Consumer Protection in India – Some Reflections

February 1, 2020

The growing interdependence of the world economy and international character of many business practices have contributed to the development of universal emphasis on consumer rights protection and promotion.

Consumers, clients and customers’ world over, are demanding value for money in the form of quality goods and better services. Modern technological developments have no doubt made a great impact on the quality, availability and safety of goods and services. But the fact of life is that the consumers are still victims of unscrupulous and exploitative practices. Exploitation of consumers,assumes numerous forms such as adulteration of food, spurious drugs, dubious hire purchase plans, high prices, poor quality,deficient services, deceptive advertisements, hazardous products,black marketing and many more.

In addition, with revolution in Information Technology newer kinds of challenges are thrown on the consumer like cyber crimes, plastic money etc., which affect the consumer in even bigger way.

‘Consumer is sovereign’ and ‘customeris the king’ are nothing more than myths in the present scenarioparticularly in the developing societies. However, it has been realized and rightly so, that the Consumer protection is a socio- economic programme to be pursued by the Government as well as the Business Houses, as the satisfaction of the consumers is in the interest of both. In this context, the government, however, has a primary responsibility to protect the consumers’ interests and rights through appropriate policy measures, legal structure and administrative framework.

To read more you can download the Consumer Protection in India Booklet by clicking here.

Source: The above information is an extract from a booklet titled “Consumer Protection in India” by Prof. S.S. Singh and Prof. Sapna Chadah.

Tags: Be a Smart Consumer

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