National Obligation Under Various Laws And Fair Trade Practices

Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection Act

(1) This Act may be called the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. (2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. (4) Save as otherwise expressly provided by the Central Government by notification, this Act shall apply to all goods and services.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACT

Objective to protect and promote the following rights of the consumers: The right to be protected against the marketing of the goods which are hazardous to the life and property. The right to be informed about the quality, potency, purity, standard and price of the goods to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.

 The right to be assured , wherever possible , access to variety of goods at competitive prices. The right to seek redressal against the unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers and

 Right to consumer education. To provide speedy and simple redressal machinery to settle consumer disputes.

Consumer Duties and Responsibilities

1) Substantiate the Complaint 2) Listen to Seller 3) Cooperate with the Seller if Needed 4) Avoid Inconvenience to Others 5) Do not Personalize Issues 6) Not lend self to others

Consumer Duties and Responsibilities (Contd.)

7) Be Well Informed 8) Understand the Grievances Redressal process 9) Avoid Impulsive Buying( Unplanned Buying) 10) Buy Goods from Authorized Agents

How are Indian consumers exploited?

1) Exorbitant Prices of Products and Services

2) Deceptive Selling Practices

3) False and Misleading Advertisements 4) Defective Quality, Higher Prices

5) Sale of Hazardous Products to Ignorant Consumers

6) Suppression of Material Information

How are Indian consumers exploited? (Contd.)

7) False Product Differentiation

8) Producers/Sellers Collusion (sometimes illegal and

therefore secretive)
9) Supply of Adulterated and Substandard Products 10) Cheating Consumers by Giving Lesser Quantity for the Price 11) Dishonoured Guarantees and Warranties 12) Poor Redressal of Customers Genuine Grievances

How are Indian consumers exploited? (Contd.)

13) Creating a Scare out of Scarcity

14) Making Consumer buy Unwanted Goods

15) Misleading Representation on Utility of Products 16) Manipulating Conditions of Delivery

17) Customers pay for Numerous Intermediaries

18) Fall in Prices Never Passed to Consumers

How are Indian consumers exploited? (Contd.)

19) Buying unaffordable goods

20) Advertisement cost

21) Counterfeits: These constitute a substantial quantity of goods on store shelves 22) Hoarding and Blackmarketing 23) Gifts for products/services

Legal protection to consumers

A number of laws have been passed by the Government of India over the years to protect the interest of consumers. 1. Agricultural Products (Grading and Marketing) Act, 1937

2. Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951

3. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 4. Essential Commodities Act, 1955

Legal protection to consumers (Contd.)

5. The Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1956 6. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 Now CCI 7. Prevention of Black-marketing and Maintenance of Essential Supplies Act, 1980

8. Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986

9. Consumer Protection Act, 1986

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1986

The Consumer Protection Act (COPRA), 1986, conferred a legal right to the individual consumer to seek legal redress or recover costs and damages for injury or loans suffered by him/her as a result of faulty, defective goods and services, bought or secured for valuable consideration.

Rights of consumers under COPRA

The SIX RIGHTS of the consumer as enunciated under Section 6 of the COPRA are:

I.
II.

The Right to Safety

The Right to be Informed

III. The Right to Choose

IV. The Right to be Heard

V. The Right to Seek Redressal VI. The Right to Consumer Education

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS UNDER COPRA

Consumer protection councils- both as the centre and states

THREE-TIER CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL SYSTEM District forums

State Consumer Dispute Reddressal Commission

National commission

Reddressal agencies under COPRA

Reddressal agencies for settlement of consumer disputes: A Consumer Disputes Reddressal Forum known as the District Forum has been established by the State Government in each district of the State by notification.

A Consumer Disputes Reddressal Commission known as the State Commission has been established in each state by the State Government by notification.
A National Consumer Disputes Reddressal Commission known as the National Commission established by the Centre by notification.

CONSUMER PROTECTION (AMENDMENT) ACT 2002

The main changes introduced by the Amendment Act are as follows: The District Consumer Reddressal Forums can now deal with complaints involving compensation amount upto Rs. 2 million

For the State Commission the limit is Rs. 10 million

For the National Commission, the limit is more than Rs. 10 million.

Setting up of benches and increase in the number of members in the National and State Commissions.

ROLE AND INITIATIVES OF VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS

1) Consumer Associations or Councils 2) Consumer Co-operatives 3) Co-ordination at the National Level

Environmental Protection Act

Waste management and pollution control

Environmental damage through industrial activity can be of two types:

1.Depletion of Natural Resources

2.Degradation of the Natural Resources

Key strategies for industrial pollution prevention

1. Systematic waste reduction audit 2. Material balance 3. Economic balance 4. Identifying Waste Reduction 5. Use of Newer, Cleaner Technologies 6. Life-cycle assessment

Managing environmental issues

Reinhardt suggests five different approaches to managing environmental issues 1. Investing in environment friendly processes or products.

2. Managing environmental regulations.

3. Investing in environmental performance improvement, without increasing costs. 4. Combining all the three methods mentioned above to change the basis for competition 5. Looking at environmental issues from a risk management perspective.

Charter for voluntary pollution control The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the countrys industrial sector have entered into a partnership on voluntary pollution control by releasing a Charter on Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection in New Delhi on March 13, 2003. The Charter marks a shift from regulatory enforcement of pollution control norms to voluntary compliance by the industry to significantly enhance the quality of environment.

Indias environmental policy

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 takes into account the following: 1. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 2. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 3. The Factories Amendment Act, 1987 4. The National Environmental Policy 2004