CONSUMER

AWARENESS
 Content
Abstract
Introduction
Meaning
Objectives of the Study
Who is a consumer?
Malpractices in the market place
Need for protecting the consumers
Consumer Movements
Ways of protecting the consumers
Problems with Consumer Movement
Consumer Rights
Learning to become well informed consumer
Suggestion
Conclusion
Acknowledgement
Abstract:
Right from birth each and every one of us becomes a consumer but
people hardly know about the rights and responsibilities they have as a
consumer. There is a great need for awareness regarding consumer rights,
responsibilities and the grievance handling machinery among people of all age
groups. This paper aims at knowing the awareness level of students regarding
the same and also spread awareness in the attempt. The protection against
exploitation and unscrupulous activities of the manufacturers and traders
provided by law is equal for each one of us. Then why is it that the Consumer
Protection Act, 1986 is included in the Higher Secondary and Degree syllabus
of Commerce stream only? This paper intends at putting forward the suggestion
of the inclusion of Consumer Protection Act in Higher Secondary/ Degree
syllabus of all streams of the State Board/ University so as to help build a
nation of responsible citizens who can lead a secured life, away from the evil
intentions of traders. After all, an aware consumer is a safe consumer
Introduction:
In the globalization, liberalization and privatization era, most of
the economic decisions are taken by the market. Though the government has
withdrawn itself from many economic activities, it interferes very often when the
market mechanism fails due to structural rigidities in the economy and other
factors, to provide goods and services to the people.

Consumption is one of the important economic activities, which

requires regular government intervention, as the market is unable to promote
security and welfare aspects of the consumers. On the other hand, consumers
have to be aware not only of the commercial aspects of sale and purchase of
goods but also of the health and security aspect also. Besides this, they should be
aware of their rights and duties being as rational human beings.
The Word “consumer” is a derivative of the Latin word
“Consumer” which means, “to take up totally or to eat’. The consumer is one
who consumes or uses any commodity or service available to him either from
natural resources or through a market. According to John F. Kennedy,
“Consumer by definition includes everyone. There are the largest economic
grope affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic
decision”. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 defines the consumer as ‘one who
buys any goods, hires any services or partly Paid and partly promised or under
any system of deferred payment”.
 Though the first consumer movement began in England
after the Second World War, a modern declaration about the consumer’s rights
was first made in the USA in the year 1962, where four basic consumer rights
i.e. Choice, information, safety and right to be heard were recognized.

Ralph Nadar, a consumer activist is considered as the

father of “Consumer Movement”. 15th March is now celebrated as the World
Consumer Rights Day. The U.N.O. Also adopted in the year 1985, certain
guidelines to achieve the objectives of maintaining protection for consumers and
to establish a high-level of ethical conduct for those engaged in the production
and distribution of goods and services. In India, 24th December is celebrated
as “Consumer’s Day” every year.

Meaning:
A consumer is a person who consumes or uses any goods or
services. Goods may be consumables like wheat flour, salt, sugar, fruit etc. or
durable items like television, refrigerator, toaster, mixer, bicycle etc. Services
refer to items like electricity, cooking gas, telephone, transportation, film show
etc. Normally, it is the consumption or use of goods and services that makes the
person to be called as „consumer‟. But in the Eyes of law, both the person who
buys any goods or hires any service for consideration (price) and the one who
uses such goods and services with the approval of the buyer are termed as
consumers.

For example, when your father buys apple for you and you
consume them, your father as well as yourself are treated as consumers. The
same thing applies to hiring a taxi to go to your school. In other words, even the
buyer of goods and services whether he uses them himself or purchases them for
consumption or use by some other person(s) is treated as consumer in the eyes
of law. However, a person who buys goods for resale (like wholesaler, retailer,
etc.) or for any commercial purpose is not treated as consumer. Under the
Consumer Protection Act 1986, the word

Consumer has been defined separately for the purpose of goods and services.

(a) For the purpose of goods, a consumer means

(i) One who buys any goods for consideration; and

(ii) Any user of such goods other than the person who actually buys it, provided
such use is made with the approval of the buyer.
(The expression ‘consumer’ does not include a person who obtains such goods
for resale or for any commercial purpose.)

(b) For the purpose of services, a consumer means

(i) One who hires any service or services for consideration; and

(ii) Any beneficiary of such service(s) provided the service is availed with the
approval of such person.

Objectives of Study:

Consumer awareness means awareness of consumers in

different aspects of consumption activities. Consumer awareness is a broader and
wider concept. It covers the followings:

a) Consumer awareness about Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

b) Consumer awareness about Fair Price Shop.

c) Consumer awareness about price, quality and expiry date of the product.

d) Consumer awareness about their rights and duties.

e) Consumer awareness about certified products like ISI, Agmark, ISO-2000

Percentage:
Gt-Gt-1

Percentage increase/decrease= _________ X 100

Gt-1

Get= Value of the Variable in time period t

Gt-1= Value of the Variable in time period t-1

Arithmetic Average (Mean):

Sum of all the values of different items in the series

 Arithmetic Mean= ____________________________________________

Total number of items

X1+ X2+………………………+Xn

= _____________________________

N = å Xi i = 1, 2, 3………….n

i=1

Results
The awareness level of respondents has been judged based on the following
criteria only,
Whether or not they know they are consumers
Checking MRP, expiry and manufacturing date, manufacturer etc.
Check ingredients used
Insist on cash memos for consumable goods purchased
Knowledge about certified products (ISI, AGMARK, ISO etc.)
Knowledge about consumer courts.

The findings of the study are unsatisfactory with regard to the awareness level of
students as consumers. Some of the Degree level students do not even know that
they are consumers. Their knowledge tells them that only the one who pays for
the product/service is a consumer. So, basically they have no idea that there is a
clear difference between a customer and a consumer. Checking of MRPs,
manufacturing and expiry dates is a normal activity of all consumers but not all
check the ingredients used and manufacturer’s name on the product. Almost none
of the respondents have the habit of checking the quality assurance mark on the
product they consume which clearly indicate that they are little aware of the fact
that there are many who offer duplicate and inferior quality products in the
market which might be hazardous to the health and even the life of consumers.
This is an alarming fact, in fact! Consumer awareness responses can be shown
with the help of Figure1.
Most of the consumers do not insist on getting a cash memo in support of their
purchases which is actually not a good habit as keeping cash memos can
benefit consumers in many ways. Apart from being an evidence of any
exploitation, cash memos help keep a track of expenses made and in chalking
out personal budgets.

It was shocking to find that most of the consumers do not know the activities
that come within the ambit of the term ‘exploitation’, let alone admitting
whether or not they have been exploited ever by manufacturers and sellers.
Most of them who had complaints regarding the products purchased or services
availed had confronted about it with the seller or service provider. Others
choose not to raise their voices in order to avoid going back to the market for
such a “trifle” matte

The consumers seem to be aware of the existence of a Consumer Protection

Act in India and also about the rights and responsibilities conferred on
consumers by the Act. They also know that the Act confers redressal to
consumer disputes. However, the existence of Consumer Disputes Redressal
Forum in all districts (also theirs) is not known to majority of the respondents.

Students hold the opinion that mass awareness regarding consumerism can be
spread through social networking sites, which is in fact a good suggestion. Most
of the students think that inclusion of Consumer Protection Act, 1986 in the
syllabus of Higher Secondary/ Degree courses of all streams can help spread
awareness in this regard. Students vote for social media as the best means for
spreading awareness. Figure3 shows the opinion of respondents regarding the
media for spreading awareness.
Conclusion:
Providing protection to 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 which number over
800 are working in India to protect and help consumers in one way or more. All
these organizations aim to protect and safeguard the interests of consumers
and keep a watch over the unscrupulous elements in business. The
government also conducts various programs at different times to spread
consumer awareness among people. However, in spite of 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. Factors that trigger such exploitation include limited information,
limited supplies in the market, limited competition which creates monopoly
and low literacy. The market variables 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 upcoming generation can also
make the older generation conscious of their consumer rights since conscious
students can, in turn, help spread awareness among the older generation in
their homes and neighbourhood. This will definitely help create a more
conscious and aware society which can no longer be exploited by the
businessmen. It is then that the saying “Consumer is the king” will hold
meaning in its true sense.
To conclude, people are concerned about different aspects of
consumer awareness i.e. their rights and duties, certified products, MRP,
date of manufacturing and expiry of the products they used, Consumer
Courts etc. as far as urban area is concerned.

Educational implications of the study is that every students as well as parents

should be aware about different aspects of different commodities they
consume in day-to-day life. They should
have knowledge about certified products, Check MRP, date of manufacturing,
and expiry at the time of purchase of a commodity. They must have awareness
about their rights and duties. This project report will give a
preliminary idea about survey work to the students. Lastly, students will get an
idea about how statistical techniques can be used in different socio-economic
problems.

Suggestion:
Through this paper attempt has been made to make the readers
aware of this much important piece of legislation named The Consumer
Protection Act, 1986 and the rights and responsibilities conferred upon
consumers by it. Consumers are often exploited by manufacturers and sellers
and such exploitation is the result of ignorance and illiteracy. Readers are
suggested to go through the Act and also to spread awareness regarding its
implications through word-of-mouth or otherwise. This paper puts forward a
humble suggestion for the inclusion of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 in
the syllabus of Higher Secondary/ Degree course of all streams of the State
Board/ University so as to make the upcoming generation conscious of their
rights and responsibilities as consumers..

Bibliography:

 NCERT textbook- understanding economic development

Chapter 6 Consumer Rights

 National Consumer disputes redressal commission , Landmark

Judgements on consumers protection , universal law publishing co. Delhi
2005

 Xam Idea Project Report on “Consumer Awarness”

 All in one project report on “Consumer Awarness”

 www.Academike.com

 www.slideshare.com
 www.Scribd.com
 Wikipedia Consumer Awareness
 www.Consumeraffairs.nic.in
 www.Acadmia.com
 www.chdconsumercourt.gov.in