CONSUMER: KINGPIN OF THE MARKET?
An owner of a huge departmental store in U.S.A is reported to have said, “God created mankind to be exploited. I exploit them. I do his will.” Though it may not be the approach of every businessman, it is by and large true and it proves the need for consumer protection.
Mahatma Gandhi told a businessman, “A consumer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider on our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.”
The emerging concept of industrialisation coupled with globalisation, liberalisation across the nations has capacitated the consumers to realise their role in governance and society. An analysis of marketing management has made it clear that consumer is the director of the market. The producer should produce products keeping in mind the demands of the consumer and satisfy the consumer needs. In a developing country like India which is one of the six fastest growing economies of the world the consumer is poor, illiterate, ignorant, passive, unaware, and helpless. Due to illiteracy, unawareness, traditional or passive outlook consumer is being exploited in different ways. Those who are aware of their rights escape from taking the legal recourse against the wrongdoer because they know that the legal recourse will consume a lot of time, energy and money redressal of legal matter takes years in India is a common belief.
The manifestation of consumer neglect are evident in the adulterated food we eat, the spurious, unsafe and substandard product we buy, the repeated shortage of essential commodities accompanied by black marketing and profiteering, the hazardous drugs banned in some of the countries that are pushed through the counter, the glossy, unethical and manipulative advertisements with which we are bombarded, the humiliation, indignity and harassment that we are subjected to by public sector undertakings such as railways, transport corporations, nationalized banks insurance companies, etc. and the polluted water we drink and air we breathe.
Corporations spend huge amount of money on advertising their products and services. Most of these advertisements contain aggrandized and unprovable claims. Commonly seen advertisements of tooth-pastes, cosmetics, tonics, body-building, weight management and height increasing instruments makes claims in very attracted way and catchy way. Though these advertisements do not explain how the claimed qualities of the products produce the benefits, the consumer believes them because of the alluring way of presentation, ultimately the consumer feel cheated at last. The consumers are exploited in the forms of:
(1) Unfair trade practices.
(2) Spiralling prices
(3) Adulteration
(4) Poor quality products
(5) Deficiency in goods and services, etc.
Consumer Awareness in India is growing. The growing feeling among them that they are ruthlessly capitalized and taken for a ride which has organized the consumer movement. Many sellers even do not response to the genuine grievance of consumers and many products fails to satisfy the requisite quality and safety standards. Due to all these consumer have been more disapproving of the policies and practices of business houses in the recent years than ever before. Consumers are organizing themselves for the protection of their interests. Such a move to improve the protection offered to the consumer and is called “consumerism”, which in other word is also called consumers protection awareness. In simple words consumer protection is a form of social action which is created to attain the prosperity of consumers. In this context it is necessary that the various groups of society such as Government, Judiciary, and Voluntary Associations of consumers play their role to protect and promote the consumer-interests – economic, social, and environmental.
To provide for better protection of the interests of consumers and for matters connected therewith, the Consumer Protection Bill, 1986 was introduced which was passed by the Parliament of India and came into form as Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (No. 68 of 1986). The laws relating to protection of consumers is contained in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the Consumer Protection Regulations, 2005 and the Consumer Protection Rules, 1987. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is a continuously growing statute for consumer protection in India and is dedicated, as its preamble shows, to provide for effective protection of the rights of the consumers. According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons, it seeks to provide speedy and simple redressal to consumer disputes. The object of the Act is to render simple, inexpensive and speedy remedy to the consumers with complaints against defects in goods and deficiency in services and for that a quasi-judicial machinery has been sought to be set up at the District, State and Central levels. It has come to meet the long-felt necessity of protecting common man from wrongs for which the remedy under the ordinary law for various reasons has become illusory.
The purpose of the Act is to promote and protect the rights of consumers such as The consumer protection
a. The right to be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property;
b. The right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case may be, so as to protect the consumers against unfair trade practices;
c. The right to be assured, wherever possible, of access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices;
d. The right to be heard and to be assured that consumers’ interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums;
e. The right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers; and
f. The right to consumer education.
Protecting the rights of consumers from the evil clutches of exploiting manufacturers and sellers is the responsibility of the government which has very well been discharged by passing The Consumer Protection Act, 1986. A number of voluntary consumer organizations and NGOs are working in India to protect and help the consumers in one way or more. All these organizations aim to preserve and safeguard the interests of consumers and keep a watch over the unethical elements in business. The government has also conducted various programs at different times to spread consumer awareness among people. However, despite all such initiatives, people are not fully aware of the movement of consumerism and the grievance handling machinery. Quality assurance marks are also not properly known to many. Such ignorance gives the manufacturers and sellers more opportunities to cheat and exploit consumers.
An important facet that causes such exploitation include limited information, limited supplies in the market, limited competition which creates monopoly and low literacy. The rural Indians are unaware about their consumer rights even as the Government has launched its biggest ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ campaign. Most of these consumers are still ignorant, complacent and ill-informed about their rights and existing laws, according to a survey.
The volatile market conditions cannot be controlled by the consumers so the only way to protect themselves is to keep their eyes and ears open to exploitation. Spreading awareness among the future generation can also make the older generation conscious of their consumer rights since the conscious youth can, in turn, help spread awareness among the older generation in their homes and neighbourhood. Consumer organizations and similar civil society groups have an important role to play in consumer education. They have the means to provide consumers with information and help them to make informed choices. Consumer information needs to be available at the right time and in the right place before or when purchasing decisions are made. This will definitely help create a more conscious and aware society which can no longer be exploited by the businessmen. It is only then that the saying “Consumer is the king” will hold meaning in its entirety.