A consumer is one that buys good for consumption and not for resale or commercial purpose.

The consumer is
an individual who pays some amount of money for the thing required to consume goods and services. As such,
consumers play a vital role in the economic system of a nation. Without consumer demand, producers would
lack one of the key motivations to produce: to sell to consumers. The consumer also forms part of the chain of
distribution.
Recently in marketing instead of marketers generating broad demographic profiles and Fisio-graphic profiles
of market segments, marketers have started to engage in personalised marketing, permission marketing,
and mass customisation.[2]
Largely due to the rise of the Internet, consumers are shifting more and more towards becoming prosumer,
consumers who are also producers (often of information and media on the social web), influence the products
created (e.g. by customisation, crowdfunding or publishing their preferences), actively participate in the
production process, or use interactive products

What Is the Meaning of Consumer Awareness?

Consumer Awareness is the process of making the consumer of goods and
services aware of his rights. It involves educating a consumer about safety,
information and the redressal options available to him.

As previously discussed consumer awareness is one of the most persistent

problems the government faces when it comes to consumer protection. To
resolve this problem the government has come up with various methods over the
years. In fact, it is the main aim of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (COPRA) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to protect
the interests of consumers in India. It is made for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities
for the settlement of consumer's grievances and for matters connected there with it. The act was passed in
Assembly in October 1986 and came into force on December 24, 1986.

Various Consumer Organisations[edit]

To increase the awareness of consumers, there are many consumer organisations and NGOs that have been
established.
CONSUMER GUIDANCE SOCIETY OF INDIA (CGSI) was THE FIRST CONSUMER ORGANISATION
ESTABLISHED IN INDIA IN 1966.
It was followed by many others such as
(1) Consumer Education And Research Centre (Gujarat)
(2) Bureau Of Indian Standards
(3) Federation Of Consumer Organisation In Tamil Nadu
(4) Mumbai Grahak Panchayat
(5) Consumer Voice (New Delhi)
(6) Legal Aid Society (Kolkata)
(7) Akhil Bhartiya Grahak Panchayat
The objectives of the Central Council is to promote and to protect the rights of the consumers such as:-

1. The right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and
property.
2. 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 consumer against unfair trade practices;
3. The right to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of goods and services at competitive
prices ;
4. The right to be heard and to be assured that consumer's interest will receive due consideration at
appropriate forums;
5. The right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous
exploitation of consumers
6. The right to consumer education.

Jago Grahak Jago (Meaning "Wake Up Consumer Wake Up") is a consumer awareness programme from
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and Public Distribution, Government of India.[1][2]
As part of this initiative, the government has used channels to create consumer awareness through print media
advertisements, audio campaigns and video campaigns for consumer information and education about initiatives
like Insurance Ombudsman channel.This program will help the Indian consumers know about their rights.[3]

Consumer Rights
 Right to Safety: This is the first and the most important of the Consumer
Rights. They should be protected against the product that hampers their safety.
The protection must be against any product which could be hazardous to their
health – Mental, Physical or many of the other factors.
 Right to Information: They should be informed about the product.
The product packaging should list the details which should be informed to the
consumer and they should not hide the same or provide false information.
 Right to Choose: They should not be forced to select the product. A consumer
should be convinced of the product he is about to choose and should make a
decision by himself. This also means consumer should have a variety of
articles to choose from. Monopolistic practices are not legal.
 Right to Heard: If a consumer is dissatisfied with the product purchased then
they have all the right to file a complaint against it. And the said complaint
cannot go unheard, it must be addressed in an appropriate time frame.
 Right to Seek Redressal: In case a product is unable to satisfy the consumer
then they have the right to get the product replaced, compensate, return the
amount invested in the product. We have a three-tier system of redressal
according to the Consumer Protection Act 1986.
 Right to Consumer Education: Consumer has the right to know all the
information and should be made well aware of the rights and responsibilities
 of the government. Lack of Consumer awareness is the most important
problem our government must solve.
As the markets are globalizing, the direct link between the manufacturer and the final user getting distant,
post purchase grievances have to be heard through a strong redressal system. For this, Consumer
disputes redressal agencies (popularly known as Consumer Forums or Consumer Courts) are set up
under the Act at District, State and National level to provide simple and inexpensive quick redressal against
consumer complaints. The District forum deals with complaints where the compensation sought is less than
23 lakhs. This limit is commonly known as the ‘pecuniary jurisdiction’ of the Consumer Redressal Forum.
The State Forum deals with the complaints where the value of the goods and services and compensation
claimed does not exceed rupees one crore and the National Forum entertains the complaints where the
value of the goods or services and compensation claimed exceeds rupees one crore.
The Consumer Forum can order the company to take the following actions once it hears the complaint and
decides that the company is at fault:
 Correct deficiencies in the product to what they claim.
 Repair defect free of charges
 Replace product with similar or superior product
 Issue a full refund of the price
 Pay compensation for damages / costs / inconveniences
 Withdraw the sale of the product altogether
 Discontinue or not repeat any unfair trade practice or the restrictive trade practice
 Issue corrective advertisement for any earlier misrepresentation

Consumer Protection Act

“An Act to provide for better 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.”(According to Consumer Protection Act, 1986).
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 seeks to promote and protect the interest of consumers against
deficiencies and defects in goods or services. It also seeks to secure the rights of a consumer against
unfair or restrictive trade practices. This act was passed in Lok Sabha on 9th December,1986 and Rajya
Sabha on 10th December, 1986 and assented by the President of India on 24th December, 1986 and was
published in the Gazette of India on 26th December, 1986.

Consumer Responsibilities
Ask Yourself!
 Have you faced any problems as a consumer?
 Have you ever complained when you have had such a problem?
 Do you know that you could seek the assistance of a consumer group to protect your interests?

Be Critically Aware
 The responsibility to be more alert and to question more – about prices, about quantity and quality of goods
bought and services used.
 Be Involved
 The responsibility to be assertive – to ensure that you get a fair deal as a consumer. Remember, if you are
passive, you are likely to be exploited.

Be Organized
 The responsibility to join hands and raise voices as consumers; to fight in a collective and to develop the
strength and influence to promote and protect consumer interest.

Practice Sustainable Consumption

 The responsibility to be aware of the impact of your consumption on other citizens, especially the
disadvantaged or powerless groups; and to consume based on needs – not wants.

Be Responsible to the Environment

 The responsibility to be aware and to understand the environmental consequences of our consumption. We
should recognize our individual and social responsibility to conserve natural resources and protect the earth
for future generations.

Need and importance of consumer awareness

It has been observed very often that a consumer does not get right goods and services. He is charged a
very high price or adulterated or low quality goods are sold to him. Therefore it is necessary to make him
aware. Following facts classify the need of making consumers aware:
1. To achieve maximum satisfaction : The income of every individual is limited. He wants to buy maximum
goods and services with his income. He gets full satisfaction only by this limited adjustment. Therefore it is
necessary that he should get the goods which are measured appropriately and he should not be cheated in
any way. For this he should be made aware.
2. Protection against exploitation : Producers and sellers exploit the consumers in many ways
as underweighting, taking more price than the market price, selling duplicate goods etc. Big
companies through their advertisement also mislead the consumers. Consumer awareness shields them
from the exploitation by producers and sellers.
3.Control over consumption of harmful goods : There are several such goods available in market which
cause harm to some consumers. For example we can take goods like cigarette, tobacco, liquor etc. The
consumer education and awareness motivate people not to purchase such goods which are very harmful
for them.
4. Motivation for saving : The awareness controls people from wastage of money and extravagancy and
inspire them to take right decision. Such consumers are not attracted by sale, concession, free gifts,
attractive packing etc due to which people can use their income in a right way and can save money.
5. Knowledge regarding solution of problems : The consumers are cheated due to illiteracy, innocence and
lack of information. Therefore it becomes necessary that the information about their rights should be
provided to them so that they cannot be cheated by producers and sellers. Through consumer awareness
they are also made known to the proceedings of laws so that they can solve their problems.
6. Construction of healthy society : Every member of the society is a consumer. So, if the consumer is
aware and rationale, then complete society becomes healthy and alert towards their rights.
Government Role in Consumer Protection:
The government can play an important role for protection of consumers. It can enact various legislations for
protection of consumers. According to the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection, “the government role in
consumer protection is vital and finds expression through policy making legislations and establishment of
institutional authority for its enforcement. To provide a legal basis for its enforcing basic consumer rights
every country needs to have irreducible minimum of consumer protection legislation covering physical
safety, promotion and protection of consumers’ economic interests, standards for the safety and quality of
goods and services, distribution facilities, redress, education and information programmes. Governments
also require the necessary machinery to enforce such legislation.”

In both the developed and developing countries the governments have taken several measures to protect
consumers. Laws relating to cooperative societies have been enforced in India for quite some time now.
Besides, consumers have been sought to be protected by enactment of several laws by government. The
important laws have been passed by the government to protect consumers and uphold their rights.

These laws include:

(1) Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954,

(2) the Essential Commodities Act, 1985,

(3) Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act,

(4) Drugs Control Act,

(5) Drugs and Cosmetics Act,

(6) Standards of Weights and Measures Act,

(7) Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectional Advertisement) Act,

(8) Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,

(9) Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Essential Commodities Act, and

(10) Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.