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Consumer Affairs today encompass all aspects of
consumer welfare and has been Internationally
recognized in recent times. Consumer is considered
as an inevitable part of the
socio-economic-political system, where the exchange
initiated and transaction realised between two
parties, namely buyers and sellers has an impact on
a third party i.e., society. The inherent profit
motive in mass production and sales also offers the
opportunity to many manufacturers and dealers to
exploit consumers. As markets are globalising and
consumers are bombarded with too many choices of
products and services, purchase decision-making is
becoming difficult. New technologies, such as the
internet, debit cards, credit cards, ATM’s on one
hand are making the life of the consumer easier, but
again pose a challenge of safety and security. As
consumers we need to separate the chaff from the
grains. There is a risk of being cheated when we pay
our hard earned money to get a sub-quality product
or service. Thus the need for consumer satisfaction
and consumer protection has been recognized.
According to Philip Kotler, “Consumerism is a social
Movement seeking to augment the rights and powers of
the buyers in relation to sellers”. Consumers today
want value for money, a product or service that
would meet reasonable expectations, is safe in use
and there is full disclosure of the product
specification. These expectations are termed as
‘Consumer Rights’.
Exploitation of Consumers
Problems of defective goods, deficiency in service,
spurious and duplicate brands, misleading
advertisements are rampant and often the gullible
consumer falls prey to it. A majority of the
consumers, especially in the rural areas are
uneducated and lack awareness and knowledge.
Consumers face many risks during purchase and
consumption of goods and services.
Moreover, financial risks are involved where the
consumers may not get the value for money spent or
they may be overcharged or there may be hidden price
components which may leave them exploited. Instances
abound where a claim on an Insurance Policy takes an
unduly long time to be settled, or there may be
over-billing, double debit, billing delays, pension
disbursement, non-rectification of wrong bills,
misleading advertisements and non-adherence to
offers made. The granting of possessions of flat may
be delayed; cases of wrongful dishonor of cheques,
loss of cheques that have been deposited in a bank,
cheques with forged signatures, etc.
Instances bound where companies advertise lucrative
schemes offering attractive rates of return or make
offer for doubling of money in a short period of
time, and, after having collected funds, have shut
shops and vanished. People have invested money in
plots of land only to find later that the plot
bought was either already sold or subsequently sold
to someone else. Flats are allotted to two people
simultaneously, leaving the genuine buyer to fight a
protracted legal battle to get something that
belonged to one of them. Similarly, consumers
applying for shares have faced situations where they
have neither been allotted the shares nor refunded
payment. In most of these situations, the consumer
has to wash his hands off a sizeable part of his
investment or hard earned savings. Some of the type
of complaints received in credit cards are issue of
unsolicited cards, non-despatch of account
statements in time, levy of excessive service
charges, levy of late fees despite payments being
done on time, refusal to cancel credit card,
freezing of cards without informing the card holder,
and harassment by recovery officer. Consumers also
are victims of malfunctioning of ATMs. This year the
Ministry of Consumer Affairs theme is to make the
consumers financial literate so that they are not
mislead by the marketer.
Consumer Protection Act, 1986
India is a country which never fell behind in
introducing progressive legislation. The most
important milestone in Consumer Movement in the
country has been the enactment of the Consumer
Protection Act, 1986. December 24th is an important
day in the history of India as on this day in 1986
the Consumer Protection Act, received the assent of
the President of India. The Act has set in motion a
revolution in the field of consumer rights that
perhaps cannot be paralleled anywhere else in the
World. The Act applies to all goods and services
unless specially exempted by the Central Government,
in all sectors whether Private, Public or
Co-operative.
The Act enshrines all the consumer rights which are
internationally accepted. As per the Act, the
consumer protection councils have been established
at Central, State and District levels to promote and
protect the consumer rights. Further adjudicatory
bodies which are commonly known as consumer courts
have been established for easy redressal of consumer
complaints.
Consumer Guidance and Education
An aware consumer is an asset for any society.
Whenever a consumer takes an insurance policy he
should read the fine print carefully, gather full
policy details, engage a reputed agent, know the
policy’s insurance cover and the process of filing a
claim.
Further while applying for a bank loan the consumer
should read the fine print carefully, confirm the
Interest Scheme applicable, know the repayment plan
and timeline and compare other loan options / plan.
One should always check the hidden charges and
penalty clause, always check the rate of interest,
penalty etc and read terms and conditions and other
details and check bill carefully before subscribing
to a credit card service. For problems relating to
banking and insurance Ombudsman is a free, fair and
fast method of seeking redressal.
One should never be swayed by advertisements which
violate consumers’ right to information and choice
and thereby have the potential to cause financial
loss and mental agony. Always be careful about slick
advertisements such as “double your money”, etc.
Thus, a balance has to be made between free market
forces and consumer protection. Any consumer
movement can be successful if the consumers are
satisfied; they receive value for their products and
services. This in turn requires a synergy and
support of the government, judiciary, traders, and
consumers.
*Associate Professor and Convenor Consumer Club,
Department of Commerce, Kamala Nehru College,
University of Delhi.
PIB
Aizawl |
