Consumer Right
Consumer Right
Consumer Right
5/1/2021
Consumer Awareness
Certificate
This is to certify that the Project work entitled
“Unaware Consumers and Consumer Rights” is a
Bonafede record of independent project work
done by _________________ (Student name)
under my supervision and submitted to
____________________________ (School
name).
________________________
Signature of the Supervisor
3
Acknowledgement
I am using this opportunity to express my gratitude to my
teacher___________ as well as our Principal______________ who
gave me this golden opportunity to do such a good project on the
topic, “Unaware Consumers and Consumer Rights”.
I am thankful to everyone who supported me for the completion of
this project and gave me their aspiring guidance, friendly advice and
invaluable feedback during the project. I am sincerely grateful to all
of my friends, co-partners, family and guide who shared their truthful
and illuminating views on a number of issues related to the project by
devoting their precious time.
Thank you,
________________________
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Objective
3. Who is a Consumer?
4. Consumer Protection and Common Problems faced by a
Consumer in Market Place
5. Consumer Movement in India
6. Consumer Protection Act, 1986
6.1 Three-tier System
6.2 Consumer Rights
7. Learning to become a well-informed Consumer
7.1 Consumer Responsibilities
7.2 Quality Standard Marks
8. Conclusion
3. Who is a Consumer?
“Consumers, by definition, include us all," President John F.
Kennedy offered his definition to the United States Congress on
March 15, 1962. This speech became the basis for the creation
of World Consumer Rights Day, now celebrated on March 15. In
his speech, JFK outlined the integral responsibility to
consumers from their respective governments to help exercise
consumers' rights, including:[1]
The right to safety: To be protected against the marketing of
goods which are hazardous to health or life.
The right to be informed: To be protected against fraudulent,
deceitful, or grossly misleading information, advertising,
labelling, or other practices, and to be given the facts he needs
to make an informed choice.
The right to choose: To be assured, wherever possible, access to
a variety of products and services at competitive prices; and in
those industries in which competition is not workable and
Government regulation is substituted, an assurance of
satisfactory quality and service at fair prices.
The right to be heard: To be assured that consumer interests
will receive full and sympathetic consideration in the
formulation of Government policy, and fair and expeditious
treatment in its administrative tribunals.
Till the 1970s, objectives, set at the time of origin, were not
achieved as consumer organisations largely engaged in
writing articles and holding exhibitions. Then, they formed
consumer groups to look into the malpractices in ration shops
and overcrowding in the road passenger transport.
Till the 1970s, consumer organisations were largely engaged in
writing articles and holding exhibitions. They formed
consumer groups to look into the malpractices in ration shops
and overcrowding in the road passenger transport.
More recently, India witnessed an upsurge in the number of
consumer groups.
6. Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was passed in year 1986 and
was enforced from July 1st 1987 with the motive to protect
the interest of consumers from being exploited by shopkeepers
or markets to maximize profits which ultimately harm the
well-being of the consumer and society.
This Act teaches the consumers to make right choices by
educating them about their rights and responsibilities of
being a consumer and make them aware that how to seek
redressal if they face any kind of exploitation.
This Consumer Protections Act, 1986:
applies to all goods, services and unfair trade practices unless
specifically exempted by the Central Government
covers all sectors-private, public or co-operative
provides for establishment of consumer protection councils at
the central, state and district levels, i.e., three tier machinery
system
Central Consumer Protection Council State Councils District
Council District Forum State Commission National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission Advisory Bodies Adjudicatory
Bodies Organizational Setup under CPA.
6.1 Three-tier System
District Forum
State Commission
A complaint can be made to the appropriate State Commission
when the value of goods or services in question along with the
compensation claimed exceeds ` 20 lakh but does not exceed `
1 crore.
The appeal against the orders of the State Commission can also
be filed before the National Commission.
National Commission
A complaint can be made to the appropriate National
Commission when the value of goods or services in question
along with the compensation claimed exceeds ` 1 crore.
An order passed by the National Commission in a matter of its
original jurisdiction is appealable before the Supreme Court.
RIGHT TO SAFETY
According to the Consumer Protection Act 1986, the consumer
right is referred to as ‘right to be protected against
marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life
and property’. It is applicable to specific areas like
healthcare, pharmaceuticals and food processing, this right is
spread across the domain having a serious effect on the
health of the consumersortheir well-being viz. Automobiles,
Housing, Domestic Appliances, Travel etc. When there is
violation of the right then there occur medical malpractice
lawsuits in the country. It is estimated every year that
thousands or millions of citizens of India are killed or
seriously injured by immoral practices by doctors, hospitals,
pharmacies and the automobile industry. Still the government
of India, known for its callousness, does not succeed in
acknowledging this fact or making a feeble effort for
maintaining statistics of the mishaps. The Government of
India needs to have world class product testing facilities to
test drugs, food, cars or any other consumable product that
can prove to be a menace to life. It does not happen
coincidently that Tata Nano is sold in India for half of what it
costs in a country which is industrially developed, this is a
classic case of requirement of a cheap product that outweighs
the need for safety of family and self. The developed countries
like the United States have stalwart agencies which oversee
the protection of consumer products, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for food and drugs, the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for
automobiles and the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) for various other consumer products etc. This right
needs each product which can potentially be a danger to our
lives to be marketed after adequate and complete verification
as well as validation. India is 50 years away, for empowering
this right adequately and completely.
RIGHT TO INFORMATION
The right to information is defined as ‘the right to be informed
about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and
price of goods or services, as the case may be so as to protect
the consumer against unfair trade practices’ in the Consumer
Protection Act of 1986. In the market place of India,
consumers get information by two ways namely advertising
and word of mouth however these sources are considered to
be unreliable but still this word of mouth is quite common
here. Because of this, the Indian consumers hardly have
precise and complete information for assessing the true value,
safety, suitability, reliability of any product. Usually, the
hidden costs can be found, lack of suitability, quality
problems and safety hazards only after the purchase of the
product. There is another right claimed by Indian government
on paper, this right must ideally make sure that all
consumable products have been labelled in a standard manner
containing the cost, quantity, the ingredients and instructions
given to use the product safely. It is unfortunate that even the
medicines in the country do not follow a standardized
labelling convention. There should be establishment of unit
price publishing standards for consumer market where costs
are revealed in standard units like per kg or per litre. The
consumers, ought to be informed in an exact yet accurate
manner for the cost involved during time of availing a loan.
For providing benefit to the society through this right,
advertisers must be held against the andards of products in
the advertisements. The pharmaceuticals require to disclose
potential side effects related to their drugs and manufacturers
ought to be required to publish reports from independent
product testing laboratories for the purpose of comparing the
quality of their products from competitive products.
RIGHT TO CHOOSE
The definition of Right to Choose as per the Consumer
Protection Act 1986 is ‘the right to be assured, wherever
possible, to have access to a variety of goods and services at
competitive prices. For regulating the market place, there is
just one factor required and that is competition. The existence
of cartels, oligopolies and monopolies prove to be
counterproductive to consumerism. The natural resources,
liquor industry, telecommunications, airlines etc all are being
controlled by a mafia to some or the other extent. Since` the
Indian consumers come from a socialistic background, the
tolerating of monopolistic market is found in their blood. It is
seldom seen that people want to switch the power company, in
the times when they have a blackout at home. It is interesting
to know that even micro markets like fish vendors in some
cities are known to collude and discourage the consumers’
bargaining power. No matter what size or form, or span, but
collusion of various companies which sell a similar kind of
product is unethical or say less legal. It can be estimated that
India has to stride for about 20 more years for empowering
its citizens fully in this regard.
RIGHT TO BE HEARD
As stated in the Consumer Protection Act 1986, ‘the right to be
heard and to be assured that consumer’s interests will receive
due consideration at appropriate forums’ is the definition of
the right to be heard. This right helps to empower the
consumers of India for putting forward their complaints and
concerns fearlessly and raising their voice against products
or even companies and ensure that their issues are taken into
consideration as well as handled expeditiously. However, till
date the Indian Government has not formed even one outlet
for hearing the consumers or their issues to be sorted out.
There are a number of websites striving to do this. The major
objective of Consumer is to ensure that their voices are heard
by the corporate world. There is a website,
Consumerdaddy.com, where consumers can upload their
criticisms as well as file complaints. Every criticism filed
gradually lessens the overall score of the product which is
being criticized therefore each complaint is independently
checked by an investigator who belonged to
Consumerdaddy.com website. This website provides the
consumers the benefit of doubt always, so their voice is
considered over that of the company. It is believed at
consumerdaddy.com, that consumer is always right, and that
he is the king. In case a consumer makes an allegation
regarding the product, the onus goes to the dealer, or
supplying company or manufacturer to disprove that
allegation is not true. To be precise, the consumer is heard,
and the load of proof goes to the company. Various attempts
are made by the government for empowering the citizens with
this right, and it is believed that about 10-15 years more are
required for the accomplishment of this goal.
RIGHT TO REDRESSAL
The right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or
restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of
consumers’ is referred to as the right to redressal according
to the Consumer Protection Act 1986.