Importance of Consumer Awareness

Consumer awareness is the need of the market. In these times of privatisation, globalisation and liberalisation, consumer awareness has become increasingly critical because producers only focus on profit maximisation and can go to any extent for the same.

Producers are so involved in achieving their targets that at times they forget the interests of the consumer and start exploiting them. Producers exploit consumers in various ways, such as by overcharging for the product, under weighing, selling adulterated goods and providing inaccurate advertisements.

Therefore, consumers should be aware of their rights to prevent them from being misled. Producers and manufacturers were required to adopt these guidelines to protect consumers and develop an ethical code of conduct for manufacturing.

Meaning of Consumer Awareness

Consumer awareness is the act of ensuring buyers and consumers have knowledge of their rights and have information about products, goods, and services. Thus, consumer awareness ensures the buyer makes informed decisions and choices.

Consumers have the right to information, the right to choose and the right to safety and helps to build trust, raise brand awareness, and increase revenue. Consumer awareness has two the following two concepts:

• Giving potential consumers knowledge about your brand and service.
• Checking how conscious customers are about their needs and wants.

Need and Importance of Consumer Awareness

Consumers should be made aware of their rights and duties to avoid exploitation. The following points explain the need and importance of consumer awareness:

1. To maximise satisfaction: Every individual has a limited income with which he wants to purchase maximum goods and services. Therefore, he/she should receive appropriately measured goods and not be cheated in any way.
2. To protect against exploitation: Consumers may be exploited by producers and sellers, through underweighting, which results in prices higher than the market price, selling duplicate goods. Therefore, it acts as a shield to consumers and protects them from exploitation.
3. Controlling the consumption of harmful goods: Various goods, such as cigarettes, tobacco, liquor, available in the market harm consumers. Consumer awareness motivates people not to purchase such products and educates them about the damage these products can cause.
4. Motivation for saving: Consumer awareness prevents people from wasting their money by helping them make the right choice. Consumer awareness educates people to not to be enticed by gifts, concessions, sales, and use their money in the right way.
5. Knowledge regarding the solution of problems: Consumers are at a higher risk of being cheated because of illiteracy, innocence, and lack of information. Consumers should be aware of their rights to prevent cheating by producers and sellers. Therefore, it educates consumers about laws to provide solutions for their problems.
6. Constructing a healthy society: By making consumers aware and rational, society becomes healthy and aware of their rights.

Rights of Consumer

Consumers are provided protection by law so that producers and sellers do not exploit them. A consumer has the following rights:

1. Right to Safety: Producers need to obey the rules relating to the safety of consumers. In non-compliance with safety rules, consumers face a risk to their safety. The manufacturer should manufacture products by keeping consumers” safety in mind. Consumers can take help from the law.
2. Right to choose: Consumers can select goods and services of their choice. If a consumer is not willing to buy a particular product, the seller cannot compel him to purchase the product. Furthermore, the existence of cartels, oligopolies, and monopolies in market forms becomes a hurdle in the right to choose. If a seller pressurises a customer to purchase a certain product, then the consumer can initiate legal action against him.
3. Right to be informed: Consumers have the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods and services. It is essential to give the right information to consumers before they decide on purchasing.
4. Right to information: The Government of India in 2005 passed the Right to Information Act. Under the Right to Information Act, consumers can obtain information about the activities of all government departments.
5. Right to Redressal: In case a consumer has been exploited, or his rights are not taken care of, the consumer can seek redressal. Under the right to redressal, a consumer can claim compensation if exploited. The Government of India has set up various courts at district levels to adjudicate this right.
6. Right to be Heard: Under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, consumers have the right to be heard and receive due compensation at appropriate forums. This right empowers consumers to raise their voices against any injustice fearlessly.
7. Right to Consumer Education: Every Indian Citizen has the right to have education on matters relating to Consumer Protection. According to this right, consumers should have easily accessible materials to make purchasing decisions wisely.

Responsibility of the Consumer

With every right comes a responsibility. Consumers should be well aware of both; their rights and responsibilities. The consumer has the following responsibilities:

1. Being aware: Consumers should gather all information about a product or service and be updated about changes in the market.
2. Beware: Beware of the quality and safety of products before making a purchasing decision.
3. Think independently: Consider your needs and wants and then make a decision.
4. Speak out: Inform about your needs and expectations to government and producers.
5. Be an ethical consumer: Never engage in dishonest practices that harm other consumers.
6. Complain: In case of dissatisfaction with a product or service, reasonably inform the manufacturers.
7. Share experience: Inform other consumers about your experience with a particular product or service to help them make a purchasing decision.
8. Respect the Environment: Any decision by the consumer should not harm the environment. Consumers should avoid littering the environment and follow the principle of reduce, reuse, recycle.

Consumer Awareness in India

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is regarded to be a milestone for consumer protection in the country. Subsequently, the Consumer Protection Act 2019 brought about a major change.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 covers all goods and services and gives the consumers rights and responsibilities and establishes a three-tier redressal mechanism to hear consumer grievances. Apart from the Consumer Protection Act, the following other acts have been enacted:

• The Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016
• The Legal Science Act 2009
• The Essential Commodities Act, 1955
• The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
• The Indian Contract Act, 1872
• The Sale of Goods Act, 1930
• Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954

The Government of India has established various helplines at both state and national levels. These helplines provide support to consumers 24*7. They assist the shoppers by hearing their complaints. The helpline receives almost 40,000 complaints every month.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism and Government Campaign

Grievance Against Misleading Advertisement

To deal with misleading advertisements, the Government of India has launched the portalGrievances Against Misleading Advertisements (GAMA) for registering complaints relating to advertisements online.

Jago Grahak Jago

Jago Grahak Jago is a campaign started by the Department of Consumer Affairs under the Ministry of Consumer and Public Distributions by the Government of India in the year 2005. It is, to date, the most successful campaign by the Government of India that shields consumers against marketing malpractices and redresses consumer complaints. The literal translation of Jago Grahak Jago is “wake up consumers”, and the Government launched this scheme through the following channels:

• Media advertisements
• Video campaign
• Posters
• Printing
• Audio campaigns

Rise of Consumer Awareness

In the 21st century, the Government emphasised economic development and the rise of the nation, for which consumer awareness is essential. However, even after implementing the Consumer Protection Act, only 20% of consumers are fully aware of their rights, and only approximately 42% of the population have heard about consumer rights.

Economic growth cannot be achieved without consumer satisfaction. The current Consumer Protection Act, 2019, can prove to be very helpful in achieving Consumer Protection with a special focus on Consumer Awareness.

The most important new addition included in the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, is that the complaint can be filed even from the place of residence of the consumer. Otherwise, the producer or manufacturer may use tactics to discourage the consumer from addressing his complaints. Thus, although the consumer may want to file suits, he may not go ahead because of many factors.

Conclusion

The country”s economy is largely driven by consumers. Consumer awareness means being aware of the laws, redressal mechanism and consumer rights. The rights include the right to protection of health and safety from goods and services. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, provides several other laws and provisions. The consumer must be aware of their rights and duties, which would protect consumers from exploitation.