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Consumer protection
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A consumer is defined as someone who acquires
goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in
production and manufacturing.
Consumer protection consists of laws and
organizations designed to ensure the rights of consumers as well as fair trade
competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The
laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair
practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional
protection for the weak and those unable to take care of themselves. Consumer
protection laws are a form of government regulation which aim to protect the
rights of consumers. For example, a government may require businesses to
disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety
or public health is an issue, such as food. Consumer protection is linked to the
idea of "consumer rights" (that consumers have various rights as consumers), and
to the formation of consumer organizations, which help consumers make better
choices in the marketplace and get help with consumer complaints.
Other organizations that promote consumer protection include government
organizations and self-regulating business organizations such as consumer
protection agencies and organizations, the Federal Trade Commission, ombudsmen,
Better Business Bureaus, etc.
Consumer protection law
Consumer protection law or consumer law is considered an area of law that
regulates private law relationships between individual consumers and the
businesses that sell those goods and services. Consumer protection covers a wide
range of topics, including but not necessarily limited to product liability,
privacy rights, unfair business practices, fraud, misrepresentation, and other
consumer/business interactions.
Consumer protection laws deal with a wide range of issues including credit
repair, debt repair, product safety, service and sales contracts, bill collector
regulation, pricing, utility turnoffs, consolidation, personal loans that may
lead to bankruptcy.
In India
In India, the relevant agency is the National
Consumer Disputes Commission and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs .
Also organisations like Akosha.com and Mouthshut.com play a vital role in
helping consumers articulate their concerns and resolves their problems as well.
In India the major law governing the consumer protection is Consumer Protection
Act of 1986 -- Under this law Separate Consumer tribunals have been set up
throughout India in each and every district in which a consumer [complaint can
be filed by both the consumer of a goods as well as of the services] can file
his complaint on a simple paper without paying any court-fees and his complaint
will be decided by the Presiding Officer of the District Level. Appeal could be
filed to the State Consumer Forum and after that to the national Consumer Forum.
The procedures in these tribunals are relatively less formal and more people
friendly and they also take less time to decide upon a legal [consumer] dispute
when compared to the years long time taken by the traditional Indian judicial
courts. In recent years many effective judgement have been passed by some state
and National Consumer Forums.
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