35 Consumer Rights and Consumerism

Mandeep kaur

    Learning Outcome:

 

After completing this module the students will be able to:

Define the Consumerism

Understand the need and objectives of Consumerism Understand the Consumer Rights

Understand the Consumer responsibilities

 

1. Introduction

 

All individuals make purchase decisions or consume goods and services produced in an economy in their daily lives. Due to increasing liberalization and globalization there is mushroomed growth in human needs and wants not of basic necessities but also for luxuries. In the present scenario of technological advancements, consumers are expecting value for money, quality goods, improved services and more convenience. The transition from a closed economy to open economy and removal of foreign trade barriers resulting into inrush of Multinational Corporation (MNCs) and foreign brands in developing countries. But still, in developing countries like India, consumers are exploited by traders/ sellers in the various forms such as defective products, misleading advertising, adulterated foods, hoarding, black marketing, profiteering and much more associated evils. Taking into account the changing business scenario, more legislation needs to design for regulating the business and trade activities so that protection to consumers can be ensured.

 

2. Meaning of Consumerism

 

Consumerism, the “social movement seeking to augment the rights and power of buyers in relation to sellers,” – Philip Kotler

 

“The dedication of those activities of both public and private organisation which are designed to protect individuals from practices that impinges upon their rights as consumers”.– Harper W. Boyd

 

“Consumerism is a social force within the environment designed to aid and protects the consumers by exerting legal, moral and economic pressure on business”. – Cravers and Hills

 

“An organised effort of consumers seeking redress, restitution, and remedy for dissatisfaction they have accumulated in the acquisition of their standard of living”.– Richard H. Buskirk and James Bushkirk

 

Main features of consumerism

 

  •   Consumerism is stimulated by dissatisfied and aggrieved consumers with the unfair dealings of sellers.
  •   Consumerism is a social movement of consumers.
  •  Consumerism involves the collaborative effort of the organised consumers.
  •  Consumerism ensures consumer welfare as well as the interest of society at large.
  • Consumerism explains the rights and responsibilities of the consumer in relation to the buyer.
  •  Consumerism involves a wide range of activities such as spreading consumer education directed towards protection against unfair trade practices.
  • Under consumerism Government, community, NGO’s, consumer courts etc. all strive for the protection of consumers against exploitation by sellers.

 

3.History of Consumerism

 

15th March of every year is solemnized as the World Consumer Rights Day. In 1962 on this historic day, the first time US President John F. Kennedy moved in US congress for the approval of Consumer Bills of Rights. During his speech, he delivered the special message to the congress of United States on protecting the consumer interest:“Consumers, by definition, include us all. They are the largest economic group in the economy, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. Two-thirds of all spending in the economy is by consumers. But they are the only important group in the economy who are not effectively organized, whose views are often not heard. If a consumer is offered inferior products, if prices are exorbitant, if drugs are unsafe or worthless, if the consumer is unable to choose on an informed basis, then his dollar is wasted, his health and safety may be threatened, and national interest suffers”. – John F. Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy delineated four basic consumer rights i.e.

 

  •     The right to safety
  •     The right to be informed
  •     The right to choose
  •     The right to be heard

Another historic day was 9 April 1985, when the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a set of guidelines for consumer protection. The Secretary-General of the United Nations was authorized to persuade member countries to adopt these guidelines through policy changes or law. The guidelines were first adopted by the General Assembly in 1985 later on, expanded by the Economic and Social Council in resolution in 1999, and then revised by the General Assembly on 22 December 2015.

 

The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP) are “a valuable set of principles for setting out the main characteristics of effective consumer protection legislation, enforcement institutions and redress systems and for assisting interested Member States in formulating and enforcing domestic and regional laws, rules and regulations that are suitable to their own economic and social and environmental circumstances, as well as promoting international enforcement cooperation among Member States and encouraging the sharing of experiences in consumer protection.”

 

United Nations guidelines for consumer protection have the following objectives:

 

(a) To assist countries in achieving or maintaining adequate protection for their population as consumers;

(b) To facilitate production and distribution patterns responsive to the needs and desires of consumers;

(c)  To encourage high levels of ethical conduct for those engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services to consumers;

(d) To assist countries in curbing abusive business practices by all enterprises at the national and international levels which adversely affect consumers;

(e) To facilitate the development of independent consumer groups;

(f) To promote international cooperation in the field of consumer protection;

(g)  To encourage the development of market conditions which provide consumers with greater choice at lower prices;

(h)   To promote sustainable consumption.

 

4.   Need of Consumerism in India

 

Consumer Sovereignty and consumer designation as king of the market are false notions especially in developing countries like India. Need of consumerism in India arises on account of following reasons:

 

 India is a vast country, a greater proportion of Indian consumers still are illiterate and ignorant about their rights. They don’t have adequate knowledge to understand and to use their rights as consumers.

 

Great diversity can be found in India in relation to culture, religion , education and language due to this prime reason the consumers are not unified in India instead the sellers or traders are well organised which encourages them to indulge in unscrupulous trade activities.

 

Most of the products in the Indian market are of poor quality due to lack of proper verification by Government agency. With increasing supply of duplicate products in the market, consumers are not able to distinguish between a genuine product and bogus product.

 

Consumers are often misguided by deceptive advertisements. Traders present misleading information about quality, purity, safety and utility of advertised products.

 

The legal process in India is troublesome and time-consuming that’s why the consumers do not go to consumer courts and civil courts to file genuine complaints against products and services.

 

Numerous legal Acts have been passed by Indian Government to satisfy the needs of consumers such as:

 

  Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940  Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 Essential Commodity (supply) Act, 1955  Standard of Weights and Measures Act, 1976  Consumer Protection Act, 1986 but still many consumers are fighting court cases for a common problem like poor quality of products, deceptive advertisements etc. due to lack of strict implementation of above-mentioned consumer protection laws which causes frustration among consumers.

 

Thus, there is dire need to emphasis on protection of consumer rights in India by the Government which is in the interest of both, business houses as well as for consumers’ satisfaction.

 

5. Objectives of Consumerism

 

Gandhi had rightly said:

 

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work he is the purpose of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to serve him”.

 

Keeping in mind the importance of consumer, the main objectives of consumerism are specified as follows:

 

To create awareness among masses regarding basic consumer rights and their proper enforcement.

 

 To educate the consumers about their responsibilities and redressal machinery available for hearing their complaints.

 

  To prevent unfair trade practices such as black- marketing, adulteration, price discrimination, poor quality etc. in the society so that less number of litigations related to consumer affairs can be ensured.

 

 To ensure strict implementation of various laws framed to protect consumers against various types of exploitations and unfair dealings.

 

 To ensure healthy completion among producers and distribution of vital and correct information among consumers in the marketplace.

 

 To build up trust and confidence among foreign players such as Multinational corporations (MNCs), foreign institutional investors that justice, the welfare of humanity, consumer protection against exploitation etc. exist in India. This would improve the image of India throughout the world that leads to more foreign investment in India which is required to achieve socio-economic objectives of the country.

 

 To prevent business houses from engaging in fraudulent practices and earning profit from unethical trade activities.

 

5.   Consumer rights and Consumer Protection Act, 1986

 

The consumer protection Act, 1986 was enacted on 24th of December 1986. Every year 24th December is celebrated as “National Consumer Rights Day” in India. The consumer protection act 1986 came into existence based on United Nations guidelines with the objective to provide better protection of the consumers’ interests and for that purpose to make provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers’ disputes and for matters connected therewith.

 

Who is a consumer?

 

A.  Consumer of goods means any person who—

 

“buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes any user of such goods other than the person who buys them, when such use is made with the approval of buyer, but does not include a person who obtains such goods for resale or for any commercial purpose”.

 

B.   Consumer for the purpose of services means any person who –

 

“hires or avails of any services for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes any beneficiary of such services other than the person who hires or avails of the them when such services are availed of with the approval of the hirer, but does not include a person who avails of such services for any commercial purposes”.– Consumer Protection Act (1986)

 

What are Consumer Rights?

 

Consumer Protection Act (1986) defined Consumer right as “the right to have information about the quality, potency, quantity, purity, price and standard of goods or services’, as it may be the case”.

 

Consumer rights are framed by Government, Consumer courts, voluntary organisations in order to safeguard the rights and interests of consumers.

 

Consumer Protection Act (1986) listed the consumer rights which are discussed as follows:

Right to safety

Right to Information

Right to choose

Right to be heard

Right to seek redress–Right to Consumer education

 

Ø  Right to safety

 

Right to safety is defined as “the right to be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property”.      – Consumer Protection Act (1986)

 

Basically, Right to safety applied to healthcare, pharmaceuticals and food processing areas which have a severe effect on the health of users of products and services. Adulterated food products like butter, Milk, pulses etc. and poor quality electronic appliances can jeopardize the health and well-being of consumer. Reliable and valid verification need to be done before putting such hazardous products into consumption chain. Consumers must consume such products and services which adhere to safety guidelines. Even safe products can pose health risks to consumer if the consumer does not follow instructions and conditions under which products should be stored and used. For example, It is mandatory for a mineral water bottle to have ISI mark.

 

Right to safety informed us two things –

 

i. Consumer should buy only good quality products. They should not compromise on the quality part otherwise results may be hazardous.

ii. Read all instructions, conditions, ingredients, expiry date before buying and while using the product.

Ø  Right to information

 

Right to information is defined as “the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case may be so as to protect the consumeragainst unfair trade practices”.     – Consumer Protection Act (1986)

 

Consumer should be provided with all necessary information in a complete and precise way which facilitate him/ her to make a better purchase decision. Indian consumers get information from two sources either from advertising or word of mouth communication which is biased and unreliable. For rational decision making, sufficient information about the wide variety and competitor products available in the marketplace need to be given. The manufacturer is liable to provide complete information on product packaging related to nutritional information, date of manufacture, date of expiry, how to use the product, warnings, product guarantees etc.

 

With the aim to provide easy access to information for Indian citizens, RTI Act was passed in 2005 so that there is accountability and transparency of working of public authority.

 

Right to Choose

 

Right to Choose is defined as “the right to be assured, wherever possible, to have access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices”.     – Consumer Protection Act (1986)

 

There must be the availability of wider range of products from various companies in the marketplace and Consumer must have complete freedom and authority to buy goods and services of his/ her choice and taste. A marketer cannot impose restrictions or influence the consumer choice in any way. Healthy competition among traders should be encouraged so that consumer can access to the variety of quality products and services at reasonable price.

  • Right to be heard

Right to be heard is defined as “the right to be heard and to be assured that consumer’s interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums’ is the definition of the right to be heard”. – Consumer Protection Act 1986

 

Consumer has right to be heard for their complaint. Consumer has authority to file a complaint regarding an unsatisfactory performance of used products and services, before the consumer disputes redressal forums established under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. At present several business organizations have created special consumer service cell with the aim of giving the right to be heard to the consumer. After hearing the complaints of the consumer, consumer service cell takes appropriate steps to remove the cause of grievances and to satisfy them.

  • Right to seek redress

Right to redressal is defined as “the right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers”. – Consumer Protection Act (1986)

 

The consumer has the right to file a claim to pay for the loss they suffer on account of purchasing goods and availing services. This right provides compensation in the form of replacement of the product, free repair of the product, repayment of an amount paid by the consumer, indemnifying the loss occurred due to the use of product and service or any other exemplary punishment to the defaulter.

 

Under Section 9 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 Three-tier Judiciary to redress consumer grievances has been established namely District Forum, State Commission, National Commission of which main features are highlighted as follows:

 

   Learn More

 

Few important sources to learn more about Consumerism:

 

  1. Neelamegam,V.(2010). Business Environment.New Delhi:Vrinda Publications.
  2. Fernando.A.C.(2011). Business Environment. Chennai: Dorling Kinderslay ( India) Pvt.Ltd. Licenses of pearson education in South Asia.
  3. John F. Kennedy: “Special Message to the Congress on Protecting the Consumer Interest.,” March 15, 1962. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9108.
  4. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (Amended up-to 2002)
  5. United Nations guidelines for consumer protection retrieved from http://unctad.org/en/Pages/DITC/CompetitionLaw/UN-Guidelines-on-Consumer-Protection.aspx
  6. Chaudhary et al. (2011), Consumer Protection and Consumerism In India, Zenith International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research.Vol.1 Issue 1,pp. 01-12.
  7. Consumerism and Its Historical Aspects With Future Perspective retrieved from http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/4464/13/13_chapter%204.pdf
  8. http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/article/consumerprotectionlawinindia17391.ht ml
  9. http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l220PhenomenonOfConsumerism.html