World consumer rights day is recognised by consumer international and is celebrated every year on 15th March to raise global awareness about the rights and protections available to consumers. Most of the consumers once or twice had experienced a negative experience. For example – You bought a new wooden table or a new couch but that broke within months of buying it, or you visited a salon but were not satisfied by their services. Poor consumer experience reflects poorly on the business (goods and services) and as a result, it leads to losing customers which is why companies try to avoid bad or negative consumer experiences for the success of the business.
Who is a consumer?
According to the consumer protection act, A Consumer is any person who buys goods, hires any service, uses the goods, or hires any service with the approval of any buyer or service provider.
According to Wikipedia, A consumer is a person or group who intends to order, orders, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, family, household, and similar needs, not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities.
In simple words, any person who purchases goods or services for personal use rather than for manufacturing or resale purpose is known as a consumer.
Significance of consumer protection
- Physical safety – Some products in the market are hazardous for life, health as well as for property, so consumer protection seeks to provide safety to consumers from these harmful products.
- Misleading advertisements – Many organisations display deceptive advertisements. Consumer protection act provides a shield to consumers from getting exploited by these advertisements.
- Educating consumers about their rights – Most of the consumers do not know the rights and protections available to them. Consumer protection helps consumers in acquiring the appropriate knowledge and skills to fight against unfair trade practices in the market.
What are consumer rights?
Consumer rights work as the safeguard for buyers to protect them from unfair trade practices in the market. Some major consumer rights are:
- Right to be informed – This right states that every consumer has a right to be informed about the quality, quantity, standard, and price of the goods and services to protect himself from unfair practices. This right gives power and the right to consumers to collect all the possible information from the seller about the goods and services to act wisely and responsibly while purchasing.
- Right to choose – As per the Consumer Protection Act 1986, the Right to choose is “the right to be assured, wherever possible, to have access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices”. This right is exercised better in a market where goods and services are available at competitive prices.
- Right to Safety – This right provides safety and protection to consumers from hazardous products, services, and production processes. In short, the right to safety protects from products as well as services that are hazardous to the life and property of consumers to fulfil long-term interests.
- Right to be heard – According to the department of consumer affairs, the Right to be heard means that consumer’s interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums. It also includes the right to be represented in various forums formed to consider the consumer’s welfare.
- Right to consumer education – This right states that every consumer should act as an informed consumer by acquiring knowledge and skills to protect himself from unfair trade practices in the market. Every consumer should know the rights and protections provided to them by law and must exercise them.
- Right to seek redressal – This right provides power to consumers to seek redressal against any unfair trade practices which exploit consumers and their rights. Every consumer should make a complaint about their genuine grievances. For dealing with Consumer disputes, redressal agencies are set up under the Act at the district, state, and national levels.
Redressal Mechanism
The Consumer Protection Act of 2019 established a three-tier quasi-judicial system for resolving consumer complaints, consisting of district commissioners, state commissions, and a national commission.
To hear consumer complaints, the revised pecuniary jurisdiction will be up to –
- District Commission – The district commissions have jurisdiction over complaints involving goods or services valued at less than one crore rupees.
- State Commission – Where the value of the products or services paid as consideration exceeds 1 crore rupees but does not exceed 10 crore rupees, in this case, the state commissions have jurisdiction to hear complaints.
- National Commission – When the value of goods or services paid as consideration exceeds ten crore rupees, in this case, the National Commission has jurisdiction to hear complaints.