SUBJECT ENRICHMENT PROJECT CLASS 10

TOPIC: CONSUMER AWARENESS

CONTENT:

INDEX

1. Introduction
Consumer awareness means having knowledge about the various consumer rights, right to
be informed about quality, price, purity and standards of goods, consumer protection laws,
grievance redressal mechanisms and right to seek redressal against unfair trade practice or
exploitation under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986

2. Objectives of consumer awareness:

The objectives of consumer awareness are basically some rights that the consumer must know. The
following are broadly the objectives of consumer awareness :

a) Right to information: the consumer has the right to know all information about the product
or service that he is ready to purchase. It is important that he is aware of this right.

b) Right to choose: In a competitive market environment, the consumer has the right to have
access to choose from the wide variety of products.

c) right to be heard : the awareness that the consumer has a right to be represented in the
appropriate forums for consumer welfare.

d) right to grievance redressal: the awareness that consumer has the right to get his
grievances of exploitation or unfair trade practices redressed.

e) right to consumer education: the awareness that the consumer has the right to acquire
knowledge and skills needed to make informed , confident choices about goods and services,
while being aware of basic consumer rights and responsibilities and how to act on them.

3. Who is a consumer?
As per The Consumer Protection Act, consumer is any person who buys goods or
avails any service for a price. It includes final user of any product or service. A
person who purchases goods for reselling is not a consumer. A person buying a
product or service through online transaction on e-commerce website is also
considered as a consumer.

4. Consumer protection

Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the
public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often
 established by [law ]. Such laws are intended to prevent businesses from engaging
in fraud or specified unfair practices in order to gain an advantage over competitors or to
mislead consumers. They may also provide additional protection for the general public which
may be impacted by a product (or its production) even when they are not the direct
purchaser or consumer of that product. For example, government regulations may require
businesses to disclose detailed information about their products—particularly in areas where
public health or safety is an issue, such as with food or automobiles.
Consumer protection is linked to the idea of consumer rights and to the formation of
consumer organizations, which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace and
pursue complaints against businesses. Entities that promote consumer protection include
government organizations (such as the Federal Trade Commission in the United States),
self-regulating business organizations (such as the Better Business Bureaus in the US,
Canada, England, etc.), and non-governmental organizations that advocate for consumer
protection laws and help to ensure their enforcement (such as consumer protection agencies
and watchdog groups).

5. Common problems faced by a consumer in a market place

http://articles-junction.blogspot.com/2013/06/various-problems-faced-by-consumers-in.html
6. Consumer movement in India

The consumer is the center of all business activities. In modern days, it is said
that the consumer is the king of the market. Business activities are carried out to
satisfy, the wants of consumers. A commercial organization totally depends on
the customer not only for its survival but also for its growth. At present
customer is given top most importance and every attempt is made to satisfy the
customer.
But in reality, the position of the consumer is different. He is like a slave. He is
exploited by well organized and well informed sellers by charging higher prices,
by supplying poor quality goods, even by supplying adulterated goods, shot
weight, misleading advertisement, etc. Customers are still un-organized and
have no idea about their basic rights of safety, right to choose, right to be heard,
etc.

In the word Consumerism, “Consumer” means the user or customer and “ism”
means movement”, and hence, consumer movement is popularly known as
 “Consumerism. It is an organized and collective movement of consumers.
The main object of this movement is to educate and unite consumers and to
fight for the protection of their rights. Consumer movement is similar to trade
unions because it is a collective approach to solve the malpractices and injustice
done by any organization.

According to Philip Kotler and G. Amstrong, “Consumerism is an organized

movement of citizens and government to impose the rights and powers of
buyers in relation to sellers.” Thus, it is a movement of the consumers, for the
consumers and by the consumers because it is a social movement of consumers
and it has came into existence to educate and unite consumers to fight for their
rights. In short the process of uniting consumers is nothing but Consumer
Movement.

Image Credit: slideshare.net

Material in Book

7. Consumer Protection Act, 1986

a) Three tier system

b) Consumer Rights

8. Learning to become a well-informed Consumer

a) Consumer responsibilities

b) Quality Standard Marks (any five with picture )

9. Case study (any two in which consumer got justice)

10. Conclusion.

11. Acknowledgement/Bibliography

Note: Project must be in handwritten only.( A4 size sheet)