The Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA) has called for greater consumer awareness and easier product-verification mechanisms to help consumers identify counterfeit products, as it presented the findings of the ASPA–CRISIL State of Counterfeiting in India 2025 report at its “Fake Free India” event in Hyderabad earlier this August. 

The findings were presented by Ankit Gupta, President, ASPA, are based on a survey of 1,639 consumers across nine Indian cities, covering six key sectors including different kinds of apparel, FMCG, automotive parts, consumer durables, healthcare products and agro-products — the report found that 89 per cent of consumers had purchased a counterfeit product at least once in their lifetime, while 35 per cent reported encountering a counterfeit product in the past 12 months. Consumers estimated that nearly 29 per cent of products available in local markets could be counterfeit, and 74 per cent believed counterfeiting had increased in their region over the past year. Encouragingly, 50 per cent of consumers said they would never knowingly buy a counterfeit product — a sharp rise since the report’s 2022 baseline — while 93 per cent said more consumer awareness campaigns are needed.