Context

On 24th December every year, National Consumer Day is celebrated all over India.

National Consumer Day

• Reasons: The reason behind celebrating National Consumer Day is to spread awareness about consumer rights and responsibilities.
• Origin: In 1986 on this day, the Consumer Protection Act received the assent of the President. It sought to educate people about their rights as consumers.
• Significance of the National Consumer Day
  • the Involvement of Citizens: It provides an opportunity for the government to emphasize consumer rights protection and get the citizens involved with this idea.
  • Call the Practice of Customer Exploitation: The event has helped protect consumers from being cheated by manufacturers and sellers indulging in unfair trade practices.

Consumer Rights in India

• Consumer: A Consumer is a person or household that acquires goods and services generated within the economy. They obtain goods or services for direct use or possession rather than for exchange, resale, or use in production and manufacturing.
  • Consumer rights refer to laws and provisions that have the potential to uphold the rights and interests of consumers.
  • The rights given to the consumers prevent unprincipled and unethical misconduct by the business and provide them with quick redressal of consumers’ grievances.
• Consumer Interest Organizations: 
  • Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA): Announced under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 2019, the CCPA handles matters related to the violation of the rights of consumers.
    • Purpose: CCPA has been constituted to regulate violations of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and false or misleading advertisements that harm public interests.
    • Powers: CCPA will protect, promote, and enforce the rights of the consumers and prevent violation of their rights under Section 18 of the act.
    • CCPA can issue guidelines to enforce the rights of the consumers provided in the Act.
    • CCPA can instruct all the district magistrates to take suitable action against violations of the guideline.
  • Consumer Education and Research Centre: Consumer Education and Research Centre is a society engaged in the promotion and protection of consumer interests. 
  • Bureau of Indian Standards: The BIS is India’s National Standards Body that works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. Based on the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, it came into effect on 12 October 2017.
    • The main goal of the Bureau of Indian Standards is to formulate and certify the Indian Standard. 
  • Akhil Bhartiya Grahak Panchayat: Established in 1974, the organization’s main objective is to make the customer aware of his rights and to provide him with good quality goods, after-sales service, and good behavior at a reasonable price.
  • United India Consumers Association: The United India Consumers Association (UICA) is a non-profit and non-government organization that aims to create awareness among consumers about their rights and empower them to fight for their rights.
• Consumer Redressal Agencies:
  • District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC): It is established by the State Government in each district of the State, having authority to deal with cases valuing up to Rs 10 million.
  • State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC): It is established by the State Government in the State and can take up cases valuing less than Rs 100 million.
  • National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC): It was established by the Central Government to deal with matters of more than Rs 100 million. 
• Consumer Responsibilities:
  • Awareness: Consumers must be aware and alert about prices, about quantity and quality of goods bought and services used.
  • Involvement: Consumers must be assertive to ensure that they get a fair deal.
  • Sustainable Consumption: Individual’s consumption must not have an impact on other citizens, especially the disadvantaged or powerless groups.
    • Consumption must not lead to shortage of resources for our future generations.

About Consumer Protection Act 1986

• About: The Consumer Protection Act 1986 has been successful in encouraging consumers to speak against insufficiency and flaws in goods and services.
  • It safeguards and protects their rights as customers by making grievance redressal mechanism easy and efficient.
  • The act enables the setting up of quasi-judicial machinery at the district, state and central levels to uphold consumer interests. 
• Coverage: The act covers goods and services of all public, private, or cooperative sectors, except the ones exempted by the central government.
• Fundamental Rights of Consumers under the act:
  • Right to Safety: Protection against goods and services that may be hazardous to their health, life, and property
  • Right to Choose: Consumers have freedom to choose between goods and services available at competitive rates.
  • Right to Seek Redressal: Right to receive fair settlement/ compensation against unfair trade practices.
  • Right to be Informed: Consumers have the right to know about the quality, price, purity, potency, usage, date of manufacture/expiry, etc., of any good/service.
  • Right to be Heard: Complaints of the consumer are to be received due consideration at appropriate forums.
  • Right to Consumer Education: Having a constant awareness of their rights.
• Significance of the Act
  • Magna Carta: The act is considered to be the ‘Magna Carta’ in the field of consumer protection for checking unfair trade practices, ‘deficient quality of goods’, and ‘deficiencies in services’.
  • Establishment of Consumer Forums:  The act has led to the setting up of a widespread network of consumer forums and appellate courts all over India.
  • Consumer Empowerment: The act has affected how businesses approach consumers and has empowered consumers to a greater extent.
  • Social Responsibility: The law urges producers and traders to provide the right quality and quantity of goods at fair prices in the interest of the consumers.
  • Business Growth: A business grows only when consumer rights are given high priority. Business organizations indulged in malpractices shall find it difficult to continue.

Conclusion:

National Consumer Day provides an opportunity for the consumer to get more aware of their rights, and how to dodge or take action against unfair trade practices.