Consumer Protection Class 12 Notes

Consumer Protection refers to protecting the interest of the consumers from exploitation in the market. Here are the consumer protection class 12 notes.

Legal Protection to the Consumers

The government of India has provided various laws and legislation to protect the interests of the consumers. One of these regulations is the Consumer Protection Act 1986.

The main features of the Consumer Protection Act, of 1986 are:

This act has provided various rights and responsibilities to the consumers.
It provides a safeguard to the consumers against defective goods, deficient services, unfair trade practices, and other types of exploitations.
The act has provided three-tier redressal agencies where consumers can file complaints:
a) District Forum
b) State Commission
c) National Commission

Consumer Rights

Various rights provided by the Consumer Protection Act are:

Right to Safety

According to this right, the consumer has the right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services that are hazardous to life and property.

This right includes concern for consumer’ long-term interests as well as for their present requirements.

Sometimes manufacturing defects in pressure cookers, gas cylinders, and other electrical appliances may cause loss of life, health, and property of the consumer.

This right to safely protect the consumer from the sale of such hazardous goods and services.

Right to Information

According to this right, the consumer has the right to get information about the quality, quantity, purity, standard, and price of goods and services to protect himself/herself against abusive and unfair trade practices.

Right to Choose

According to this right, every customer has the right to choose the goods & services of his or her liking.

The right to choose means an assurance of availability, ability, and access to a variety of products at a competitive price.

The producer or seller should not force the customer to buy a particular brand only, customer should be free to choose the product from his/her point of view.

Right to be Heard

According to this right, the consumer has the right to represent himself/herself to be heard or the right to advocate for his/her interest.

In case a consumer has been exploited or has any complaint against the product or services then the consumer has the right to be heard and be assured that his/her interest would receive due consideration.

This right includes the right to representation in the government and in other policy-making bodies. Also, the companies must have complaints cells to attend to the complaints of the consumers.

Right to Seek Redressal

According to this right, the consumer has the right to get compensation or seek redressal against unfair trade practices or any other exploitation.

This right assures justice to consumers against exploitation. This right to redressal includes compensation in the form of money replacement of goods or repair of defects in the goods as per the satisfaction of the consumers.

Right to Consumer Education

According to this right, it is the right of the consumer to acquire the knowledge and skills to be informed to consumers.

It is easier for the literate consumer to know their rights and take action but this right assures that the illiterate can seek information about the existing acts and agencies set up for their protection.

The government is making use of media to make consumers aware of their rights and make use of their money.

Redressal Agencies under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986

Basis	District Forum	State Commission	National Commission
Composition	It consists of a president and 2 other members, one of the members must be a woman.	It consists of a president and 2 other members, one of the members must be a woman.	It consists of a president and 4 other members, one of the members must be a woman.
Who can be the President	A working or retired judge of the district court.	A working or retired judge of the high court.	A working or retired judge of the Supreme Court.
Appointment of President	The president is appointed by the state government on the recommendation of a selection committee.	The president is appointed by the state government after consultation with the chief justice of the high court.	The president is appointed by the central government after consultation with the chief justice of India.
Jurisdiction	Upto Rs.1 crore	Above Rs.1 crore and up to Rs.10 crore	Above Rs.10 crore
Appeal against order	Any person who is aggrieved by the order of the district forum can appeal against such order to the state commission within 30 days.	Any person who is aggrieved by the order of the state commission can appeal against such order to the national commission within 30 days.	Any person who is aggrieved by the order of the national commission can appeal against such order to the Supreme Court within 30 days.

District Vs. State Vs. National Commission

Principles of Management Class 12 Short Notes

Consumer Responsibilities

1) The consumer must exercise his/her right

Under the Consumer Protection Act, a consumer is granted various rights like the right to safety, the right to choose, etc. However, these rights will be useful only when consumers exercise these rights.

2) Cautious Consumer

The consumer should not blindly believe the words of the seller. He/She must insist on getting the full information about the quality, quantity, utility, price, etc. of the goods and services.

3) Consumers must be quality-conscious

The problems of supply of substandard goods, adulterated products, and duplicate products can be solved only when the consumer himself/herself stops compromising the quality of the products.

While purchasing goods or services, consumers must look for quality marks such as ISI mark, Agmark, ISO, FSSAI, etc.

4) Do not be carried away by advertisements

The advertisement often exaggerates the qualities of products or services. The consumer must compare the actual use of the product with the use shown in the advertisement.

If there is any difficulty, it must be brought to the notice of the sponsor of the advertisement and insisted to stop showing the extra qualities.

5) Filling complaints for redressal of genuine grievances

Most of the time, consumer ignores the loss he/she suffers on the purchase of defective goods or services but this attitude of not filing the complaint encourages the corrupt businessman to continue unfair trade practices.

The consumer must file a complaint even for a small loss. This awareness will make the sellers more conscious of supplying quality products.

6) Insist on cash memo

To file a complaint the consumer needs the evidence of purchase and a cash memo is the evidence or proof that the consumer has paid for the goods or service.

A seller is bound to give a cash memo even if the buyer doesn’t ask for it. To file a complaint and get compensation the consumer must ask for a cash memo. Apart from this, a consumer should also:

Be aware of the variety of goods and services available in the market.
Discourage black marketing, and choose only legal goods and services.
Respect the environment, avoid waste littering, and avoid spreading pollution.

Reliefs/Remedies available to the Consumers

Removal of defects from the goods
Replacement of goods
Refund of price
Compensation for loss or injury suffered
Removal of deficiency in service
Discontinuance of unfair trade practices
Stopping the sale of hazardous goods
To issue corrective advertisements to neutralize the effect of misleading advertisement
To stop misleading advertisement

Importance of Consumer Protection

From the Consumer’s Point of View

Consumer Ignorance: Consumer protection provides information to ignorant consumers regarding their rights and remedies available to them.
Unorganized Consumers: In developing countries like India, consumers are not organized, there are only a very few organizations that are working to protect the interest of consumers.
Widespread exploitation of consumers: There is a lot of exploitation of consumers as businessmen use unfair trade practices to cheat and exploit consumers.

Form the Business’s Point of View

Long-term interest of business: The business that ignores the interest of consumers ceases its goodwill. Hence, it is in the interest of the business to keep their consumers satisfied.
Business uses society’s resources: Business uses society’s resources and earns profit by supplying goods and services to the members of society.
Social Responsibility: A businessman has social obligations towards various groups and the consumer is one of the important groups. It is the responsibility of the business to provide good quality products at a reasonable price.
Moral/Ethical justification: Traditionally ethics was part of the profession only, but today ethics is playing a very important role in business also.
Government intervention: If businesses want to avoid intervention of government then they should not be involved in unfair trade practices.
Consumer is the purpose of the business: The basic purpose of business is to create more and more consumers and retain them and businessmen can create more consumers only by satisfying the consumers.

Role of Consumer Organizations and NGOs

In India, about 500 organizations are working in the field of consumer protection. The most popular are:

Educating the villagers/general public about consumer rights by organizing training programs, seminars, and workshops.
Encouraging consumers to strongly protest and take action against exploitative and unfair trade practices of sellers.
Providing legal assistance to consumers by way of providing aid, legal advice, etc. in seeking legal remedy.
Filing complaints in consumer courts on behalf of consumers.
Motivating people to ask for quality marks such as ISI mark, Agmark, etc.
Helping government agencies to resolve cases of consumer exploitation and to carry on consumer awareness programs.