Govt. working on tougher consumer protection law:

Govt. working on tougher consumer protection law:

Context

• A new consumer protection law is introduced to crack down misleading advertisements and simplify the grievance redressal mechanism.

Rising consumer awareness

• Consumer awareness about their legitimate rights has been constantly growing in recent years.
• Consumer protection movement is a part of global recognition and concern that consumers are a weak party in buying goods and services as compared to the manufacturers and traders producing and selling them.

What is the need for consumer protection law?

• Consumers are largely denied their due rights, especially in developing countries such as India. The consumers are spread widely all over a country and are poor, illiterate and are generally not aware of their rights, though their awareness has recently increased.
• The manufacturers and suppliers of goods or services often exploit consumers by adopting a number of unfair and restrictive trade practices. They often merge and also form tacit cartels to raise prices for maximising their profits at the expense of consumers.
• Misleading advertising is another means by which the producers deceive the consumers. More often the purpose of advertisement by the manufacturers and suppliers is to mislead the ill-informed consumers about the quality and contents of their products and services. They indulge in what is called persuasive advertisement to compete away customers from their rivals.
• Heavy advertising expenditures just enable the manufacturers at the most to maintain their market shares of the product without adding much to its total output. The consumers need protection from such deception of persuasive advertisements.
• The other and highly injurious practice by the suppliers, especially in India, is widespread practice of adulteration of commodities. The adulteration by private sector can take place right from the manufacturing point to the ultimate supplier of the products to the consumers.
• It is due to the above practices of the manufacturers and suppliers which have resulted in consumer protection movement and have forced the governments to enact legislation to protect the consumers.

The new Goods and Services (GST)

• GST is one of the key consumer-friendly reforms that the government had introduced. The GST would benefit consumers in the long run as prices would come down because of competition among manufacturer.
• Consumers will no longer be cheated as they can see on receipts the tax they are paying with GST setting its foot in the economy.
• Indian economy is in the process of enacting a new Consumer Protection Act, keeping in view business practices and requirements of the country. The proposed Act lays great emphasis on consumer empowerment.
• The new law will replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and is in line with the revised UN guidelines on consumer protection. It is currently with the Cabinet Secretariat and will be placed before the Cabinet for consideration soon.

Consumer Protection Act 1986

• India adopted consumer protection legislation – the Consumer Protection Act, in 1986.
• Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to protect the interests of consumers in India.
• It makes provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers’ disputes and for matters connected therewith also.
• Its National Consumer Policy statement takes into account inter alia the following two rights of consumers: basic needs and a healthy environment.
• This is a Central Govt. Act applicable in all states of India, to provide for the protection of the interests of consumers and for that purpose to make provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers’ disputes and for matters connected therewith.

RIGHTS PROVIDED under Consumer Protection Act 1986

• Right to be heard and to be assured that consumer’s’ interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forum;
• Right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers; and
• Right to consumer education.

The Consumer Protection (Amendment) Act 1993 adds the following consumer rights:

• The right to be assured wherever possible, access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices;
• The right to be informed about the quality, potency, purity, standard and price of goods (or services as the case may be) so as to protect the consumers against unfair trade practices; and
• The right to be protected against the marketing of goods (and services) which are hazardous to life and property.

Consumer Disputes Redressal System:

• Under the Consumer Protection Act 1986 three-tier consumer disputes redressal system at the District, State and National levels has been set up.

Thus the Act provides for establishing the following consumer redressal agencies:

• District Consumer Forum in each district of a state set up by the State Government.
• State Consumer Commission in each state set up by each State.
• National Consumer Commission set up by the Central Government

The need of a grievance redressal mechanism

• There are many reasons which give rise to grievances redressal mechanism functionaries. These include malfunctioning, corrupt practices, procedural lapses, lack of transparency & accountability, undue interference, and deficiency of skilled human resource.
• Such unwanted practices hinder the performance and result in the piling up of more and more complaints. Moreover, in a democratic set up the expectations of people redouble; as compared to all other forms of government; and these practices become even more counterproductive for the overall well being of the relation of the ruled with their government.
• So, the grievance redressal mechanism in a democratic set up is important for the sustenance of the system itself.
• If the grievances of the people are timely solved, the people become satisfied with the working of the government and this satisfaction gives stability to the government.
• Nevertheless, it is not only the existence of the grievance redressal mechanism but its performance which makes one government, that redresses grievances efficiently, successful and the other, which is underperforming on this account, as unsuccessful.

Issues with the grievance redressal platform

• The biggest hindrance in the grievance redressal is the attitude of the government functionaries toward complaints of the people.
• These functionaries take complaints as something hostile to their jobs and an attempt, on part of the people who make complaints, to harm these employees. In reality complaints are ways available with the people to express their problems and helplessness.

Way ahead

• The better way to deal with the complaints is to look into them with empathy, sincerity and humane considerations.
• The complaints which are not genuine should be discarded but the genuine ones should be taken care of and the employee or the department should never hesitate in rectifying a mistake or performing an unperformed work.
• Proper method of dealing with the grievances even enhances the value and worth of these employees, and the departments they represent, for the people.