3. DUTIES OF CONSUMER
‼ Buying quality products at reasonable
price.
‼ To check the weights and measures
before making
purchases
‼ Reading the labelcarefully.
‼ To procure the bill, cash received
warranty, etc.
‼ Shopping carefully andwisely
‼ Understanding the terms of the sale
‼ Reading and following
instructions
Getting guarantees in writing
4. Due to the expansion of business activities
in an economy, we have a variety of goods
available in the market. The demand for
goods and services is influenced by the
advertisements in television, newspaper and
magazines. The companies spend a
considerable amount on a advertisements
alone attract consumers and feed
information that they want us to know, but
not the information that we as consumers
want. When we, as consumer, do not have
sufficient information about the products,
we normally get exploited and are
sometimes even harassed by business
community.
5. Sub-standard Quality: The goods sold are sometimes of sub-
standard quality. Selling of medicine beyond their expiry
dates is generally the grievances of consumers.
High Prices: Very often the traders charge a higher price than
the prescribed retail price
Duplicate Articles: In the name of genuine parts or goods, fake
or duplicate items are being sold to the consumers.
Artificial Scarcity: In order to amass illegitimate profit,
businessman create artificial scarcity by hoarding.
They sell it later at a higher price.
False or Incomplete Information: Sellers easily mislead
consumers by giving wrong information about the product, its
price, quality, reliability, life cycle, expiry date and durability
6. Limited Information: In a capitalist economy, producers and sellers
are free to produce any goods or services in any quantity and there is
no regulation on the prices. In the absence of information about
different aspects of the products, namely, price, quality, condition of
use, etc., the consumers are liable to make a wrong choice and lose
money.
Limited Supplies: The consumers are exploited when the goods and
services are not available in the required quantity or numbers. This gives
us rise to hoarding and price-escalation.
Limited Competition: When only one producer or group of producer or
a group of persons controls the production and supply of a product, and
can restrict the availability of supplies, there is a possibility of
manipulation in prices and availability.
Illiteracy: Illiteracy is one of the major drawbacks that lead to
the exploitation of consumers. The level of literacy directly
7. CONSUMERMOVEMENT
*Consumer movements arose out of the following:
‡ Dissatisfaction of the consumers as many unfair
practices were being indulged in by the sellers.
‡ There was no legal system available for consumers to
protect them from exploitation in the marketplace.
8. † Providing consumer
education.
† Providing consumer
protection.
† Building pressure on
government .
† Arranging consumer
protection programmes.
† Organizing public
opinion.
† Providing guidance to
consumer.
† Fight against marketing
system
† Consumer awareness
10. It took many years for organisations in India and around the world, to create
awareness amongst people. In India, the consumer movement as a social force
originated with the necessity of protecting and promoting the interests of
consumers against unethical and unfair trade practices. Rampat food shortages,
hording, black marketing, adulteration of food and edible oil gave birth to the
consumer movement in an organised form in the 1960s. Till the 1970s, consumer
organisations were largely engaged in writing articles and holding exhibitions.
They formed consumer groups to look into malpractices in ration shops and
overcrowding in the road passeneger transport. More recently. India witnessed an
upsurge in the number of consumer groups. Because of all these efforts, the
movement succeeded in bringing pressure on business firms as well as
government to correct business conduct which may be unfair and against the
interest s of consumers at large. A major step taken in 1986 by the Indian
government was the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act 1986, popularly
known as COPRA.
11. Consumer Protection Act, 1986, popularly known as COPRA, is an Act of the
Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to protect interests of consumers in India. It makes
provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the
settlement of consumers' disputes and for matters connected therewith. This Act was
enacted in 1986 with the objective of providing better protection of consumer’s interest.
Effective safeguards are provided to the consumer, against various types of
exploitations and unfair dealings, relying mainly on compensatory rather than a
disciplinary or preventive approach under the Act. It applies to all goods and services
unless specifically exempted, whichcovers the private, public and cooperative sectors. It
also provides speedy and inexpensive. The rights under the Act flow from the rights
enshrined in Articles 14 to 19 of the Constitution of India. The Right to Information Act
(RTI), which has opened governance processes of our country to the common public,
also has far-reaching implications for consumer protection. The Consumer
Protection Act, 1986 is the most important legislation enacted to provide for effective
safeguards to consumers against various typesof exploitations and unfair dealings,
relying on mainly compensatory rather than a punitive or preventive approach. The Act
has set up a three-tier quasi-judicial consumer disputes redressal machinery at the
National, State and District levels, for expeditious and inexpensive settlement of
consumer disputes.
12. IMPORTANT DAYS
NATIONAL CONUMER RIGHT DAY- National Consumers Right Day was
observed across India on 24 December 2013. The day is being observed on 24
December, since the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted on this day in
1986.
WORLD CONSUMER RIGHT DAY- Every year 15th March is observed as
"World Consumer Rights Day". It commemorates a historic declaration (1962)
by former US President John F. Kennedy of four basic consumer
rights. World Consumer Rights Day is an annual occasion for celebration and
solidarity within the international consumer movement. Participants observe
the day by promoting the basic rights of all consumers, demanding that those
rights are respected and protected, and protesting about the market abuses and
social injustices which undermine them.
