Appeals may be made by any interested party on any decision taken by EMTAC in respect of Certification regarding the granting, withdrawal, renewal, suspension or cancellation of a License, redressal of complaints/disputes, provided the said party has been directly affected by the decision.

The appellant should prefer the appeal in a prescribed format to the CEO of EMTAC within 90 days from the date of the decision along with a fee of INR1000/- in the form of a Demand Draft drawn in favor of EMTAC LABORATORIES PRIVATE LIMITED, Payable in Hyderabad. (Payment can also be made by bank transfer to EMTAC’s account)

The appeal shall, inter alia, include the following

1. Subject matter of the appeal.
2. Establish the appellant’s connection with the matter
3. Remedial measure sought by the appellant.

The CEO will acknowledge the receipt of the Appeal to the appellant within 7 days.

The CEO will do a preliminary investigation of the facts and in cases where the appeal can be resolved on basis of existing principles and guidelines, shall take a decision and inform the appellant accordingly within 15 days
from the receipt of the Appeal.

In cases where the CEO is of the opinion that the appeal deserves further deliberations, he shall expeditiously put up the matter for the consideration of the Impartiality Committee.

In either case a written statement shall be provided to the appellant and EMTAC shall offer an opportunity of a personal hearing in all cases where the decision is likely to go against the appeal.

The Impartiality committee shall consider the case keeping in view

1. Principles of natural justice.
2. Reputation of EMTAC.
3. Integrity of the Certification program.

Where the Appeal is against a decision of the Impartiality Committee, it shall be dealt with by a specially constituted Appeals committee whose members will be persons of repute and will not have any connection to the
activities of either the appellant or EMTAC.

The appellant may attend the hearing or send a representative or not attend as deemed fit. The hearing will consider the information and evidence from the appellant and from Licensee regarding the decision and make judgement based on this information or evidence, being free to call for further evidence should it be required.

The Appeals Committee shall make a judgement and the Secretary of the Committee shall record the judgement and notify the Appellant and Impartiality Committee in writing of the verdict within one month of the
filing of the appeal.

To ensure that there is no conflict of interest, EMTAC shall not involve personnel who have provided consultancy for a client or been employed by a client to review or approve the resolution of a complaint or appeal for that
client within 2 years following the end of the consultancy or employment and shall also be independent of the persons involved in certification related decisions. persons involved in certification related
recommendations and decision and their position in the certification body shall be such that it shall not be possible to influence their decisions with respect to the subject of the appeal.

The Appeals Committee verdict shall be final.

EMTAC shall send copy of the decision to each of the parties concerned.

The details of the verdict shall be entered in Appeals Status Register by EMTAC.

EMTAC will review the verdict and decide if any corrective action is required in EMTAC’s Certification Process. This process shall be completed within 30 days from the date of final verdict of the Appeals Committee

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction made in writing, about the standard of service, actions or lack of actions by EMTAC, affecting the client.

There may be complaints from the users or purchaser related to the certified client or the products manufactured by the client. It is the duty of both the client and EMTAC to resolve such issues on priority.

Scope:

1. Specific complaints concerning the certification activities and product manufactured by RMC certified client shall only be entertained.
2. As per the contractual Agreement, Licensee shall extend all cooperation to EMTAC to carry out a detailed investigation about the quality of the Process or product in question. The outcome of the investigation shall be recorded in appropriate formats.
3. As far as possible a special evaluation shall be conducted on the Client’s location which would include testing and evaluations of the product being manufactured, based on which decision on the complaint shall be made.
4. In the event of a complaint being found genuine and the product fails to meet the specified requirements, the licensee shall be suspended according to the category of non Conformities. The suspension shall only be revoked once EMTAC verify the effectiveness of corrective actions taken on non-Conformities are verified.

Responsibility

Committee constituted by CEO.

Process for complaint receival:

1. Upon receipt of complaint, EMTAC shall confirm whether the complaint relates to certification activities or with the certified client. Complaints related to Certification activities shall be dealt by EMTAC. Complaints related to certified clients shall be examined by verification of effectiveness of certified production control system.
2. Complaints shall receive in writing, addressed to EMTAC and signed by the complainant, complete with address.
3. Telephonic and verbal complaints will also be entered into the complaint register, only if confirmation shall be taken in writing for proceeding further.
4. Anonymous complaints will also be recorded and assessed and action taken wherever necessary.
5. Process for complaint handling: In order to deal with complaints effectively and to resolve the problem efficiently, the following steps shall be adopted:
6. If a Customer complain about any quality issues faced from RMC Certified Plant, the Complaint shall be recorded and should be referred to EMTAC and EMTAC shall verify the complaint in each visit and shall provide the Complainant with progress report and outcome.
7. If a Complaint regarding the Certification activities of EMTAC is received from any interested party, EMTAC shall evaluate the complaint according to procedure and proper decision shall be taken. According to the nature of the complaint, EMTAC shall plan for supplementary audit at client premises even in short notice.
8. If a Complaint is received from end users of the RMC certified plant’s product, the complaint shall be directed to the Certified plant in question within seven days. An investigation shall also be carried out in the complainant’s end. EMTAC shall follow up to ensure satisfactory and reasonable resolution to such complaints. EMTAC reviews clients’ complaint records during surveillance activities.

PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING COMPLAINTS

1. All complaints will be acknowledged in writing and registered within 7 working days. The letter will detail what action will be taken, who the responsible officer will be and a contact number, and the anticipated time for a response where this is known.
   
2. Depending on the nature of complaint, the CEO will assign a suitable person(s) who will gather the necessary information and go through all the relevant records and documents to analyze the root cause of the complaint.
3. To ensure that there is no conflict of interest, EMTAC shall not involve personnel who have provided consultancy for a client or been employed by a client to review or approve the resolution of a complaint or appeal for that client within 2 years following the end of the consultancy or employment and shall also be independent of the persons involved in certification related decisions. Persons involved in certification related recommendations and decision and their position in the certification body shall be such that it shall not be possible to influence their decisions with respect to the subject of the appeal.
4. The assigned officials will bring out the reasons leading to the complaint, individuals responsible, measures required to rectify the shortcomings in procedures as well as in documentation, if any and recommend suitable remedial actions.
5. The CEO will ratify the recommendation made by the assigned personnel and initiate necessary actions for rectification of any short coming brought out through the analysis of the complaint.
6. The CEO will ratify the recommendation made by the assigned personnel and initiate necessary actions for rectification of any short coming brought out through the analysis of the complaint.
7. The complaint will be informed in writing about the findings of the investigation.
8. Whenever possible EMTAC shall give formal notice of the end of the complaints handling process to the complaint.
9. After taking necessary corrective action of the complaint, the Complainant should be informed to obtain a letter of satisfaction. If no letter is received within 14 days, it will be presumed that complaint is satisfied with action taken and complaint will be closed.