CONSUMER PROTECTION- LEGISLATIONS AND POLICIES

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1 CONSUMER PROTECTION- LEGISLATIONS AND POLICIES Abhinav Mishra 1 & Chandrika Choudhary 2 INTRODUCTION In a free market economy like India, buyer and seller come face to face, seller exhibits his goods, buyer thoroughly examines them and then purchases them. Earlier, it was presumed that he would use reasonable while buying goods. However, in greed for maximizing profits, sellers started practising deception and fraud and lured customers to buy goods. They began to exploit their customers. This created a dire need for consumer protection and hence government formulated consumer protection programme to protect consumers from exploitation. The main objectives of the consumer protection programme are: 3 1. To create suitable administrative and legal mechanisms which would be within the easy reach of consumers. 2. To involve and motivate various sections of society such as consumer organisations, women and youth to participate in the programme. 3. To generate awareness among consumers about their rights and responsibilities, motivate them to assert their rights and not to compromise on quality and standards of goods and services and seek redressal in consumer courts, wherever required. GOVERNMENT MEASURES AND POLICIES With the view of protecting consumers from exploitation, government has enacted certain laws. A few of them are:- Drugs Control Act Industries (Development and Regulation) Act Indian Standards Institution (Certification Marks) Act Prevention of Food Adulteration Act rd Year Student, Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatna. 2 4th Year, Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatnam. 3 Rajender Chaundhry (2001) - Consumer Protection Act- The road map ahead, Deputy Secretary, Deaprtment of Consumer Affairs. 1 P a g e Journal On Contemporary Issues of Law (JCIL) Vol. 2 Issue 4

2 Drug and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act Essential Commodities Act Trade and Merchandise Marks Act Hire Purchase Act Cigarettes (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act Prevention of Black-marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act Essential Commodities (Special Provisions) Act, 1981 Multi- State Co-operative Societies Act Standard of Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act The Consumer Protection Act The Bureau of Indian Standards Act 1986 Competition Act Right to Information Act 2005 Food Safety and Standards Act The government has initiated various awareness programmes such as jago grahak jago which created awareness through advertisement and publications in newspapers and magazines. Consumer Protection Act was passed and Department of Consumer Affairs was formed to strengthen consumer protection. CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 1986 The UN adopted guidelines for protection of consumers in 1985 and its members were expected to take suitable legislative measures. Consequently, Consumer Protection Act 1986 was passed with this view in mind. It is the first enactment of its kind in India which is aimed at better protection of interests of consumers in general. 5 Its main objective is to provide cheap and speedy disposal of cases by setting up of District Consumer Forums in 4 Indira Nair (2012) Assessment of Consumer Awareness amongst Undergraduate Students of Thane District- A Case Study, International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 2, Issue 5, May Hakim Iqbal A. (1997) - Consumer Issues and Consumer Protection in India - The Business Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp P a g e Journal On Contemporary Issues of Law (JCIL) Vol. 2 Issue 4

3 every district, State Consumer Redressal Commission in every State and National Consumer Redressal Commission in Delhi. It is one of the most progressive and broad piece of legislation. It is considered to be an umbrella legislation as it covers all goods and services. This legislation is one of its kind and is a highly progressive piece of social welfare legislation. The legislation is not only punitive and preventive but also compensatory. The Salient Features of the Act are as under: The Act provides for establishing a three-tier consumer dispute redressal machinery at the national, state and district levels. It applies to all goods and services. It covers all sectors, whether private, public or any person. The Act provides for relief of a specific nature and also for compensation to the consumer as appropriate. The Act also provides for setting up of Consumer Protection Councils at the Central, State and District levels, which are advisory bodies to promote and protect the rights of the consumers. The provisions of the Act are in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force. RIGHTS OF A CONSUMER The Consumer Protection Act intends to provide and protect following rights of the consumer:- i. Right of protection from marketing of the goods and services which are hazardous to life and property. ii. Right to be informed about the quality, quantity, purity, standard and price of the goods or services, so that the consumers are protected from the unfair trade practices. iii. Right to have access to variety of the goods and services at competitive prices - (Right to choose) iv. Right to be heard and to be assured that consumer interests will receive due consideration. 3 P a g e Journal On Contemporary Issues of Law (JCIL) Vol. 2 Issue 4

4 v. Right to stop unfair trade practices, restrictive trade practices and exploitation of consumer. vi. Right to consumer education. vii. Right of speedy and simple redressal to consumer disputes. 6 OTHER GOVERNMENT PROGRAMMES AND POLICIES Government has initiated many programmes and formulated many policies to create awareness among people for consumer protection and consumer rights. A few of them are:- Department of Consumer Affairs- A separate Department of Consumer Affairs was created in 1997 to act as the nodal outfit in the Central Government for promoting and protecting the welfare of consumers. 7 It aimed at providing essential commodities at affordable rates and ensuring availability of essential goods. It also seeks to monitoring of prices, regulation of weights and measures and providing a legislative framework for protecting consumer s interest. Consumer Welfare Fund-The Central Government created Consumer Welfare Fund in 1991 by amending the Central Excise and Salt Act, This fund is handled by Department of Consumer Affairs. The primary objective of this fund is to provide financial assistance to consumer and to ensure consumer protection and welfare. National Consumer Helpline- A part of Consumer Welfare fund has been utilized to set National Consumer Helpline. The main objective of this scheme is to provide telephonic assistance to consumers regarding consumer disputes. Jago Grahak Jago Scheme- This scheme was launched to create awareness among general public through advertisements on televisions and local newspapers and magazines by noted actors of Indian Cinema. Further, a weekly programme of the same name was broadcasted on radio for 15 minutes in regional languages. 6 S. S. Singh & M. K. Balchnadran (1994) - Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Implementation of CPA Survey Report I.I.P.A., New Delhi. 7 Consumer Protection Act, 1986: Bare act with short notes, Universal Law Publishing, New Delhi, P a g e Journal On Contemporary Issues of Law (JCIL) Vol. 2 Issue 4

5 CONCLUSION It may that concluded that government has done a commendable job in the field of consumer protection to protect consumers from unfair trade practices and exploitation. However, proper enforcement of laws is the need of the hour. Legislation is useless unless implemented properly. Big corporate giants and multinational companies (particularly insurance companies) practice fraud and exploit consumers. They prefer lengthy litigation and file appeals up to Supreme Court. Corporate giants can afford lengthy litigation but not a common man. The process becomes painful and exploitative for a consumer when the other party is a corporate. Hence, there should be some mechanism to stop victimisation of consumers. For example, the other party may be barred from filing an appeal in exceptional cases when it appears to the judge that the consumer is being exploited. 5 P a g e Journal On Contemporary Issues of Law (JCIL) Vol. 2 Issue 4

International Journal of Academic Research ISSN: ; Vol.3, Issue-1(1), January, 2017 Impact Factor: 4.535;

International Journal of Academic Research ISSN: ; Vol.3, Issue-1(1), January, 2017 Impact Factor: 4.535; University College of Law Osmania university-hyderabad By the nineteenth century consumer came to be used as a counterpoint to the term producer. The nineteenth century view of the consumer has survived