Consumer Awarenes

Subject:
Social Science
Submitted By:
Dhwani Patel
Shri Agrasen Vidyalaya
Sneh Nagar, Indore [MP]

Social Science Project

“Consumer Awareness”

Submitted by:
Dhwani Patel XA
Submitted to:
Mrs. Nirmala Agarwal Ma’am
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thanks my Social Science teacher

Mrs. Nirmala Ma’am who gave us this wonderful
project which help us a lot in doing a lot of
important research and we are able to enhance our
knowledge on this topic. I would like to thanks
my parents too who helped me finishing my
project on time. Thanks again to all who helped
me

Date:.
Dhwani Patel
Class: X “A”

INDEX

Who is a consumer?
Consumer Rights
Responsibilities of Consumer
Consumer Expoitation
Consumer Movement
Where should consumer get Justice?
ISI, Agmark and Hall Mark
Who is a Consumer/Customer?
• A customer is an individual or business that
purchases another company’s goods or services
• Customers are important because they drive
revenues; without them,
business have nothing to
offer
• Most public facing
businesses compete with
other companies to attract
customers, either by
aggressively advertising
their product or by
lowering prices to expand their customer basis
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 theproduct
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 tosatisfy 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 rightto 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.

Responsibilities of Consumer:
• 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 prosuct they are
buying. Should act as cautions consumers 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
Factors causing exploitation of
consumers:

• Lack of awareness of consumer rights among

buyers.
• Improper and inadequate monitoring of rules and
regulations
• Individual purchase quantity is quite small
• Consumers are scattered over large areas.
• Lack of awareness among consumers.
• Greed of businessperson
• Lax enforcement of rules
• Slow and time taking
process of consumer
grievance redressal
Consumer Movement:
The consumer movement is an effort to promote
consumer protection through an organized social
movement which is in many places led by consumer
organizations. It advocates for the rights of consumers,
especially when those rights are actively breached by the
actions of corporations, governments, and other
organizations which
provide products and
services to consumers.
The dissatisfaction of
the consumers as many
unfair practices were
being indulged in the
sellers. Scholars most
commonly view the modern consumer movement in India
from two perspectives - that of consumer activism and
that of business self-regulation. There is tradition in India
which says that consideration for consumer rights began
in the Vedic Period, and in these narratives, laws
encourage merchants to practice honesty and integrity in
business. Most discussion about India's consumer
activism starts with a description of the Indian
independence movement. At this time Gandhi and other
leaders protested taxation of basic consumer products,
 such as during the Salt March, and encouraged people to
make their own goods at home, as with the Khadi
movement to promote spinning thread and weaving one's
own textiles. These actions were to raise awareness that
consumer purchase decisions fund the source of India's
political control.
Where should consumers go to
get justice?

• When a consumer deny the choice. Then he/she has

the right to seek redressal against unfair trade
practices and exploitation. She/he has the right to
get compensation depending on the degree of
damage. For
compensation
she/he has to go
consumer forums or
consumer protection
councils. This
organization guide
 consumers on how to file cases in the consumer
court.
• A three tier quasi judicial machinery at the district,
state and national levels was set up for redressal of
consumer disputes, under Consumer Protection Act.

• The district level court deals with the cases

involving claims upto Rs 20 lakhs, the state level
courts deal with cases between Rs 20 lakhs and Rs 1
crore and the national level court deals with cases
involving claims exceeding Rs 1 crore.

• When a case is dismissed in district level court, then

consumer can appeal in state and then in National
level courts. This act provides "Right to Represent
to the consumer.
 National Consumers Day

• 24th December is celebrated as the National

Consumers' Day. It was
on this day that the
Indian Parliament
enacted the Consumer
Protection Act in 1986.
India is one of the few
countries that have
exclusive courts for
consumer redressal. The consumer movement in
India has made significant progress in recent
times. At present, there are more than 700
consumer groups. Out of them, about 20-25 are
well organized and are recognized for their
work.
• The consumer redressal process is becoming
cumbersome, expensive and time consuming.
The lawyer's charges in some cases work as
deterrent. Sometimes, the long delay de-
motivates a person and he may even stop
pursuing the case.
#ISI and AGMARK:
ISI and Agmark is quality certification
for many products like, LPG
cylinders, food colors and additives,
cement or packed drinking water. It
is compulsory for the producers to
get certified by these organizations.
#HALLMARK:
Hallmark is quality certification for
jewelry. This mark is issued by
Indian Standard Organization which
is located in New Delhi.