Rajender Chaudhry*
With increasing globalisation,
liberalisation and harmonisation
of economies of various nations coming together the issues concerning consumer
protection are now being accorded the topmost priority by the respective
Government. The Consumer movement in India is as old as trade and
commerce. In Kautilya’s
Arthshastra there are references to the concept of
protection of consumers by the king against exploitation by the trader and
retailer with respect to quality, short rate, measurement and adulteration of
goods.
The growing
size and complexity of production and distribution systems, the high level of
sophistication in marketing and newer methods of advertising, mass marketing
methods and emergence of e-commerce result in reduction of personal interaction
between buyers and sellers has contributed to the increased need of consumer
protection.
Consumer Protection – Priority Area for Government
As the
nation celebrates the National Consumer Day to commemorate the enactment of
Consumer Protection Act on 24th
December, 1986, the Government is treating consumer protection as one of its topmost
priority areas.
However,
making of a law in itself is not the end.
Education and awareness is the most powerful tool for the progress of
the country and an educated individual is able to make rationale choice as a
consumer. An aware consumer protects
himself from trade and business exploitation.
Basic Framework for Consumer Protection
Consumer
protection initiatives by the Government hinge on 3 basic parameters. Firstly ensuring a legal
framework that comprises of Consumer Protection Act (CPA). The Act enacted in 1986 has been recognised as one of the finest basis of legislation enacted
in any part of the world and India can boast of being only country
having such specialised legislation for consumer
protection. The CPA has a three tier,
simple, quasi judicial machinery at the National, State and District level for
hearing cases raised by consumers. Secondly, evolving standards for different products to enable the
consumers to make an informed choice about different products. Standards which are the essential building
block for quality play a key role in consumer protection. Standard could be on technical requirement
(specifications), improved specific standard terminology (glossary of terms), codes of practice or test methods or management systems
standards. The standards are set
generally by Government or inter-Governmental bodies but world wide it is being
recognised that voluntary establishment of standards
play an equally important role for protecting consumers. Thirdly, consumer awareness and education is
the main building block for consumer protection. An enlightened consumer is an empowered
consumer. An aware consumer not only
protects himself from exploitation but induces efficiency, transparency and
accountability in the entire manufacturing and services sector.
National Action Plan on Consumer Protection
Consequent
upon the 50th National Development Council
Meeting Planning Commission has identified consumer awareness, redressal and enforcement of Consumer Protection Act as a
priority agency for action by the Department of Consumer Affairs. The allocation for consumer protection
activities was significantly enhanced in the last two years and for the 11th Plan a sum of Rs.
409 crore has been embarked exclusively for mounting
a publicity campaign to make consumers aware of their rights. The plan has been approved by the Expenditure
Finance Committee and consequent upon getting Cabinet approval a comprehensive
multi media campaign shall be launched with ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ as the theme to make
consumers aware.
Consumer Protection – The Road Map ahead
The Department of Consumer Affairs
has embarked on an ambitious array of activities with due support from Planning
Commission and Ministry of Finance.
CONFONET Project
A project titled Computerisation
and Computer Networking of consumer fora in the
country is being executed on a turnkey basis by the National Informatics
Centre. Under this scheme the consumer fora on all the three tiers would be fully computerised and interconnected enabling them to access
information leading to quicker disposal of cases. Out of 35 State Commissions and 607 District Fora, 33 State Commissions and 555 district Fora have been covered under this project so far. The project ultimately aims at enabling
online registration of complaints by the consumers and will prove to be a
significant step forward in easier access to consumer fora.
Time
Bound Disposal Of Cases
In a
country of vast magnitude as India prompt redressal
of complaints is a mammoth task inspite of various
constraints a consumer forum have achieved remarkable success. They have disposed of around 88% cases out of
more than 27 lakh cases filed so far. There have been occasional delays in disposal
of cases by the redressal agencies. Taking due cognisance
of the need to expedite, the Department of Consumer Affairs is in the process
of amending the Consumer Protection Act further to prescribe a specific time
frame for disposal of cases.
Awareness
Campaign
In a big
country like India, given the scenario of economic
disparity and level of education and ignorance, educating the consumers remains
a gigantic task. Government has taken up
number of activities and schemes in creating consumer awareness. The slogan ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ has now been well
established and through multi media publicity campaign revolving around this
theme Government has endeavoured to inform the common
man of his rights as a consumer.
Consumer Clubs
The scheme
for setting up of consumer clubs in schools and colleges have been introduced
to make the youngsters aware of their rights as a consumer. Research institutes/universities/colleges are
also being involved in promoting consumer protection and consumer welfare.
Private
Public Partnership
Role of
academic and consumer organisations as well as the
NGOs is therefore to educate and involve the consumers in the movement. Therefore, they have been given a prominent
role in the Consumer Protection Act itself to take up cases on behalf of
consumers which could be of an individual or a group of consumers. In fact CPA is a unique piece of legislation
wherein it introduced the concept of what later came to be known more popularly
as the PIL.
Alliance With FICCI
Various programmes
have been undertaken under the Consumer Welfare Fund to strengthen the consumer
movement in the country. The recent initiative of the Department was to involve
trade and industry associations to make them redress the grievances of
consumers through a voluntary code of conduct. A project known as “FICCI
Alliance for Consumer Care” is being undertaken with the support of the Central
Government. All these measures are expected to resolve consumers’ complaints at
the first point of contact itself, thereby reducing the workload on the
Consumer Fora.
Tie
Up With Legal Institutions
A need has been felt to address the
major concerns of consumers in some critical areas, which require technical
expertise of high order. The Department
has therefore, communicated with leading Institutions/Central Universities like
IITs, IIMs, National Law
Universities etc, with the objective of setting up Centres
of Excellence or Chair on Consumer Studies focusing on a particular area of
consumer welfare. As a result the Department has set up an exclusive Chair on Consumer Law and
Practice in the National Law School of India University at Bangalore and a Centre for Consumer studies
at Indian Institute of Public Administration.
Online
Consumer Guidance
The Department has started a
‘Consumer Online Resource and Empowerment Centre (CORE Centre)’ for providing
consumer related information, guidance and consumer complaint guidance
mechanism through the online medium. It is being run by the Consumer
Coordination Council (CCC), which is a coalition of 51 consumer organizations
of this country. A Comparative Testing of products and services is being
implemented by the VOICE Society, New Delhi in order to monitor the Quality
Standards of Products and Services through comparative testing, and
dissemination of information to consumers through publications.
Consumer Helpline (NCH)
To advise
the consumers on the various issues concerning consumer protection a ‘National
Consumer Helpline’ is being operated through the University of Delhi with the support of Department of
Consumer Affairs. The toll no.
1800-11-4000 allows a consumer anywhere in the country to call this number and
get proper advise regarding his problem.
From its inception around 1,25,000 calls have
been received which shows its efficacy.
The NCH is being further strengthened with setting up of state level
consumer helpline which will provide service in regional languages also.
Strengthening
Of Infrastructure
Another area, which relates to
consumer protection is the implementation of weights
and measures laws. During 11th Plan, it
has been proposed to augment the infrastructure available with the States/UTs at a cost of Rs. 325 crore. Under the scheme of Strengthening of Weights and
Measures infrastructure of States/UTs, the standards
laboratories of the States/UTs are being strengthened
by providing them with 270 sets of working standard balances, 59 sets of
secondary standard balances and 34
mobile kit of testing weighing bridges. The Package Commodity Rules 1977 has
been amended in July 2006 for the benefit of the consumers.
Thrust
On Standardisation
In helping the consumer exercise
their rights, quality and standards have a crucial role to play. Standards
provide consumers with reliable benchmarks of quality. Quality consciousness is
not yet a way of life in India as it is in the West. The Bureau of Indian Standards has taken
initiatives in introducing a certification scheme for foreign manufacturers and
imported goods, food safety certification as per ISO Standards. Certification
Scheme for Hallmarking of Gold jewellery and Silver artefacts is an important contribution of BIS in
safeguarding consumer interests.
Responsibilities of Consumer
Every consumer in own interest has
to realise the role and importance in the right
perspective. In a competitive economic
environment, the consumer has to exercise the choice either in favour of or against the goods and services. The choice is going to be vital and final.
One would have to realise the importance and prepare to exercise their rights
with responsibility. The consumers
in society get a position in the market depending upon what they do or do
not do.
*Deputy Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs
(Release ID :34182)