CONSUMER AWARENESS

BY
MADHAV SURI
th
CLASS-10 - D
 Consumer Awareness

Consumer Awareness is an act of making sure the

buyer or consumer is aware of the information
about products, goods, services, and consumers
rights.
 IMPORTANCE
● Consumer awareness is important so that
buyer can take the right decision and
make the right choice.
● Consumers have the right to information,
right to choose, right to safety.
 Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (COPRA)

● Consumer Protection Act has been enacted in

India in the year 1986 to protect the rights of a
consumer.
 CONSUMER RIGHTS

● Right to Safety
● Right to Information
● Right to Choose
● Right to Heard
● Right to Seek Redressal
● Right to Consumer Education
 ●Right to Safety

●This is the first and the most important of the

Consumer Rights.
●They should be protected against the product that

hampers their safety.

●The protection must be against any product which

could be hazardous to their health – Mental, Physical or

many of the other factors.
 ●Right to Information
● They should be informed about the product.
● The product packaging should list the details
which should be informed to the consumer and
they should not hide the same or provide false
information.
 ●Right to Choose
● They should not be forced to select the product.
● A consumer should be convinced of the product he is
about to choose and should make a decision by
himself.
● This also means consumer should have a variety of
articles to choose from. Monopolistic practices are
not legal.
 ●Right to Heard

● If a consumer is dissatisfied with the product

purchased then they have all the right to file a
complaint against it.
● And the said complaint cannot go unheard, it
must be addressed in an appropriate time frame.
 ●Right to Seek Redressal
● In case a product is unable to satisfy the consumer
then they have the right to get the product replaced,
compensate, return the amount invested in the
product.
● We have a three-tier system of redressal according to
the Consumer Protection Act 1986.
 Right to Consumer Education
●

● Consumer has the right to know all the information

and should be made well aware of the rights and
responsibilities of the government.
● Lack of Consumer awareness is the most important
problem our government must solve.
 Consumer Awareness in India
● One of the most important and successful Consumer
Awareness campaign in recent times has been the
“Jago Grahak Jago” campaign.

●
 ORGANISATIONS WORKING FOR
CONSUMER'S RIGHTS
● Common Cause, Delhi
● Consumer Coordination Council Delhi
● VOICE Delhi
● CERC Ahmedabad
● CGSI Mumbai
● Mumbai Grahak Panchayat
● Karnataka Consumer Service Society
 LEGAL REMEDIES UNDER
COPRA,1986
● District Consumer Disputes Redressal
Forum:

● A district level court works at the district level

with cases where the compensation claimed is
up to one crore
 LEGAL REMEDIES UNDER
COPRA,1986
● State Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission:

● A state level court works at the state level with

cases where compensation claimed is above one
crore to ten crores. The State Commission also
has the appellate jurisdiction over the District
Forum.
 LEGAL REMEDIES UNDER
COPRA,1986
● National Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission:
● A national level court works for the whole
country and deals compensation claimed
exceeds rupees ten crore.
● The National Commission is the Apex body of
Consumer Courts
● It is also the highest appellate court in the
hierarchy.
 ANECDOTES
● In 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck bought a cup of
takeout coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru in
Albuquerque and spilled it on her lap. The coffee
was not just “hot,” but dangerously hot.
● She sued McDonald’s and a jury awarded her nearly
$3 million in punitive damages for the burns she
suffered.
 ANECDOTES
● A student felt "cheated" after an advertisement
had spurred him to buy a fairness cream and did
not produce the promised fairness in four
weeks. Through his efforts he got a district
consumer court in Delhi to impose a Rs 15-lakh
fine on skin and healthcare giant Emami which
was also asked to withdraw advertisements of
its Fair and Handsome cream.
In India, we celebrate 24th
December as
National Consumer Day