicable to the entire organisation. We respect the privacy of all individuals including employees and consumers and their personal data. We recognise and protect privacy as an essential human right under our Code of Business Principles, which is available on our website at https://www.hul.co.in/investor-relations/corporate-governance/hul-policies/

We have focused learning modules on the Code Policy on Personal Data, which is mandatory for the entire organisation. We had training for the entire workforce on the Personal Data Code Policy in 2021 and Privacy & Data Protection (general privacy principles, practices, processes, behaviour, etc.) in 2022.

In addition, we disclose 'Privacy Notice' pertaining to our personal data processing practices to consumers before they consent to process their personal data. The Privacy Notice proactively discloses all the relevant information necessary to make an informed choice, including but not limited to types of data, purposes, security safeguards, principal data rights, contact details of Data Privacy Officer and grievance redressal mechanisms, retention, third-party disclosure policies. https://www.unilevernotices.com/privacy-notices/india-english.html

We also have a designated Data Privacy Officer, whose key responsibility is to ensure data privacy guidelines are followed in the organisation and any privacy related grievances are being addressed. We have a central email ID i.e., grievance.officer-privacy@unilever.com, which is disclosed in the privacy notices and on our website. There is also a Contact Us form for privacy issues that is directed to the Data Privacy Office.

Our Responsible Partner Policy, which is applicable to all third parties, includes an obligation to protect and safeguard personal data involving our consumers and customers.

6. Provide details of any corrective actions taken or underway on issues relating to advertising, and delivery of essential services; cyber security and data privacy of customers; re-occurrence of instances of product recalls; penalty/action taken by regulatory authorities on safety of products/services.

There were no significant concerns/complaint/penalty/regulatory actions identified during the year. However, in case of any concerns, consumers can reach out to us via multiple channels i.e., phone, email, social media, and WhatsApp. We have a pre-defined turnaround time and response mechanism for complaint closure.

For data-privacy-related concerns, we have a Personal Data Incident Reporting process to report and investigate any suspected or potential threat to personal data. The Data Privacy Officer and Cyber Security Lead investigates incidents to identify lapses and gaps to continuously improve processes and controls to mitigate future breaches.

Leadership Indicators

1. Channels/platforms where information on products and services of the entity can be accessed (provide web link, if available)

Information regarding all products is available in the Brand section of our website: https://www.hul.co.in/brands/.

Consumers can also reach out to us via one of the following modes for any additional information:

2. Steps taken to inform and educate consumers about safe and responsible usage of products and/or services.

We provide information on our product packaging, including ingredients, expiry date, usage directions, etc., as appropriate to inform our consumers about safe and responsible usage. Consumers can also reach out to us on our levercare toll-free number (1800-102-2221) and via our email ID (lever.care@unilever.com) printed on each product. Our website has a dedicated section where consumers can reach us through the Contact Us form and a dedicated section on 'What is in Our Products' (https://www.hul.co.in/our-company/rd-innovation/safety-environment/whats-in-our-products/) is hosted to inform consumers about our products and the ingredients.

3. Mechanisms in place to inform consumers of any risk of disruption/discontinuation of essential services.

At HUL, we do not deal with any essential services, however, in case of any disruption, we can disseminate information through our website, various mass media platforms, social media platforms, distribution network, sales representatives, emails, etc. In addition, consumers can reach out to us on our toll-free number for Levercare (1800-102-2221) and email ID (lever.care@unilever.com), printed on each product.

4. Does the entity display product information on the product over and above what is mandated as per local laws? (Yes/No/Not Applicable) If yes, provide details in brief. Did your entity carry out any survey with regard to consumer satisfaction relating to the major products / services of the entity, significant locations of operation of the entity or the entity as a whole (yes/no)?

We are fully committed to not only ensuring compliance to mandatory labelling, but also to providing important information to consumers regarding safety, health, proper usage and appropriate precautions. These are embedded in our Trust & Transparency pillar of Unilever Compass strategy. For example, on the Foods and Refreshments products, we provide on-label nutritional information in a nutrition table in addition to the mandatory nutrients. We also use additional logos, such as the 'Guideline Daily Amount (GDA)', to provide additional information or reference to product quality (e.g., a trust seal or Darjeeling tea logo for tea). We also provide QR codes for extra information and sustainability-related logos (e.g., a recyclable logo). In the case of flavoured tea, we provide a table covering the registration numbers of flavours with their maximum percentages. For home care products, on our laundry pods, we provide safety precautions, symbols, and usage directions in text and pictures; an ingredient declaration; and warnings (e.g., regarding keeping products out of the reach of children) to ensure complete safety for our consumers.

Similarly, we provide usage instructions and cautionary statements for personal care products. For example, on our hair serum label, we give the ideal usage directions for maximum benefit, precautions to be taken, and immediate action in case of an issue. In addition, all products contain information on the product benefits and any special ingredients delivering the benefits. This information helps consumers make an informed choice.

Consumer satisfaction survey: Our Levercare team (also known as Consumer Engagement Centre) provides a comprehensive omni-channel (Phone, Email, Social-Media, WhatsApp & Web) system to help answer any product related queries and complaints to deliver best in class consumer experience.

We monitor consumer sentiments (i.e., the digital voice of the consumer via social media and brand pages) to receive overall feedback on issue resolution and products/services and calculate the Net Promoter Score (0 to 10). We then evaluate consumer experiences on both product and service based on how likely they are to recommend both, the product, and the service to family & friends on a scale of 0 to 10.

Additionally, to capture feedback from E-commerce consumers, we use digitally enabled consumer-focused capability, which provides specific insights based on ratings & reviews at brand and product levels that help identify product improvements & feed into innovations. This also helps improve end-to-end consumer experience on E-commerce and Social-Media.

Further, for customers, we run an Annual 'Customer Voice Survey' to gauge overall performance and sentiment across our distributors and customer's network. The feedback is taken across facets like Overall experience, Customer Service, Finance, Supply Chain, IT support, etc. Currently in the second year of its running, the annual check on Customer pulse, provides real time insights on things going well, things we need to do more of and areas which need correction

5. Provide the following information relating to data breaches: a. Number of instances of data breaches along-with impact

Nil, there were no instances of reportable data breaches in the current Financial Year.

6. Provide the following information relating to data breaches: b. Percentage of data breaches involving personally identifiable information of customers

Nil, there were no instances of reportable data breaches involving personally identifiable information.