Social Sciences: Class 10 (Part 2) — Chapter 5: Consumer Rights

5.1 The Consumer in the Marketplace

We participate in the market both as producers and consumers. While producers work in sectors like agriculture, industry, or services, consumers participate by purchasing final goods and services to satisfy their needs.

Exploitation in the Marketplace

Individual consumers often find themselves in a weak position. When a complaint is made, sellers frequently try to shift responsibility onto the buyer with attitudes like "If you didn't like what you bought, please go elsewhere."

Common forms of consumer exploitation include:

Unfair Trade Practices: Shopkeepers weighing less than the actual weight.
Hidden Charges: Adding extra charges not mentioned beforehand.
Adulteration and Defect: Selling adulterated, expired, or defective goods.
Market Manipulation: Large companies with huge wealth and power spreading false information through media to attract consumers (e.g., false claims about powdered milk being better than mother's milk).

5.2 Consumer Movement

The consumer movement arose out of dissatisfaction with rampant unfair practices by sellers and the lack of an active legal system to protect consumers.

Historically, if a consumer was unhappy with a product, they simply avoided buying that brand or stopped purchasing from that shop, placing the entire responsibility of being careful on the consumer.
In India, the consumer movement as a social force originated in the 1960s due to food shortages, hoarding, black marketing, and adulteration of food and edible oil.
Initially, consumer groups focused on writing articles, holding exhibitions, and monitoring malpractices in ration shops and public transport.
At the international level, Consumers International was established, which has now become an umbrella body of over 200 member organisations from over 100 countries, following the adoption of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection in 1985.
A major milestone in India was the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 (COPRA), which was later amended in 2019 to further strengthen consumer rights.

5.3 Consumer Rights

Under COPRA, consumers are legally empowered with several fundamental rights to protect themselves against exploitation.

1. Safety is Everyone's Right

Consumers have the Right to Safety—the right to be protected against the marketing of goods and delivery of services that are hazardous to life and property.

Producers must strictly follow safety rules and regulations (e.g., manufacturing high-quality safety valves for pressure cookers, maintaining electrical appliances).
Case Study (Reji's Suffering): Reji Mathew, a student, was crippled for life due to medical negligence during a tonsillectomy under general anaesthesia. His family successfully fought for compensation in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

2. Information about Goods and Services

Consumers have the Right to be Informed about the particulars of goods and services they purchase, enabling them to complain, seek replacement, or claim compensation if a product is defective.

Mandatory Details on Packaging: Ingredients, price (MRP), batch number, date of manufacture, expiry date, and address of the manufacturer.
Maximum Retail Price (MRP): Consumers can protest if a seller charges more than the printed MRP, and they can also bargain to buy at less than the MRP.
Right to Information (RTI) Act: Enacted in October 2005 by the Government of India, the RTI Act ensures citizens can access information about the functioning of government departments (e.g., Amritha obtaining her delayed job appointment letter).

3. When Choice is Denied

Any consumer who receives a service in whatever capacity has the Right to Choose whether to continue to receive the service.

Sellers cannot force consumers to buy unwanted supplementary goods (e.g., forcing a consumer to buy a gas stove when taking a new gas connection, or forcing a toothbrush purchase with toothpaste).
Case Study (A Refund): Abirami, a student, joined a two-year coaching course but opted out after one year due to poor quality. The District and State Consumer Commissions ordered the institute to refund the fees for the second year and fined them for frivolous appeals.

5.4 Where Should Consumers Go to Get Justice?

Consumers have the Right to Seek Redressal against unfair trade practices and exploitation, including the right to fair compensation depending on the degree of damage.

Three-Tier Quasi-Judicial Machinery

Under COPRA, a three-tier quasi-judicial system has been set up at the district, state, and national levels for redressal of consumer disputes:

District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission: Deals with cases involving claims up to $1\text{ crore}$ (Rs 10 million).
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission: Deals with cases involving claims between $1\text{ crore}$ and $10\text{ crore}$ (Rs 10 million to Rs 100 million).
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission: Deals with cases involving claims exceeding $10\text{ crore}$ (Rs 100 million).

If a case is dismissed at the District level, the consumer can appeal to the State Commission, and subsequently to the National Commission.

Right to Represent

The Act enables consumers to have the Right to Represent themselves in consumer courts, with or without the services of professional lawyers.

5.5 Learning to Become Well-Informed Consumers

To make informed choices, consumers must look for quality certification marks on products:

ISI Mark: Used for industrial products, electrical appliances, and safety equipment (e.g., LPG cylinders).
Agmark: Quality certification mark for agricultural products (e.g., cereals, edible oils, honey).
Hallmark: Certification for precious metal jewelry (gold and silver).
+F (Fortified): Indicates food products fortified with key nutrients to combat malnutrition.

While certification is voluntary for many products, it is mandatory for items affecting health and safety, such as LPG cylinders, food additives, cement, and packaged drinking water.

5.6 Taking the Consumer Movement Forward

India observes 24 December as National Consumers' Day, commemorating the day the Indian Parliament enacted the Consumer Protection Act in 1986.

Current Challenges

The redressal process is often cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming.
Gathering evidence is difficult because cash memos are rarely issued for small retail purchases.
The enforcement of laws protecting workers in the unorganised sector remains weak.
2019 Amendment: COPRA was updated in 2019 to include internet/e-commerce transactions, penalize service deficiencies, and introduce mediation as an alternate dispute resolution mechanism.

Appendix: Body Mass Index (BMI)

The appendices provide reference tables for the Body Mass Index (BMI) of adolescent girls and boys (ages 14-18) to classify nutritional status into Malnourished (underweight), Normal, and Malnourished (obese).

The formula to calculate BMI is:

$$BMI = \frac{\text{Weight in kilograms}}{(\text{Height in meters})^2}$$