PROFESSIONAL

ETHICS

CONSUMER RIGHTS

Members

Faiq Khalid Lodhi (254)

Abdullah Baig (236)
Muhammad Yasin Malik (286)
Ali Raza (243)
Syed Zeerak Ali (299)

Submitted to

Sir Khalid Chohan

 Consumer’s Rights
Consumer and Citizen:
As in any state people are known as citizens, whereas in the markets any type of
business people are known as consumers and they are valued as customers. Even there are
different markets located within the same country but consumer rights are completely
interlinked with their citizen’s rights because both need to be proactively promoted and
confined from grasping factors in the market and the State.

In the age of globalization, this realization has become more important than ever before.
The former President of Consumers International, Rhoda Karpatkin, said that "Consumer
activism is exercising citizenship".

Who is Consumer?
Consumption is one of the fundamental requirements of human survival therefore, this
must be shared, intensification, communally accountable and sustainable. Therefore, we are all
consumers, whether of goods or of services, whether purchased or otherwise, and whether
provided by the market or the public sector.

A consumer is a person who:

 buys good with the intention of re-supplying them in trade, or

 consumes them in the course of a process of production or manufacture, or
 is engaged in repairing or treating in trade of other goods or fixtures on land;

Acquire in relation to:

 goods, includes obtain by way of gift, purchase, exchange, and taken on lease, hire or
hire-purchase;
 services, includes accept;
 Interests in land, includes obtain by way of gift, purchase, exchange, lease, tenancy
or license.

What are Consumer Rights?

Based on the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, 1985 (to which Pakistan is a
signatory), the global umbrella body Consumers International articulated a set of eight,
internationally accepted consumer rights that need to be actively protected and promoted.

1. The Right to Basic Needs means the right to basic goods and services which guarantee
survival. It includes adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education and
sanitation.
2. The Right to Safety means the right to be protected against products, production
processes and services which are hazardous to health or life. It includes concern for
consumer long-term interests as well as their immediate requirements.
3. The Right to Be Informed means the right to be given the facts needed to make an
informed choice or decision. Consumers must be provided with adequate information
 enabling them to act wisely and responsibly. They must also be protected from
misleading or inaccurate publicity material, whether included in advertising, labeling
and packaging or by any other means.
4. The Right to Choose means the right to have access to a variety of products and
services at competitive prices and, in the case of monopolies, to have an assurance of
satisfactory quality and service at a fair price.
5. The Right to Be Heard means the right to advocate consumers’ interests with a view to
their receiving full and sympathetic consideration in the formulation and execution of
economic and other policies. It includes the right of representation in government and
other policy-making bodies as well as in the development of products and services
before they are produced or set up.
6. The Right of Redress means the right to a fair settlement of just claims. It includes the
right to receive compensation for misrepresentation of shoddy goods or unsatisfactory
services and the availability of acceptable forms of legal aid or redress for small claims
where necessary.
7. The Right to Consumer Education means the right to acquire to knowledge and skills
to be an informed consumer throughout life. The right to consumer education
incorporates the right to the knowledge and skills needed for taking action to influence
factors affecting decisions.
8. The Right to a Healthy Environment means the right to a physical environment that
will enhance quality of life. It includes protection against environmental dangers over
which the individual has no control. It acknowledges the need to protect and improve
the environment for present and future generations.

Consumer Responsibilities
Beside all the protections and the rights there are some ethical responsibilities of the consumers
that are explained in this section. There are also five basic responsibilities of all consumers that
are given below:

Critical Awareness – the responsibility to be more alert and questioning about the
price and quality of goods and services we consume.

Action – the responsibility to assert ourselves by acting to ensure that we get a fair deal.
As long as we remain passive consumers, we will continue to be exploited and
manipulated.

Social Concern – the responsibility to consider the impacts of our consumption

patterns and lifestyles on other citizens, especially the poor, disadvantaged or powerless
consumers, whether they be in the local, national or international community.

Environmental Awareness – the responsibility to realize the environmental costs and

consequences of our consumption patterns and lifestyles. We should recognize our
individual and collective social responsibility to conserve natural resources and to
preserve the earth for present and future generations.

Solidarity – the responsibility to come together and organize consumers in order to

enhance the strength and influence required to promote and protect our interests.