@ Consumer Protection Que, What is consumer protection? Ans. Consumer protection means protecting the interest of a || consumer. This means that a consumer might be exposed t to risks due to unsafe products, might suffer from bad health due to adulterated food products, might be cheated because of misleading advertisements or sale of spurious products, might have to pay a higher price when sellers engage in overpricing, || hoarding or black-marketing, etc. So consumer protection protect consumers from the all types of fraud. Que.Explain the importance of consumer protection. Ans.lmportance of consumer protection from Consumer's point of view:- 1. Consumers Ignorance:- Majority of consumers are not aware of their rights and reliefs available to them as a result of which they are continuously exploited. In order to save consumers from exploitation, consumer protection is needed. unorganized and there is lack of consumer organizations, which 2. Unorganized Consumers:- In India consumers are still would act in their interests. exploited on a large scale by means of various unfair trade practices and consumer protection is required to protect them from exploitation. || 3. Widespread Exploitation of Consumers:- Consumers areFrom the point of view of Business:- 1, Long-term Business Interest:- It is always in the interest of the business to keep its customer satisfied. Global competition could be won only after satisfying customers. Happy customers Tead to repeat sales and thus help increase the business's customer base, 2. Business uses Resources of Society:- Every business uses the resources of the society and thus it is its responsibility to work in the society’s interest . 3, Social Responsibility:- 4 business has social responsibilities towards various groups like owners, workers, government, customers etc. Thus, customers should be provided with quality goods at reasonable prices. 4. Moral Justification:- It is the moral duty of any business to act in favour of consumer's interest & avoid any form of exploitation & unfair trade practices like defective & unsafe products, adulteration, false and misleading advertising, hoardings, black marketing etc. S. Government Intervention:- If a business engages in any form of unfair trade practices then government takes action against it, which will adversely offect the goodwill of the company.. Consumer is the Purpose of Business:-The primary goal of business is to generate more revenue and retain them, and businessmen can only create more customers by satisfying customers and protecting their interests. The customer is the foundation of any business. Que, Explain Legal protection to consumers. Ans.Government of India has provided various laws and legislations to protect the interest of consumer and some of these regulations are: protection Act 1986 was one of the most important steps taken to protect the interest of consumer. The provision of act came into force from July |, 1987. The main features of this act are:- LThis act has provided various rights and responsibilities to consumers. 2. It provides safeguard to customers against defective goods, deficients, services, unfair trade practices and other forms of their exploitation. 3. The act has provided three tier redressal agencies where consumer can file complaints. These are district forum, state commission and national commission.Que, Who are consumers? Ans. a consumer is a person who buys any goods or avails services for a consideration, which has been paid or promised, or partly paid and partly promised, or under any scheme of deferred payment. Que.Explain consumer right. Ans.Consumer Protection Act, 1986 has provided six rights to the consumers, which are as follows:- 1. Right to Safety:- Consumer has the right to be protected against products, & services which are hazardous to health & life that is certification for electronic items. 2. Right to be Informed:- Consumer has right to have complete information about the product before buying it. 3. Right to choose:-Consumer has a right to choose any product out of the available products as per his/ her own interests. 4. Right to be heard:- Consumer has the right to file a complaint to be heard in case of dissatisfaction with goods or services (use of grievance cell). S. Right to Seek Redressal:- Consumer has the right to get relief in case the product or service falls short of consumers expectations or is dangerous, The consumer may be provided with replacement/removal of defect or compensation for any loss.&. Right to consumer education:-Consumer has the right to acquire knowledge and to be well informed throughout life. He should be made aware of his rights and reliefs available to him in case of the product or service falls short of his exceptions. The Govt. of India has included consumer education in the ‘school curriculum and is making use of mass media to make consumers aware of their rights. Que. Explain consumer responsibility. Ans.1. Consumer must Exercise his Right:-The Consumer Protection Act grants the consumer various rights such as the right to safety, the right to choose, the right to be heard, and so on, but these rights are only useful if the consumer exercises them. The consumer must choose the product based on his preferences, file a complaint if he is dissatisfied with the product's quality, and be aware of his rights and exercise them when necessary. 2. Cautious Consumer;- The consumer should not rely on the seller's words. He must insist on receiving complete information about the goods or services’ quality, quantity, utility, price, and So on, 3. Filing Complaints for the Redressal of Genuine Grievances:- The majority of the time, the consumer disregards the loss he suffers as a result of the purchase of a defective good or service, but this attitude of not filing a complaint encourages corrupt businessmen to supply low-quality or defective goods and services. Even if the loss is minor, the consumer must file @ complaint.4, Consumer must be Quality Co:-The problems of supply of substandard goods, adulterated products, and duplicate products can be solved only when the consumer himself stops compromising the quality of the product. While purchasing goods or services consumers must look for quality marks such as 1S] mark. Agmark, 1S0, Wool Mark, etc. S. Do not be Carried Away by Advertisements:- The qualities or features of a product or service are often overstated in advertisements. The consumer must compare the actual use of the product with the use shown in the advertisement, and any discrepancy or difference must be brought to the attention of the sponsor of the advertisement, who must then stop showing overstated qualities. 6. Insist on Cash Memo:- To file a complaint, the consumer must provide proof of purchase, and a cash memo is proof that the consumer has paid for the goods or service. Even if the buyer does not request one, the seller is required to provide ane. In order to file a complaint and receive compensation, the consumer must request a cash memo. Z Form consumer societies which could play an active part in educating consumers and safeguarding their interest. 8, Respect the environment, avoid waste littering and contribution to pollution. 4, Discourage black marketing, hoarding and choose only legal goods and services, 10, Be aware of variety of goods and services.Que, Explain different types of marks indicating quality in different products. Ans._Different types of marks indicate the quality of different products for consumers as follows:- It is for consumer durable products such as electronic items, 2.AGMARK:- It is for agricultural commodities and live stock products.3 BIS Mark [Hallmark];- It is used for jewellery products,4.Woolmark:- Jt signifies for 100% pure wool, | SECO Mark:- For environmental friendly product.Que. Reliefs or Remedies are available to the Consumer on Complaints filed. Ans. The following reliefs are available to consumers:- C@)Removal of defects from the goods. ) Replacement of the goods. (©) Refund of the price paid. GQ) Compensation of loss or injury suffered. © Removal of deficiency in service. () Discontinuance of unfair trade practices. (QQ Stopping the sale of hazardous goods. Qh) Withdrawal of hazardous goods from market. ‘Payment of adequate cost to grieved party. To pay any amount (not less than 5% of the value of defective goods or deficient services provided) to be credited to consumer welfare fund or any other organisation/person to be utilised in prescribed manner. (k) To corrective advertisement to neutralise the effect of a misleading advertisement. ) To pay adequate cost to appropriate party.| Que. Explain Redressal agencies under the consumer protection act, of 1986 and their jurisdiction, Ans.Three-tier Consumer Grievances Machinery under the Consumer Protection Act:- | 1. District Forum:- The district forum consists of a president and two other members. The president can be a retired or active District Court judge. The state government appoints | If necessary, the agency sends the goods to a laboratory for testing and makes decisions based on || the facts and laboratory report. If the aggrieved party is not satisfied with the district forums jurisdiction, | 2. State Commissi t is made up of a president and at | least two other people, The president must be a retired or |_ serving Supreme Court justice. Commission contacts the party against whom the complaint is filed and sends the goods for laboratory testing if necessary. If the aggrieved party is not satisfied with the decision,3. National Commission:- The national commission is made up of a president and four members, one of whom must be female, The Central Government appoints them. If the value of the goods exceeds one crore, a complaint can be filed with the National Commission. When the National Commission receives @ complaint, it notifies the party against whom the complaint is fled, sends the goods for testing if necessary, and makes a decision. If the aggrieved party is not satished with the decision, they have 30 days to file a complaint in the Supreme Court. Que._Explain the role of consumer organizations and NGOs. Ans.The role of consumer organizations and NGOs are as follows:- In India there are about 500 consumer organisations working in the field of consumer protection. The most popular are: Consumer Guidance Society of India (Mumbai). Citizen Action Group (Mumbai). Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC) Ahmedabad, Common Cause (New Delhi) etc. Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS). These associations are performing following functions:- 1. Educating the villagers/general public about consumer rights by organising training programmes, seminars and workshops. 2,Publishing periodicals and other publications to impart knowledge about consumer problems, reliefs available and other matters of interest.3B. Carrying out comparative testing of consumer products in accredited laboratories to test the relative qualities of competing brands and publishing the test results for the benefit of consumers. 4, Encouraging consumers to strongly protest and take action against exploitative and unfair trade practices of sellers. S. 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. ZTaking an initiative in fling cases in consumer courts in the interest of the villagers/general public, not for any individual. B.Helping government agencies to resolve cases of consumer expolitation and to carry on consumer awareness programs. 4 Motivating people to ask for quality marks such as ISI mark, Agmark, ete.