Empowering Consumers in Today’s Markets

Consumer rights are very important within the context of the ways markets operate in our country. There are many aspects of unequal situations in a market and poor enforcement of rules and regulations. Hence, Empowering Consumers in Today’s Markets is very crucial.

• It is very important to be a well-informed consumer. 
• There are also a few organizations that help consumers in different ways.

Consumer Rights in the Marketplace: Understanding Your Dual Roles

• Dual Roles in the Market: People participate in the market both as producers and consumers. As producers of goods and services people work in some of the sectors such as agriculture, industry, or services. 
• Consumer Participation in the Market: Consumers participate in the market when they purchase goods and services that they need. 
  • It is the final goods that people use as consumers.

Consumer Rights: Facing Challenges in the Marketplace

• Addressing Complaints and Blame-shifting: Individual customers frequently discover themselves in a precarious position, emphasizing the importance of Consumer Rights. 
• • Every time a customer has a complaint about a good or service they purchased, the vendor tries to place all the blame on the customer. 
• Market exploitation: It can take a variety of forms. 
  • For instance, occasionally merchants engage in unfair business practices, such as selling products that are contaminated or defective or having merchants weigh their goods less accurately than they should.
• Inequities in the Market: Markets are unjust due to the power imbalance between large producers and small consumers.
  • It leads to unethical practices and false information propagation by large corporations through advertising and spending.
• The Influence of Large Producers: When producers are few and strong and customers are numerous and make tiny purchases, markets do not function fairly. 
• • This is especially true when these products are produced by big businesses. 
• Manipulating Markets and False Advertising: These businesses can manipulate the market in a number of ways due to their immense wealth, influence, and reach. 
  • False information is occasionally disseminated through the media and other channels in an effort to draw customers.
  • Example:
    • For many years, a firm promoted powdered milk for infants as the most cutting-edge product, saying it was superior to breast milk. 
    • The corporation had to fight for years before being forced to admit that its assertions were untrue.
    • To get cigarette manufacturing businesses to concede that their product might cause cancer, a protracted legal struggle had to be waged. 
• Hence, there is a need for rules and regulations to ensure protection for consumers.

Consumer Movement: The Evolution of Consumer Rights Movement in India

• Origins of Dissatisfaction and the Need for Protection: The consumer movement emerged due to dissatisfaction with unfair practices by sellers and the lack of a legal system to protect them.
• Early Consumer Vigilance: Customers frequently shunned particular brands or stores because they felt it was their duty to exercise caution.
  • It took organisations years to increase awareness.
• Emergence of Awareness: The consumer movement in India emerged as a social force to safeguard and advance consumer interests against unethical and unfair trade practices.
• Challenges in the 1960s: In the 1960s, organized consumer movements emerged due to food shortages, hoarding, black marketing, and adulteration of food and edible oil.
• Growth of Consumer Organizations: Consumer organisations in India have grown significantly since the 1970s, focusing on issues like ration shop malpractices and overcrowding in road passenger transport.
• Successful Advocacy and Legislative Change: The movement successfully pressured businesses and the Indian government to correct unfair business conduct, leading to the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 (COPRA).

Know Your Rights: A Guide to Consumer Protections in India

Right to Safety: Safeguarding Consumers 

• Right to be Protected: While using various goods and services, consumers have the right to be protected from hazardous goods and services, including hazardous marketing and delivery.
• Producers Responsibility: Producers must adhere to safety rules and regulations for various goods and services.
  • Example: Pressure cookers with defective safety valves can cause serious accidents. The manufacturers of the safety valve have to ensure high quality. 
• Public or governmental action is required to ensure quality, yet lax regulation and consumer activism are factors in the market’s availability of subpar goods.

Right to be informed: Informed Consumers

• Consumers have the right to be informed about the details of their purchases and can file complaints or request compensation if the product is found defective.
• A Replacement: If a product is defective within its expiry period, customers can request a replacement.
• Protest and Complain: One can protest and complain if someone sells goods at more than the printed price on the packet. 
  • This is indicated by ‘MRP’ — maximum retail price. Consumers can bargain for a price less than MRP. 
• Right to Information (RTI) Act: It was enacted in 2005, extends citizens’ right to information about government departments’ functions, ensuring comprehensive coverage of government services.

Right to Choose: Freedom to Decide

• Right to Decide: Any customer who uses a service in any capacity has the right to decide whether to keep using it, regardless of their age, gender, or the type of service they are using. 
  • This indicates that we are not required to purchase a precise mix of items but instead can get numerous items from diverse sources. 
• Example: When you have a new connection, gas supply merchants may occasionally urge you to buy your cooker from them. 
  • It is not required that you accept their offer.

Right to seek redressal: Seeking Justice:

• Right to Seek a Remedy: If a consumer has been exploited by a producer, he has the right to seek a remedy, which means consumers have the right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices and exploitation.
• Compensation for Damage: Consumers have the right to compensation for damage, and an effective public system is needed to facilitate this process.
• Consumer Forums: The consumer movement in India has led to the formation of various organisations, locally known as consumer forums or consumer protection councils. 
  • These voluntary organisations also receive financial support from the government for creating awareness among people.

Right to Represent: Consumer Rights

• Under COPRA, a three-tier quasi-judicial machinery at the district, state and national levels was set up for the redressal of consumer disputes, reinforcing Consumer Rights. 

• Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission: The district-level authority called the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission deals with cases involving claims up to Rs 1 crore, and the state-level Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission called the State Commission between Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore.
• National Commission: It is a national-level commission that deals with cases involving claims exceeding Rs 10 crore. 
• Appeal:If a case is dismissed in a district-level commission, a consumer can also appeal in the state and then in national-level commissions, further exemplifying the significance of Consumer Rights in the redressal process.                               

Becoming a Smart Shopper: The Importance of Consumer Awareness               

• Make Informed Choices: Consumers who are aware of their rights can make informed choices when purchasing goods and services, enabling them to discriminate and make informed choices.
• Departments of Consumer Affairs: The enactment of COPRA has led to the setting up of separate Departments of Consumer Affairs in central and state governments.

Taking the Consumer Movement Forward: Challenges, Progress, and the Road Ahead

India has been celebrating National Consumers’ Day on December 24, marking the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act in 1986. India is one of the nations with exclusive jurisdiction over consumer disputes. 

• Growth in Organized Groups: In India, there has been some progress made in the consumer movement in terms of the number of organised groups and their activities. 
  • Emphasizing Consumer Rights, In the country today, there are more than 2000 consumer groups, but only 50 to 60 of them are effectively organised and respected for their efforts. 
• Challenges in Consumer Complaints
  • Onerous Procedures: The procedure for consumer complaints is growing more onerous, pricey, and time-consuming.
  • Legal Costs and Tiresome Procedure: Consumers frequently need to hire attorneys. 
    • These cases need additional time for filing, attending commission hearings, etc. 
  • Evidence Gathering: Since cash memos are rarely issued during purchases, gathering evidence might be challenging. 
  • Additionally, the majority of market transactions are modest retail sales. 
• Expanding COPRA’s Reach: To further bolster Indian consumers, the COPRA was amended in 2019.
  • Internet shopping is now included. 
  • Accountability: The service provider or manufacturer is also held accountable and may face fines or even imprisonment if there is any product or service flaw. 
  • Mediation as a Dispute Resolution Mechanism: All three tiers of consumer commissions now support the use of mediators to resolve disputes with the aid of an impartial third party outside the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. 
• 30 Years of Consumer Awareness: After more than 30 years since COPRA’s passage, consumer awareness is steadily growing in India.
• The Evolving Role of Consumers: There is scope for consumers to realise their role and importance. 
• • It is often said that consumer movements can be effective only with the consumers’ active involvement.
  • It requires a voluntary effort and struggle involving the participation of one and all.

Conclusion

• Consumer Rights refers to the acquisition, consumption, and disposal of products, services, time, and ideas by decision-making units.
• The Neo liberal era after LPG reforms has shown the complexity of markets. 
• The pricing of the goods and the consumer’s income determine what the consumer can afford to purchase. 
• A thorough understanding of Consumer Rights as well as consumer rights is very important along with the evolution of Consumer laws.