Right to Safety

Means right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services, which are hazardous to life
and property. The purchased goods and services availed of should not only meet their immediate
needs, but also fulfil long term interests.
Before purchasing, consumers should insist on the quality of the products as well as on the
guarantee of the products and services. They should preferably purchase quality marked products
such as ISI,AGMARK, etc
 
Right to be Informed
Means right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods
so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.
Consumer should insist on getting all the information about the product or service before making a
choice or a decision. This will enable him to act wisely and responsibly and also enable him to desist
from falling prey to high pressure selling techniques.
 
Right to Choose
Means right to be assured, wherever possible of access to variety of goods and services at
competitive price. In case of monopolies, it means right to be assured of satisfactory quality and
service at a fair price. It also includes right to basic goods and services. This is because unrestricted
right of the minority to choose can mean a denial for the majority of its fair share. This right can be
better exercised in a competitive market where a variety of goods are available at competitive prices
 
Right to be Heard
Means that consumer's interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums. It also
includes right to be represented in various forums formed to consider the consumer's welfare.
The Consumers should form non-political and non-commercial consumer organizations which can
be given representation in various committees formed by the Government and other bodies in
matters relating to consumers.
 
Right to Seek redressal
Means right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of
consumers. It also includes right to fair settlement of the genuine grievances of the consumer.
Consumers must make complaint for their genuine grievances.Many a times their complaint may be
of small value but its impact on the society as a whole may be very large. They can also take the
help of consumer organisations in seeking redressal of their grievances.
 
Right to Consumer Education
Means the right to acquire the knowledge and skill to be an informed consumer throughout
life.Ignorance of consumers, particularly of rural consumers, is mainly responsible for their
exploitation. They should know their rights and must exercise them. Only then real consumer
protection can be achieved with success.
Rights of Consumers
A consumer is an important participant in the market. In case of
consumer exploitation, the rights of the consumer must be protected.
There are six consumer rights as mentioned in the regulatory Consumer
Protection Act of 1986. The concept of consumer protection and the
meaning of the rights is explained in simple terms in this lesson.

Who is a Consumer?            
A person who buys a good or service for his own personal use and not
for further manufacture is called a consumer. Consumers play an
important role in the market. The market for a good or service
constitutes all the consumers and producers of that good or service. If
there is no consumer, producers will have no one to provide the good.

However, there are regularly reported cases of exploitation of the

consumer. Often less than the actual weight of foodstuff is sold to
consumers, or many retailers sell products that are not certified. Many
cases happen where more than the market price is charged to the
consumer. In the light of this, consumer protection holds an important
role.

Consumer Rights
There are six broad consumer rights defined as per the Consumer
Protection Act, 1986. These are:

Right to Safety

The Consumer Protection Act defines this right as a protection

against goods and services that are ‘hazardous to life and property’.
This particularly applies to medicines, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, and
automobiles. The right requires all such products of critical nature to
life and property to be carefully tested and validated before being
marketed to the consumer.

Right to Information

This right mentions the need for consumers to be informed about the
quality and quantity of goods being sold. They must be informed about
the price of the product and have access to other information specific to
the product that they wish to consume.

Right to Choose
The consumer must have the right to choose between different products
at competitive prices. Thus, the concept of a competitive market where
many sellers sell similar products must be established to ensure that the
consumer can actually choose what to consume and in what quantity.
This is to avoid monopoly in the market.

Right to Seek Redressal

When a consumer feels exploited, he/she has the right to approach
a consumer court to file a complaint. A consumer court is a forum that
hears the complaint and provides justice to the party that has been hurt.
Thus, if the consumer feels he/she has been exploited, they can
approach the court using this right.

Right to be Heard
The purpose of this right is to ensure that the consumer gets due
recognition in consumer courts or redressal forums. Basically, when a
consumer feels exploited, he has the right to approach a consumer court
to voice his complaint. This right gives him/her due respect that his/her
complaint will be duly heard. The right empowers consumers to
fearlessly voice their concerns and seek justice in case they are
exploited.
 Right to Consumer Education

Consumers must be aware of their rights and must have access to

enough information while making consumption decisions. Such
information can help them to choose what to purchase, how much to
purchase and at what price. Many consumers in India are not even
aware that they are protected by the Act. Unless they know, they cannot
seek justice when they are actually hurt or exploited.

Chapter-24.pdf

Following are the duties of consumers:

 Buying quality products at reasonable price. ...
 To check the weights and measures before making purchases. ...
 Reading the label carefully. ...
 Beware of false and attractive advertisements. ...
 Beware of misleading schemes. ...
 To procure the bill, cash received warranty, etc.

The consumer movement is an effort to promote consumer protection through an organized social

movement, which is in many places led by consumer organizations. It advocates for the rights of
consumers, especially when those rights are actively breached by the actions of
corporations, governments, and other organizations which provide products and services to
consumers. Consumer movements also commonly advocate for increased health and safety
standards, honest information about products in advertising, and consumer representation in political
bodies.

The consumer movement in India

It was thought that passage of the Consumer Protection Act in India in 1986 would encourage
consumers to stand up for their rights and lead to an overwhelming number of disputes in
consumer courts. Although a consumer movement has yet to get going in India, existence of the
act has stimulated the creation of many consumer organizations across the country. The number
has such organizations has more the doubled in the last few years so that there are now 600-
800 organizations in the voluntary sector. The movement has not blossomed because not all of
the organizations are active enough to make an impact, there has hardly been any unified action
which would demonstrate their strength, and there has been no active consumer participation in
the movements. Consumers claim that the lack of consumer education makes them passive and
apathetic, and blame consumer organizations. The majority of consumers in the country are
even unaware of the existence of consumer courts to which they make take their grievances.
Consumer rights organizations, however, counter that they lack sufficient funds and blame the
government for their inaction. The author acknowledges criticism that the Indian consumer
movement is elitist and considers the need to focus upon rural consumers, the significant
contributions that organizations have made in laying the foundations for change, the need for
consumer education, the need for specialists, the particular need for consumer protection with
regard to health-related products, and support by voluntary health groups.

Consumer act 1986

The industrial revolution and the development in the international trade and commerce has led
to the vast expansion of business and trade, as a result of which a variety of consumer goods
have appeared in the market to cater to the needs of the consumers and a host of services have
been made available to the consumers like insurance, transport, electricity, housing,
entertainment, finance and banking. A well organised sector of manufacturers and traders with
better knowledge of markets has come into existence, thereby affecting the relationship
between the traders and the consumers making the principle of consumer sovereignty almost
inapplicable. The advertisements of goods and services in television, newspapers and
magazines influence the demand for the same by the consumers though there may be
manufacturing defects or imperfections or short comings in the quality, quantity and the purity of
the goods or there may be deficiency in the services rendered. In addition, the production of the
same item by many firms has led the consumers, who have little time to make a selection, to
think before they can purchase the best. For the welfare of the public, the glut of adulterated
and sub-standard articles in the market have to be checked. In spite of various provisions
providing protection to the consumer and providing for stringent action against adulterated and
sub-standard articles in the different enactments like Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the Indian
Contract Act, 1872, the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Standards of
Weights and Measures Act, 1976 and the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, very little could be
achieved in the field of Consumer Protection. Though the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade
Practices Act, 1969 arid the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 have provided relief to
the consumers yet it became necessary to protect the consumers from the exploitation and to
save them from adulterated and sub-standard goods and services and to safe guard the
interests of the consumers. In order to provide for better protection of the interests of the
consumer the Consumer Protection Bill, 1986 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on
5th December, 1986.