Transcript
National Obligation Under Various Laws And Fair Trade Practices
by:- Pankaj Singh Chandel
Consumer Protection
Consumer Protection Act• (1) This Act may be called the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(4) Save as otherwise expressly provided by the Central Government by notification, this Act shall apply to all goods and services.
OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTObjective to protect and promote the following rights of the
consumers:• The right to be protected against the marketing of the goods
which are hazardous to the life and property.• The right to be informed about the quality, potency, purity,
standard and price of the goods to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.
• The right to be assured , wherever possible , access to variety of goods at competitive prices.
• The right to seek redressal against the unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers and
• Right to consumer education.• To provide speedy and simple redressal machinery to settle
consumer disputes.
1) Substantiate the Complaint
2) Listen to Seller
3) Cooperate with the Seller if Needed
4) Avoid Inconvenience to Others
5) Do not Personalize Issues
6) Not lend self to others
Consumer Duties and Responsibilities
7) Be Well Informed
8) Understand the Grievances Redressal process
9) Avoid Impulsive Buying( Unplanned Buying)
10)Buy Goods from Authorized Agents
Consumer Duties and Responsibilities (Contd.)
1) Exorbitant Prices of Products and Services
2) Deceptive Selling Practices
3) False and Misleading Advertisements
4) Defective Quality, Higher Prices
5) Sale of Hazardous Products to Ignorant Consumers
6) Suppression of Material Information
How are Indian consumers exploited?
7) False Product Differentiation
8) Producers’/Sellers’ Collusion (sometimes illegal and therefore secretive)
9) Supply of Adulterated and Substandard Products
10)Cheating Consumers by Giving Lesser Quantity for the Price
11)Dishonoured Guarantees and Warranties
12)Poor Redressal of Customers’ Genuine Grievances
How are Indian consumers exploited? (Contd.)
13)Creating a Scare out of Scarcity
14)Making Consumer buy Unwanted Goods
15)Misleading Representation on Utility of Products
16)Manipulating Conditions of Delivery
17)Customers pay for Numerous Intermediaries
18)Fall in Prices Never Passed to Consumers
How are Indian consumers exploited? (Contd.)
19)Buying unaffordable goods
20)Advertisement cost
21)Counterfeits: These constitute a substantial quantity of goods on store shelves
22)Hoarding and Blackmarketing
23)Gifts for products/services
How are Indian consumers exploited? (Contd.)
A number of laws have been passed by the Government of India over the years to protect the interest of consumers.
1. Agricultural Products (Grading and Marketing) Act, 1937
2. Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951
3. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
4. Essential Commodities Act, 1955
Legal protection to consumers
5. The Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1956
6. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 Now CCI
7. Prevention of Black-marketing and Maintenance of Essential Supplies Act, 1980
8. Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986
9. Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Legal protection to consumers (Contd.)
The Consumer Protection Act (COPRA), 1986, conferred a legal right to the individual consumer to seek legal redress or recover costs and damages for injury or loans suffered by him/her as a result of faulty, defective goods and services, bought or secured for valuable consideration.
CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1986
The SIX RIGHTS of the consumer as enunciated under Section 6 of the COPRA are:
I. The Right to Safety
II. The Right to be Informed
III. The Right to Choose
IV. The Right to be Heard
V. The Right to Seek Redressal
VI. The Right to Consumer Education
Rights of consumers under COPRA
• Consumer protection councils- both as the centre and states
THREE-TIER CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL SYSTEM
• District forums
• State Consumer Dispute Reddressal Commission
• National commission
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS UNDER COPRA
Reddressal agencies for settlement of consumer disputes:
• A Consumer Disputes Reddressal Forum known as the District Forum has been established by the State Government in each district of the State by notification.
• A Consumer Disputes Reddressal Commission known as the State Commission has been established in each state by the State Government by notification.
• A National Consumer Disputes Reddressal Commission known as the National Commission established by the Centre by notification.
Reddressal agencies under COPRA
The main changes introduced by the Amendment Act are as follows:
• The District Consumer Reddressal Forums can now deal with complaints involving compensation amount upto Rs. 2 million
• For the State Commission the limit is Rs. 10 million
• For the National Commission, the limit is more than Rs. 10 million.
• Setting up of benches and increase in the number of members in the National and State Commissions.
CONSUMER PROTECTION (AMENDMENT) ACT 2002
1) Consumer Associations or Councils
2) Consumer Co-operatives
3) Co-ordination at the National Level
ROLE AND INITIATIVES OF VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS
Environmental Protection Act
Environmental damage through industrial activity can be of two types:
1.Depletion of Natural Resources
2.Degradation of the Natural Resources
Waste management and pollution control
1. Systematic waste reduction audit
2. Material balance
3. Economic balance
4. Identifying Waste Reduction
5. Use of Newer, Cleaner Technologies
6. Life-cycle assessment
Key strategies for industrial pollution prevention
Reinhardt suggests five different approaches to managing environmental issues
1. Investing in environment friendly processes or products.
2. Managing environmental regulations.
3. Investing in environmental performance improvement, without increasing costs.
4. Combining all the three methods mentioned above to change the basis for competition
5. Looking at environmental issues from a risk management perspective.
Managing environmental issues
• The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the country’s industrial sector have entered into a partnership on voluntary pollution control by releasing a Charter on Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Protection in New Delhi on March 13, 2003.
• The Charter marks a shift from regulatory enforcement of pollution control norms to voluntary compliance by the industry to significantly enhance the quality of environment.
Charter for voluntary pollution control
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 takes into account the following:
1. Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
2. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
3. The Factories’ Amendment Act, 1987
4. The National Environmental Policy 2004
India’s environmental policy
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