Consumer Rights of India and the U.

S :A Comparative Study

Submitted By-

Ishaan Khandelwal

SM0119024

Faculty in Charge

National Law University, Assam

2019

1
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Chapter 2: Consumer Rights in India..............................................................................................6
Chapter-3: Consumer Rights in United States of America............................................................13
Chapter-4: Comparison between the Consumer Protection in India and the Consumer Protection
in United States of America...........................................................................................................18
Chapter-5: Conclusion...................................................................................................................21
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................22

2
Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Overview

Consumer rights is the right to have information about the quality, potency, quantity, purity,
price and standard of goods or services, as it may be the case, and the consumer is to be
protected against any unfair practices of trade. It is very essential for the consumers to know
these rights.1

Consumer Rights have now become an important part of the legal system of many countries, the
market has become a safe place to buy goods for the people as if any seller does any wrong to the
consumer like fraud, cheating etc. then there is a jurisdiction for that in the legal system of the
country to protect the consumer and to punish the seller or the manufacturer as it may be the
case.

Consumer Rights empowers the consumers to fight against the malpractices of the Seller. It
helps in empowering every single consumer and makes it a Consumer-Centric Market. In the
earlier times, it was mostly the domination of the sellers in the market and the consumer had no
channel to highlight their issues and problems which have changed radically after the adaptation
of consumer rights .There are penalties that can be imposed by the Consumer Courts on the seller
depending on the gravity of the case.

This project will be comparing the consumer rights given to the people in a developed country to
that given in a developing country. For better understanding, there will be a comparison in the
consumer rights given to the people in India, a developing country to that in United States of
America, a developed country.

1
http://www.jagograhakjago.com/consumer-rights/

3
1.2 Literature Review
1. Consumer Rights and Protection in India;  Mohammed Kamalun Nabi ; Ingram
Short Title(2015):
Consumer Protection policies create an environment whereby the clients and customers
receive satisfaction from the delivery of Goods and Services. One of the disquieting
features of India's democracy is that an average Indian consumer continues to be in a
pitiable condition due to poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, and General apathy. Adulterated
food, spurious medicines, and Sub-Standard domestic Appliances are pushed over the
counter with ease. Unethical advertisements appear in print and electronic media. When
it became imperative to protect the consumers from Sub-Standard Goods and deficient
services, and also provide relief by way of Compensation, India's consumer Protection
Act was enacted in 1986. The objective of this Act is to offer better protection to the
country's consumers against the fraudulent practices of suppliers. The Act provides for
effective safeguards for consumers against various types of exploitation and unfair
dealings, relying on mainly Compensatory rather than punitive or preventive approach.
This book examines the rights of consumers and the protective measures adopted in India
and other countries. It specifically deals with the statutory measures for redressal of
consumer grievances provided under the consumer Protection Act, 1986.

2. Consumer Protection in United States: An Overview; Spencer Weber Waller,

Jillian G. Brady, R.J. Acosta; European Journal of Consumer Law, 2011:
This chapter, which will appear in a forthcoming international anthology on consumer
protection law, is a broad overview of United States consumer protection law and
enforcement. It focuses on the utterly decentralized nature of consumer protection law in
the U.S. and the combined roles of federal, state, local, and private law in deterring,
detecting, and punishing deceptive and unfair conduct that injures consumers. It further
summarizes federal, state, local, and private litigation options to obtain damages,
restitution, and injunctive relief for consumers on an individual and class action basis. It
ends with a partial list of consumer associations and other private non-profit group
working in the consumer protection field.

4
1.3 Research Questions
1. What are the consumer rights given to the people in a developing nation like India?
2. What are the consumer rights given to the people in a developed nation like in United
States of America?
3. What are the similarities and differences in the consumer rights given to the people in
India and United States of America?

1.4 Scope and Objectives

1. Scope:
The scope of this project is to study the consumer rights in India and in the United States
of America and to draw a thorough comparison between both of them.
2. Objective:
1. To study the consumer rights given to the people in a developing nation like India.
2. To study the consumer rights given to the people in a developed nation like in United
States of America.
3. To study the similarities and differences in the consumer rights given to the people in
India and United States of America.

1.5 Research Methodology

In this project, Doctrinal type of research is adopted. Doctrinal research is essentially a library-
based study, which means that the materials needed by a researcher may be available in libraries,
archives and other data-bases. Various types of books were used to get the adequate data
essential for this project. Computer laboratory is also used to get important data related to this
topic. Few websites we found which were very useful to understand this topic.

5
Chapter 2: Consumer Rights in India

The Word “consumer” is a derivative of the Latin word “Consumere” which means, “to take up
totally or to eat’. The consumer is one who consumes or uses any commodity or service available
to him either from natural resources or through a market. According to John F. Kennedy,
“Consumer by definition includes every one. There are the largest economic grope affecting and
affected by almost every public and private economic decision”. The Consumer Protection Act,
1986 defines the consumer as ‘one who buys any goods, hires any services or partly paid and
partly promised or under any system of deferred payment”.2

In India, the concept of consumer protection is not new, it is as old as trade and
commerce itself. It therefore, comes a no surprise that references to the protection of
consumer’s interest against exploitation by trade and industry, underweight and
measurement, adulteration were made in Kautilya‟s ‘Arthashastra’. The need of punishment
was also recognized by him. Bhave (2009) revealed that an organized and systematic
movement to safeguard the interest of consumers is a recent phenomenon. The consumers
have to b/e aware not only of the commercial aspects of sale and purchase of goods, but also of
the health and security aspects. Food safety has become an important element of consumer
awareness these days. In case of food products, its quality depends not only on its nutritional
value, but also on its safety for human consumption. Consumption of contaminated or
adulterated food is a major cause of human illness and suffering. 3

2
Introduction to consumer rights and responsibilities; B Suresh Lal; Serials Publication
3
Measures for consumer protection in India and Consumerism; Ravi Kumar Gupta, Ishwar Mittal, Anita Gupta;
RMS Journal of Management and IT 2011(June)

6
However there are strong and clear laws in India to defend consumer rights, the actual plight of
consumers of India can be declared as completely dismal. Out of the various laws that have been
enforced to protect the consumer rights in India, the most important is the Consumer Protection
Act, 1986. According to this law, everybody, including individuals, a firm, a Hindu undivided
family and a company, have the right to exercise their consumer rights for the purchase of goods
and services made by them. It is significant that, as consumer, one knows the basic rights as well
as about the courts and procedures that follow with the infringement of one’s rights.

In general, the consumer protection act 2019 has the following rights for the consumer:

1. The right to safety.

2. The right to be fully informed.
3. The right to choose.
4. The right to be heard.
5. The right to redress
6. The right to consumer education.
7. The right to satisfaction of basic needs.
8. The right to a healthy environment.

The above mentioned are some of the rights that are given to the consumer under the
consumer protection act 2019 but only knowing the consumer rights will not be helpful to the
consumers, the consumer should be able to understand the actual meaning of the rights
mentioned and the consumer should avoid self-interpretation. Below is the explanation of the
rights mentioned above:

1. Right to Safety
There are a wide variety of products available in the market which are manufactured by
different companies or brands and the main aim of any company is to do business and
earn profit and in order to do so they may not take necessary precautions while
manufacturing the product or could do something unfair which may harm the consumer’s
property. Therefore, to protect the consumer from such things, the consumer protection
act 1986 has legalized the right to safety as one of the consumer rights.

7
 There should be some measures for safety that should be taken by the government in
order to protect and empower the government. Some of these should be:
i. Establishing measures and standards to ensure safety and quality of goods and
services.
ii. Providing facilities for testing and certification essential goods and services.
iii. Formulating Policies to ensure that manufacturers compensate for defective or
hazardous products.

2. Right to Information
Consumers have the right to obtain accurate and adequate information not only on all
consumer goods and services, but also from any public authority for any development.
There has to be a two-way traffic of information between the development agencies and
the people. The right to information is an essential part of the right to life, development
and social justice. The governance and management of society must be transparent to the
people. An absence of access to information seriously limits the effectiveness of
consumer groups whose activities often depend on facts and figures usually available
with public and private organizations. The Indian Constitution guarantees the
fundamental rights to free speech and expression. The absence of authentic information
on matters of public interest discourages meaningful debate. An access to information on
the hazardous chemical substances stored by Union Carbide and the remedial measures in
case of an emergency might have prevented the avoidable Bhopal gas disaster. Right to
information ensure public participation in the decision making process of the country
which is an essential element in a democracy.
Consumers can obtain information from various sources. Depending on the type of
product or service the source of information may differ. The major sources of information
are:
 Labels
 Advertisements
 Print media
 Electronic media

8
  Citizen’s charter of organization
 Official records of public and private undertakings

3. Right to Choose
A consumer has a right to choose and buy the product of his choice. He should have
access to a wide variety of goods, to choose the product of his choice. A wise consumer
tries to spend the money at his disposal in a way that yields maximum satisfaction. This
involves exercising choice. In other words, the market should be provided with a
variety of goods giving an option to the consumer to choose from. In a market where
choice is not available, the consumer is forced to buy the available product at the price
the seller offers. The consumer is not given an opportunity to choose the product of his
choice. The trader has no right to restrict the choice of consumer.

4. Right to be Heard
The right to be heard means the right to advocate consumer’s interests with a view to
receiving full and sympathetic consideration in formulation and execution of
economic and other policies. It includes the right of representation in governmental
and other policy bodies as well as in the development of products and services
before they are produced or setup. For the welfare of consumers and individual
has a right to be heard. He/she can express his/her view in various forums. The
consumer is assured that his/her interests will receive due consideration. Consumers
can express their view in the decision-making bodies.

5. Right to Redress
Redress means to ‘put things right’. When consumers have a problem with goods or
services they have paid for, they have a right to seek redressal. The consumer has the
right to fair settlement of the genuine grievances. If the performance or quality of a
good or service is short of expectations, consumer can launch a complaint. Consumer
can complain against any unfair trade; practice or unscrupulous exploitation of
consumers. The Right to seek redressal provides an opportunity for the consumer to
seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers.

9
 It also provides right to fair settlement of grievances that are genuine. The right ensures
compensation for faulty goods or services. Redressal is the natural follow-up of hearing
of complaints and making a settlement in a manner that is acceptable to consumer as
well as the seller. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted in order to protect
the consumer from the exploitative and unfair practices of trade and to provide
inexpensive, easily accessible and speedy remedy. Various measures have been
provided under the law for consumers to exercise their right to redressal.

6. Right to Consumer Education

The right to Consumer education means the right to acquire the knowledge and skills
to be an informed consumer throughout life. The right to consumer education
incorporate the right to knowledge and skills needed for taking action to influence
factors which affect consumer decisions. Consumer education provides the knowledge
necessary to develop citizens into intelligent buyers. In a broader sense, Right to
Consumer Education is consumers right to know and be aware of all developments
concerning this environment which might affect his choices. Consumer education has
many sources and caters to different age groups and sections of the society through
various systems of education. One of the pressing needs of consumer empowerment
today is to initiate the younger generation into the consumer education mainstream.

7. Right to Basic Needs

Right to Basic Needs ensures the consumer the basic goods and services, which
guarantee survival. It includes adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education
and sanitation to lead a decent life. The right to satisfaction of basic needs has different
meaning for different societies and countries. In the developing world, basic needs of a
consumer would be interpreted as adequate food, clothing and shelter, whereas the
American or European Continent would interpret basic needs of a consumer as
fair quality of consumers goods or prompt, ensured and accountable services. In a
broader sense

10
  Every consumer has the right to basic needs and services, which guarantee
dignified living.
 It includes adequate food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, drinking water
education sanitation, energy and transportation.

8. Right to Healthy Environment

The right to healthy environment means the right to a physical environment that
will enhance the quality of life. It includes protection against environmental dangers
over which the individuals have no control. It acknowledges the need to protect and
improve the environment for present and future generations. The right to healthy
environment is in fact implicit in all rights that human beings have n every aspect of
life. It is the right to lead a healthy life style without dangers of water, air, soil and
noise pollution. Healthy Environment includes both global and local environmental
conditions. The Ozone depletion, global warming and increase in toxic wastes areas
much infringement of the right to healthy environment as polluted ground water supply
or air laden with toxic gases at local levels. Recently, the purview of healthy
environment for consumers has been extended to the natural disaster occurrences
which have increased manifold owing towns us trainable development an d
unchecked growth. Consumers are now demanding the right to a safe and natural
environment.
 Consumers has the right to live and work in an environment which is
neither threatening nor dangerous but permit a life of dignity and
wellbeing
 .They should get protection from environmental dangers or ill effects of the
pollution of air, earth, water etc.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and several other laws like the Weights, Standards &
Measures Act can be formulated to make sure that there is fair competition in the market and
free flow of correct information from goods and services providers to the ones who consume
them. In fact, the degree of consumer protection in any country is regarded as the right
indicator of the progress of the country. There is high level of sophistication gained by the

11
goods and services providers in their marketing and selling practices and different types of
promotional tasks viz. advertising resulted in an increasing requirement for more consumer
awareness and protection. The government of India has realized the condition of Indian
consumers therefore the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has
incorporated the Department of Consumer Affairs as the nodal organization to protect the
consumer rights, redress the consumer grievances and promote the standards governing
goods and services provided in India. If there is infringement of rights of consumer then a
complaint can be made under the following circumstances and reported to the close by
designated consumer court:
1. The goods or services purchased by a person or agreed to be purchased by a person has
one or more defects or deficiencies in any respect
2. A trader or a service provider resort to unfair or restrictive practices of trade
3. A trader or a service provider if charges a price more than the price displayed on the
goods or the price that was agreed upon between the parties or the price that was
stipulated under any law that exist
4. Goods or services that bring a hazard to the safety or life of a person offered for sale,
unknowingly or knowingly, that cause injury to health, safety or life.

12
Chapter-3: Consumer Rights in United States of America

The history of consumer protection in the United States is the story of specific formal legal
responses to crises and emergencies that generate great public outrage and require a public
response. This pattern began against the background of the 19th century common law, which
emphasized freedom of contract and caveat emptor (let the buyer beware). Over time,
specific crises and political events led to both the creation of government bureaucracies
with jurisdiction over specific products and practices affecting consumers and a broad array of
private rights of actions where consumers can sue for damages, injunctions, attorney fees,
and litigation costs if they can show harm from the illegal practice.
One of the earliest examples was the deplorable conditions in the American meat packing
industry which were exposed by Upton Sinclair in his best selling 1905 novel The Jungle.
The outrage generated by Sinclair and other investigative writers led to the creation of the Food
& Drug Administration and the first comprehensive inspection and regulation of food
safety in the United States. The early portion of the 20th Century, including both the
Progressive Era and the New Deal Era of President Franklin Roosevelt, led to a further growth
of a large number of federal, state, and local regulatory agencies and laws, many of which
dealing with consumer protection. However, the modern consumer protection movement began
in the 1960s with reference to a Consumer Bill of Rights by President Kennedy, the
growth of the so-called “Great Society” program of the Johnson Administration, and the
efforts of Ralph Nader and other consumer advocates to highlight the existence of unsafe
products and the need for greater government regulation. The result is that American
consumers are protected from unsafe products, fraud, deceptive advertising, and unfair

13
business practices through a mixture of national, state, and local governmental laws and the
existence of many private rights of actions. These public and private rights both protect
consumers and, at a formal level, equip them with the knowledge they need to protect
themselves. Although U.S. mechanisms for consumer protection often exist separately from
each other, what the overall scheme lacks in centralization, it gains in depth and variety of
protection. Its strength is the array of governmental actors, formal legal rights, and
remedies protecting consumers. Its weakness lies in the unequal reality of who has access to the
government and the courts.

3.1 FEDERAL MECHANISMS FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION

The principal, but not the only, consumer protection agency at the federal level is the
United States Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”).4 This section outlines the powers
and remedies of the FTC in the consumer protection area and then briefly describes
some of the other federal agencies with significant consumer protection
responsibilities.

I. Federal Trade Commission

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) works alone, and in concert
with other federal agencies, to administer a wide variety of consumer protection laws.
The overall goal is to afford consumers a deception-free marketplace and provide
the highest-quality products at competitive prices. The FTC is an independent
federal agency with five Presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed commissioners
who each serve seven-year terms.5 No more than three commissioners may be
members of the President’s political party. Created in 1914, the FTC has two
principal goals:

1. To protect consumers by preventing fraud, deception, and unfair business practices

in the marketplace.

4
http://www.ftc.gov.
5
http://www.ftc.gov/commissioners/index.shtml.

14
 2. To maintain competition by preventing anticompetitive business practices.
The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection aims to achieve the first goal, and is
the focus of this section.6

 The FTC’s Jurisdiction

The FTC derives its consumer protection authority primarily from Section 5(a) of the
FTC Act, which prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting
commerce.”7According to the FTC, deception occurs when there is a material
representation, omission, or practice that is likely to mislead a consumer who is acting
reasonably under the circumstances. Unfair practices are those which cause, or are likely
to cause, reasonably unavoidable and substantial injury to consumers without any
offsetting countervailing benefits to consumers or competition. In addition to its
authority under Section 5(a), the FTC has enforcement and administrative abilities
under forty six other statutes, thirty-seven of which relate to the FTC’s consumer
protection mission. Among these laws are credit-related acts, such as the Truth in
Lending Act, Fair Credit Billing Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Equal Credit
Opportunity Act, as well as continuing enforcement of industry-specific acts, such as
the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, and the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco
Health Education Act of 1986, and additional laws relating to consumer privacy such
as the Do-Not-Call Registry Act of 2003, and the Controlling the Assault of Non-
Solicited Pornography and Marketing (“CAN-SPAM”) Act of 2003.

3.2 CONSUMER ASSOCIATIONS AND RELATED GROUPS

In addition to government based agencies, consumer associations and other
nonprofit entities also play an important role in consumer protection matters. They have
played a critical role in investigating, publicizing, lobbying, litigating, and researching
consumer issues. US consumer groups or associations lack the statutory right to bring
super-complaints or collective action suits as is the case in several European countries,
but they do have the power to bring complaints to the agencies and sue in their
own name in the courts. Unlike the situation in the EU and most European
6
In Search of Economic Justice: Considering Competition and Consumer Protection Law; Spencer Weber Waller;
University of Chicago Law Journal(2005)
7
15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1)

15
 countries, an agency complaint in the US is normally informal and does not
require formal agency action (or judicial review) if the government agency chooses
not to pursue the matter further. Nevertheless, many of the developments described
above are the result of one or more private actors bringing to the government’s, or the
public’s, attention conduct that harms consumers either physically or
economically. Much like governmental action in this area, there are numerous
different private groups focused on different aspects of the consumer protection field
as outlined above. A small sample of such private sector entities follows.

A. Citizen Utility Boards

Citizen Utility Boards are nonprofit, nonpartisan agencies that exist to represent
the interests of residential utility consumers in their respective states or regions.
They typically address concerns related to quality and price of natural gas, electric, and
telephone services.8

B. Consumer Federation of America

The Consumer Federation of America has four main functions. First, it advocates for
consumers to state and federal legislative and regulatory bodies. Second, it
researches consumer behavior and concerns through polling and surveys. Third, it
attempts to provide education about consumer concerns by disseminating press
releases, reports, and other material to the media, government representatives, and
consumers. Finally, it supports a variety of local consumer-related organizations.9

C. Consumers Union
The Consumers Union was founded in 1936 and is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization that educates consumers about a wide variety of products. To achieve
its stated mission, “to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all
consumers,” the Consumers Union publishes the magazine, Consumer Reports, as
8
http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/
9
http://www.consumerfed.org/

16
 well as two newsletters, Consumer Reports on Health and Consumer Reports
Money Adviser.10 Consumer Reports provides product reviews of cars, computers,
appliances, extended warranties, and even sporting equipment so that
consumers may have reliable third-party information before making a
purchase. The Consumers Union also supports initiatives for health care
access, food safety, and consumer choice in media.11

D. National Consumer Law Centre

The National Consumer Law Center is a nonprofit organization that advocates on

behalf of low-income individuals who have been harmed by deception, fraud, or
unfair practices. In addition to addressing concerns with credit, credit reports, and
debt collection, the National Consumer Law Center deals with payday loans,
predatory lending, public utilities, and other fraud.12

E. Public Citizen
Founded in 1971 by Ralph Nader, Public Citizen is a nonpartisan,
nonprofit organization that represents consumer interests before the executive,
legislative, and judicial branches of the U.S. Government. In order to retain
its independence and maintain its ability to impartially represent consumers,
Public Citizen refuses donations from the government, corporations, or
professional associations. Public Citizen advocates specifically for clean and safe
energy sources, just trade policies, safe vehicles, and effective, affordable
prescription drugs and health care.13

10
http://www.consumersunion.org/
11
http://www.luc.edu/antitrust
12
http://www.consumerlaw.org,
13
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/consumption_en.pdf.

17
Chapter-4: Comparison between the Consumer Protection in India and the
Consumer Protection in United States of America

The governments of almost every country has shown concern to protect the interest of consumers
against exploitation in any form by various laws, price and distribution controls, regularity
authorities, fixing standards for manufacturers and service providers. In many cases like
insurance, money and credit market agencies, stock market special organizations have been
constituted who have been authorized to keep a watch and they have framed code of conduct.

 Protection of the Consumer Rights against Drugs and Cosmetics

In U.S.A. there are strict control on drugs manufacture and sale as they are vital for well
being of the general public and their health. For similar reasons there are strict rules for
checking adulteration and there are provisions for severe punishment to defaulters. Many
countries have much more strict controls and codes for safety as compared to India.

In the U.S.A the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and FDA protects public health by
promoting supply chain integrity working to ensure medicines imported to the U.S.
comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Imported drugs must meet
FDA’s standards for quality, safety and effectiveness. For example, medicines from
outside the legitimate U.S. drug supply chain do not have the same assurance of safety,
effectiveness and quality as drugs subject to FDA oversight.14
14
https://www.fda.gov

18
 Whereas in India, the department of drugs and cosmetics is maintained only by the Drugs
and cosmetics act 1940, there is no separate department for this like the U.S.A.

 Protection of the Consumer Rights against Environment Protection

Environment protection in industrialized countries of America are much stringent than in
our country.
The National Environment Policy act, 1969 was formed to protect the consumer against
pollution and protect the environment. US policies are very strict on this count. The
environment protection agency has been established in 1970 under this act.
This policy has been very effective in controlling and protecting the environment.

The Environment Protection act 1986, in India has covered almost all the measures to
give a healthy measures to its consumers, the implementation part is not that good as it
requires the cooperation of people and some strict rules from the government side which
is lacking here.
This is the reason why the environment protection in the countries like America are much
stringent than India.

 Different agencies for the protection of consumer rights

The other important difference as compared to India is that government regulatory bodies
take initiative and find-out if consumer interest is not well looked after.
There are several government agencies for the protection of consumer rights like in
U.S.A there are several government bodies that look after the consumers and each body
has its own department like FTC looks after the trading sector, FDA looks after the drugs
and cosmetics sector etc.
India too have different government bodies that protects the consumer rights of the
country but here the problem is that the agencies come into action only after someone
approaches them to seek justice.

19
In countries like USA researchers also take interest to find-out “whether or not the marketing

system has operated to the disadvantage of specific population sub-segments”. The problems of

persons living in poor areas are also researched whether any advantage has been taken of “their

lack of education, their limited shopping scope, and their reluctance to complain about

overcharging.”

 Protection against exploitation

Laws have also been framed against exploitation of children because they physiologically

are vulnerable to certain marketing techniques and tactics. In India there are much lesser

regulations to protect children against exploitation by marketer. Similarly, elderly persons

and women are also protected much more than in India against exploitation.

In countries like USA there is more “general approach of giving consumers the skills to detect
and combat unfair marketing practices through consumer education “. A large number of states
have mandated consumer education.

20
Chapter-5: Conclusion

In this project we have compared the consumer rights of India and the United States of America
to an extent. By comparing the consumer rights of these two countries we can also say that we
have compared the consumer rights of a developing country and a developed country.

The consumer has eight basic consumer rights in the consumer rights in India and there are
several governmental agencies that are made for the protection of these consumer rights but the
only loophole here is that these agencies come into function only when someone approaches
them to seek justice instead of taking care of the consumer rights of the consumers by themselves
not when someone asks them to do so.

In the consumer protection act of U.S.A, the consumer has the eight basic rights with several
government agencies which are made for the protection of the consumer rights of the consumers.

On comparing the consumer protection act of the both the countries, it can be said that the
consumer protection act of both the countries is written very well, is suitable and sufficient for
the consumers of both the countries but the implementation part of the U.S is better than India ,
it could be because the concept of consumer rights was introduces in the U.S. before India and
India is still a developing country, other factor could be the difference in the population of both
the countries and the availability of the resources and other factors.

21
Bibliography

 Consumer Protection in United States: An Overview; Spencer Weber Waller, Jillian G.

Brady, R.J. Acosta; European Journal of Consumer Law, 2011
 Consumer Rights and Protection in India;  Mohammed Kamalun Nabi ; Ingram Short
Title(2015)

Web Sources

 http://www.consumerlaw.org,
 http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/consumption_en.pdf.
 https://www.fda.gov

 http://www.luc.edu/antitrust

 http://www.citizensutilityboard.org/
 http://www.consumerfed.org/
 http://www.consumersunion.org/

22