CONSUMERISM

Utility of Consumerism: 1. Producers and sellers will not take consumers for granted. 2. It will provide feedback to the business. 3. Producers will be able to enlist the support of the consumers to minimize imperfections in distribution system. 4.It will make government more responsive to the interests of the consumers.

Consumer Protection and Consumerism in India

Following are some of the factors which make the plight of Indian Consumers miserable: 1. Short supply of many goods and services. 2. lack of effective or workable competition. 3. Consumers still not familiar with products since long prevalent in the advanced countries. 4. Indian consumers are not conscious of their rights due to low literacy and lack of proper information flow. 5. Time consuming legal process discourages consumers from taking recourse to judicial process.

 6. Consumerism in India is not well organized and developed. 7. The public sector in India has failed to produce benefits commensurate with the investment both in terms of providing effective competition to the private sector and in terms of the products. 8. Implementation of laws meant to safeguard the interests of consumers is not efficient.

 Measures taken by Government to protect consumer interest: The measures taken can be divided into two categories - Statutory regulation of private sector - development of the public sector.

 Statutory Regulation: There are a number of legislations which empower the government to control the production, supply, distribution, price and quality of goods in India. Some of the relevant acts are : essential commodities act, prevention of food adulteration act, standard weights and measures act, consumer protection act.

 Growth of Public Sector: The public sector in India was set up with the following objective s: Increasing productivity Improving efficiency in production & supply Making goods available at fair prices Curbing private monopolies

Role of Consumerism
Consumerism has the following important roles to play: 1. Consumer Education: 2. Product Rating 3. Liaison with Government & with Producers.

Opportunity for Industry

The industry in India has a unique opportunity to respond to consumerism in a positive manner 1. It must be realised that marketing is something more than sales and distribution. It must be viewed as companys relationship with the consumer. 2. The industry should cooperate with the consumer movement in terms of education and information on the products. This information and education may also include the issues facing the producers like cost of capital, norms of profitability, impact of government policies.

 3. Industry will have to invest heavily in testing the safety of the products. 4.Industry must deal with the consumer complaints satisfactorily. 5. Voluntary restraint must be exercised while making claims on behalf of products through advertisements. 6. Adequate investment must be made on R&D as the consumer expectations are constantly rising and the consumer is expecting better and better products.

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1986

The Consumer Protection Act 1986 provides for a system for the protection of consumers rights a the redressal of consumer disputes. It applies to the entire Union of India except the state of J&K and applies to all goods and services except those expressly provided by the Govt. of India Notification. The Act provides for the establishment of Consumer Councils and Authorities for the settlement of disputes and connected matters.

Consumer Protection Councils

The act provides for the establishment of a Central Consumer Protection Council by the central Government and a State Consumer protection Council by the state government. The Union Minister for consumer aaffairs shall be the chairman of the central council and the council shall meet as and when necessary but at least once a year. The state council shall consists of members as may be specified by notification of the state government.

 Objects of the Councils: The objects of the councils are to protect the rights of the consumers such as 1. the right to be protected against marketing of hazardous goods and services. 2. the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of the goods.

 3.the right to be assured of access to a variety of goods at competitive prices. 4. the right to be heard at appropriate forums 5. The right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices. 6. The right to consumer education.

Consumer disputes redressal agencies

There two levels of redressal agencies at the state level these are District Forum and State Commission. There is one agency at the national level A national Commission.

 The District Forum Consists of a person who is or has been or is qualified to be a District Judge. He is nominated by the State Government and is the President of the district forum. The district forum shall also have a person of eminence in the field of education , trade or commerce. It shall also have a lady social worker. It hears complaints where the value of goods or services is less than five lakh rupees.

 The State Commission This shall consist of a person who is or has been a judge of the high court and he shall be the president of the state commission. Two other persons, one of whom shall be a lady , are also included in the commission. These two persons are persons of ability, standing and integrity and should also have adequate knowledge or experience in dealing with problems related to Law, commerce, economics. The commission deals with complaints where the value of goods or services exceeds 5 lakhs but is less than 20 lakhs.

 The state commission also entertains appeals against orders of the district forum. The state commission is empowered to call for the records and pass appropriate orders in any consumer dispute which is pending or has been decided by the district forum.

 The National Commission: The national council consists of three members, one of whom shall be its president. The president of the commission can be a person who is or has been a judge of the Supreme court and is appointed by the Govt. of India. The other two members should be persons of ability, integrity, standing and should have adequate knowledge and experience in the dealing with problems related to economics, trade, commerce, public affairs, administration. One of the members shall be a woman. The National commission hears complaints where value of the goods exceeds 20 lakhs.