Notes - Consumer Protection
Category :
Consumer protection is a very wide term. It includes providing information to the consumers about their rights and responsibilities and helps in getting their grievances redressed. Consumer is treated as the ‘king’ of the market and producers produce goods as per their needs and wants of the consumer.
It is because the earlier approach of ‘caveat emptor’ i.e. ‘let the buyer beware’ has changed to ‘caveat- venditor’ i.e. ‘let the seller beware’. In order to increase their sales, market share and profits, producers may engage in unfair and unscrupulous trade practises. Therefore, consumer protection is necessary. Moreover to generate awareness among masses March 15 of the every year consumer day is celebrated.
17.1 Importance of Consumer Protection
Consumer protection has assumed great importance for consumers as well as businesses in the following ways
17.1.1 From Consumers’ Point of View
The importance of consumer protection from the consumers’ point of view can be understood from the following points
17.1.2 From Businessmen’s Point of View
A business must also lay emphasis on protecting the consumers and adequately satisfying them. This is important because of the following reasons
17.2 Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 1986
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 seeks to protect and promote the interests of consumers. The act provides safeguards to the consumers against defective goods, deficient services, unfair trade practices and other forms of their exploitation.
The act stresses on setting up of a three tier machinery, consisting of District Forum, State Commission and National Commission. It also provides a framework for the formation of consumer protection councils in every district and state and also at the apex level. It is applicable to all types of undertakings, big or small, private or public, manufacturing or trading and dealing in goods or services.
17.2.1 Consumer Rights
The consumer protection act provides following six rights to consumers to safeguard their interests
The consumer has a right to be protected against goods and services which are hazardous to life and health.
A consumer has the right to get true and complete information about the quality, quantity, price, contents, expiry date of the goods and services which he intends to buy.
The consumer have the freedom to choose from a variety of products at competitive prices.
The consumer has a right to file a complaint and to be heard in case of dissatisfaction with a goods or a service.
Thus, the consumer has a right to get relief in case the product or services falls short of his expectation.
17.2.2 Consumer Responsibilities
A consumer has the following responsibilities,
17.2.3 Ways and Means of Consumer Protection
There are various ways, by -which the objective of consumer protection can be achieved
The association of trade, commerce and business like federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce of India (FCCI) and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) have laid down their code of conduct which provide guidelines for deding with customers.
A consumer, who is well informed about his rights and the reliefs available to him, would be in a position to raise his voice against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation.
They play an important role in educating consumers and can also force business firms to avoid malpractices and exploitation of consumers.
The government can protect the interests of the consumers by enacting various legislations.
17.3 Redressal Agencies under the Consumer Protection, Act
For the redressal of consumer grievances, the Consumer Protection Act has set-up a three-tier machinery. These are:
|
District Forum |
State Commission |
National Commission |
(i) |
They are set-up in each district by the state government concerned. |
They are set-up in each state by the state government concerned. |
It is set-up by the central government.
|
(ii) |
It consists of a president and two members, one of whom should be a woman. |
It consists of a president and two members, one of whom should be a woman. |
It consists of a president and four members, one of whom should be a woman. |
(iii) |
A complaint can be made in District Forum, when the value of goods and services in question, along with the compensation claimed, does not exceed ` 20 lakh.
|
A complaint can be made in state commission, when the value of goods and services in question, along with the compensation claimed, exceeds ` 20 lakh but does not exceed ` 1 crore. |
A complaint can be made in the national commission, when the value of goods and services in question, along with the compensation claimed, exceeds ` 1 crore.
|
(iv) |
On receiving the complaint, the District Forum shall refer to the party, against whom the complaint is filed. If required, the goods shall be sent for testing in a laboratory. |
On receiving the complaint, the state commission shall refer to the party, against whom the complaint is filed. If required, the goods shall be sent for testing in a laboratory. |
On receiving the complaint, the national commission shall refer to the party, against whom the complaint is filed. If required, the goods shall be sent for testing in a laboratory. |
(v) |
The District Forum shall pass an order after considering the test report from the laboratory and hearing the party, against whom the complaint is filed.
|
The state commission shall pass an order after considering the test report from the laboratory and hearing the party, against whom the complaint is filed. |
The national commission shall pass an order after considering the test report from the laboratory and hearing the party, against whom the complaint is filed. |
(vi) |
In case, the aggrieved party is not satisfied with the order of the District Forum, he can appeal in state commission within 30 days of the passing of the order.
|
In case, the aggrieved party is not satisfied with the order of the state commission, he can appeal in the national commission within 30 days of the passing of the order. |
In case, the aggrieved party is not satisfied with the order of the national commission, he can appeal in the Supreme Court of India.
|
17.4 Reliefs Available
If the consumer court is satisfied about the genuineness of the complaint.
17.5 Role of/Consumer Organisations and NGOs
Consumer organisations and NGOs perform several functions for the protection and promotion of interest of consumers.
These include are as follow
(i) Creating awareness about consumer rights by organising training programmes, seminars and workshops.
(ii) Imparting knowledge about consumer problems, legal reporting and reliefs available by publishing periodicals and publications.
(iii) Carrying out comparative testing of consumer products and publishing the results for the general benefit.
(iv) Encourage consumers to take action against any unfair or unscrupulous activity of the seller.
(v) Providing consumers legal assistance by providing aid, advice etc to seek legal remedy.
(vi) Filing complaints in appropriate courts on behalf of consumers.
(vii) Taking initiative for filing cases in the interest of general public.
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