Consumer Awareness

Subham Roy
Grade 10

Roll No. 5391

Sainik School Purulia

Social Science Project
 What is Consumer Awareness?

With the current trend of Marketing, the consumer is

undoubtedly the elixir to all its functioning. The market gets
shrewd and sometimes the consumer has to suffer the brunt of
it. This is what is behind the rising popularity of Consumer
Awareness these days.

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.

Misleading advertisement, unsafe products, overcharging and

unweighing and other malpractices are performed by
unscrupulous businessmen. Consumer awareness is thus an act
of saving consumers from such delinquencies.
 How did it come into existence?

Though the first consumer movement began in England after the

Second World War, US President John F. Kennedy made the modern
declaration about consumer’s rights in 1962. His speech against
consumer harassment and for awareness spiralled many laws that
dedicatedly protected the consumers’ interests. This movement
upheld consumer rights, like choice, information, safety, and the
right to be heard, later recognised and codified as laws.

Following several consumer associations and long campaigns in

several countries, the United Nations prepared a ‘Model Code for
Consumer Protection’. Finally, drawing from Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) and the United States Consumer Bill of
Rights, the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection
(UNGCP) got drafted and adopted on April 16, 1985.The consumer is
the most important factor in business. No business can survive
without consumers as their satisfaction is the main purpose of any
business operations.

Trivia:
Every Year 24th December is observed as National
Consumer Day with a specific theme in India. On
this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had
received the assent of the president. The
enactment of this Act is considered as a historic
milestone in the consumer movement in the
country.
 Why does the Consumer need to be Aware?

The following arguments are apt enough to make us feel

the need for consumer awareness:

1. The consumer is the most important factor in business. No

business can survive without consumers as their
satisfaction is the main purpose of any business
operations.

2. Business is not just about monetary benefits but also to

upgrade the society to a better version by keeping its
welfare as an objective.

3. Consumer protection rights promote a healthy competitive

market which supports economic growth. It keeps away
malicious trade practices and unscrupulous business
owners from damaging the fair trade.

4. Consumers are an integral part of a market structure. It is

very important to protect their rights in order to have a
fair market structure.
 Consumer Rights
With Awareness comes Rights some of them are:

1. Right to Safety
Consumption of goods or services which are not up to the mark can
have adverse effects on the consumer’s health and safety. In order to
protect the consumer’s interest, they have a right to receive high
quality and reliable goods. For instance- Household goods like LPG
cylinders if not sealed properly can cause immense damage to life
and property, Stale food items can cause harm to buyers health,
Low-quality cosmetics can cause similar harms.

2. Right to Information

The consumer has a right to receive information about the quality,

quantity, potency, standard and price of the goods or services. The
consumer should rightfully ask for all the information about the
product or service before making a choice or a decision. This will
enable him to take well informed and thought decisions and also
prevent him from falling prey to high-pressure selling techniques.

3. Right to Choose

This right provides access to all the variety of goods and services
and competitive prices. In monopolistic competition, the goods and
services can’t be of the best quality and price. The seller should not
also use aggressive techniques to see the products and consumers
should have the right to all the variety of alternatives. This right
requires free competition in the market. The consumer should have
a free choice in choosing any product from the market.
4. Right to be Heard

The above three rights are useless if there is no proper authority to

listen to customer grievances. If a buyer is dissatisfied with the
product or service, then one has the right to file a complaint against
it and it has to be addressed within a set time-frame. For instance, if
a consumer buys an electronic Item and it starts malfunctioning, a
consumer has all rights to take appropriate action by returning or
replacing it.

5. Right to Seek Redressal

This right gives authority to the consumers to settle any claims and
complaints against sellers for their unfair trade practices and
exploitation. The buyer has a right to redress if the quality of the
product is compromised. Consumers need to file a complaint under
the consumer protection act.

6. Right to Customer Education

A consumer must be aware of his rights and responsibilities

provided by the authorities regarding marketing practices. This is a
very important right as this lays down the foundation for fair trade
practices as a consumer is aware of his rights. The consumer has all
the authority to gain knowledge about his rights as a buyer.
 Consumer Protection Measures

To protect the interest of the consumers, the government has

adopted three strategies:

Administrative Measures

Administrative measures of the government include the distribution

of essential commodities through the Public Distribution System
(PDS). Through PDS, the government distributes some essential
commodities at a reasonable price through the Fair Price Shops. In
a free-market economy, a commodity’s price is determined through
the free play of demand and supply.

The equilibrium price is the price at which demand and supply of

the commodity are equal, i.e. there are zero excess demand and
excess supply.

But sometimes the government interferes in the market systems by

fixing the price lower than the equilibrium price to protect the
interest of the consumers belonging to the lower strata of the
society. This price is known as Control Price.

When the government fixes prices lower than the equilibrium price,
demand exceeds supply, which leads to black-marketing and
hoarding. To check these, the government sells different
commodities at different FPS control prices.

Technical Measures

Technical measures consist of the standardisation of the product.

Therefore, one of the necessary measures taken by the government
to protect the consumers is the creation of institutions for setting up
the standards for making and producing various products and
enforcing them. In India, this has been achieved through the Bureau
of Indian Standards (BIS) and Agmark. At the same time, BIS caters
to industrial and consumer goods while Agmark is meant for
agricultural products.

The Bureau of Indian Standards, earlier known as the Indian

Standards Institution (ISI), whose headquarter is located in Delhi, is
responsible for laying down industrial and consumer goods
standards on a scientific basis and certifying the goods that meet
the requirements standards and the prescribed quality.

The Agmark is implemented under the

Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing)
Act of 1937, amended in 1986. This scheme is
run by the Directorate of Marketing and
Intelligence (DMI) in the Ministry of Agriculture,
Government of India. Products such as honey,
masala etc., carry such marks.

At the international level, an institution called International

Organization for Standardization (ISI), established in 1947 located in
Geneva, serves to provide such a common reference standard. All
the international Companies, goods produced by them, and
institutions are certified as ISO 6000, ISO 14000 etc.

For setting international food standards, there is a similar body

called Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). CAC was formed in 1963
by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World
Health Organization(WHO) in Rome, Italy. It develops food standards,
guidelines and codes for production and international trade in food
products like milk, fish etc.

Legislative Measures

These include the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. In

addition, the government enacted a specific law called the
Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The Act provides for the
establishment of consumer disputes redressal agencies at the
District, State and National levels for the protection of consumer
interests and to redress their grievances in a speedy, inexpensive
and straightforward manner.

The Act has led to the setting up separate Department of Consumer

Affairs in Central and State Government, which focus exclusively on
the rights of the consumers, as enshrined in the Act.

Consumer Court Jurisdiction

NATIONAL CONSUMER COMMISSION National

STATE CONSUMER COMMISSION State

DISTRICT CONSUMER FORUM District

 Are You A “Responsible" Consumer?

These are some traits of a responsible consumer:

1. The responsible consumer is one who is aware of all his rights

and responsibilities during a trade practice.

2. A consumer who checks all the required labels of the products,

while purchasing, in order to know the authenticity and quality
of the product.

3. The responsibility to be assertive – Which ensures that you get

a fair deal as a consumer.

4. A customer should check for the standard marks which ensure

the authenticity as well as the quality of the product like the ISI
mark or Hallmark etc.
 Consumer Awareness In India

Jago Grahak Jago (started in 2005) is a consumer awareness

program launched by the Department of Food under the
government of India.

As part of this initiative, the government has used channels to create

consumer awareness through printings, media advertisements,
posters, audio campaigns, and video campaigns for consumer
information and education about initiatives like the Insurance
Ombudsman channel. This program will help Indian consumers to
know about their consumer rights and about their duties as
consumers.