Consumer Awareness, Consumer Rights and
Responsibilities
Consumer Awareness is an act of making sure the buyer or consumer
is aware of the information about products, goods, services, and
consumers rights. Consumer awareness is important so that buyer can
take the right decision and make the right choice. Consumers have the
right to information, right to choose, right to safety. Let us learn more
about Consumer rights, responsibilities and consumer awareness in
detail.
Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
Consumer Rights is an insight into what rights consumer holds when it
comes to seller which provide the goods. What if the goods provided to
the consumer by the business is not up to the standard? Then in that
case – what should a consumer do? To be precise, what rights consumer
have is in the court of law to fight against the malpractices of the
business firms or seller.
Consumer Rights
Right to Safety: This is the first and the most important of the
Consumer Rights. They should be protected against the product that
hampers their safety. The protection must be against any product
which could be hazardous to their health – Mental, Physical or many
of the other factors.
Right to Information: They should be informed about the product.
The product packaging should list the details which should be
informed to the consumer and they should not hide the same or
provide false information.
Right to Choose: They should not be forced to select the product. A
consumer should be convinced of the product he is about to choose
and should make a decision by himself. This also means consumer
should have a variety of articles to choose
from. Monopolistic practices are not legal.
Right to Heard: If a consumer is dissatisfied with the product
purchased then they have all the right to file a complaint against it.
And the said complaint cannot go unheard, it must be addressed in
an appropriate time frame.
Right to Seek Redressal: In case a product is unable to satisfy the
consumer then they have the right to get the product replaced,
compensate, return the amount invested in the product. We have a
three-tier system of redressal according to the Consumer Protection
Act 1986.
Right to Consumer Education: Consumer has the right to know all
the information and should be made well aware of the rights and
responsibilities of the government. Lack of Consumer awareness is
the most important problem our government must solve.
Learn more about Intro and Importance of Consumer Protection
here in detail.
Responsibilities of a Consumer
The consumer has a certain responsibility to carry as an aware
consumer can bring changes in the society and would help other
consumers to fight the unfair practice or be aware of it.
They should be aware of their rights under the Consumer Protection
Act and should practice the same in case of need.
They should be well aware of the product they are buying. Should
act as a cautious consumer while purchasing the product.
If in case a product is found of anything false or not satisfactory a
complaint should be filed.
The consumer should ask for a Cash Memo while making a purchase.
A customer should check for the standard marks that have been
introduced for the authenticity of the quality of the product like ISI
or Hallmark etc.
What Is the Meaning of Consumer Awareness?
Consumer Awareness is the process of making the consumer of goods
and services aware of his rights. It involves educating a consumer about
safety, information and the redressal options available to him.
As previously discussed consumer awareness is one of the most
persistent problems the government faces when it comes to consumer
protection. To resolve this problem the government has come up with
various methods over the years. In fact, it is the main aim of the
Department of Consumer Affairs.
Consumer Awareness in India
One of the most important and successful Consumer Awareness
campaign in recent times has been the “Jago Grahak Jago” campaign.
You must have certainly come across it. It is a great example of
successful consumer awareness.
Learn more about Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (COPRA) here.
Solved Question for You
Question: Explain the following rights: (a) The right to safety (b)The
right to consumer education.
Ans: Let us take a look at the two rights:
The right to safety: It refers to the right to be protected against
products, production processes and services that endanger the
physical health or well being of the consumer.
The right to consumer education: It refers to a right that protects the
consumer from various large companies of the products and services
they sell. It is basically about informing people and giving them the
required knowledge for living in a consumer society. These rights
and exercises must be followed by every consumer.