What is the Consumer Protection Act, 1986? Explain consumer rights

What is the Consumer Protection Act? The Consumer Protection Act, implemented in 1986, gives easy and fast compensation to consumer grievances. It safeguards and encourages consumers to speak against insufficiency and flaws in goods and services. If traders and manufacturers practice any illegal trade, this act protects their rights as a consumer. The primary motivation of this forum is to bestow aid to both parties and eliminate lengthy lawsuits.

Rights of a Consumer

Consumer Protection Act
Consumer Protection Act

A general consumer has the following major rights in accordance with the specific Acts, the Constitution of India, and the judgments given by various courts:

The Rights to Safety

The right to safety refers to the right to provide security to the consumer for marketing all such goods. which may prove to be dangerous or injurious to his health and life; Such as adulteration of goods and hazardous chemicals etc.

By this right, the consumer is protecte from harm to money, health, and body cause by bad and harmful food items (spoiled bread, butter, jam, etc.), spurious drugs, substandard equipment, and equipment (stove, press, mixer, etc.) can receive.

2 The Right to a Choice          

A consumer is free to choose goods and services according to his needs and desires. He cannot be compelling to purchase any goods or services. If any person influences his choice unnecessarily and inappropriately, then it is consider as an interference (win) in his right.

In short, the consumer is free to choose any of the goods of various brands, types, qualities, forms, colors, sizes, and prices manufactur by different manufacturers under this right.

3 The right to be informed

The consumer also has the right to get all the necessary information, on the basis of which he can decide to buy the goods or services. This information can be in relation to the type, quantity, potency, purity, standard, price, etc. of the commodity.

The consumer’s right to information is related to protecting him from fraud, misstatement and misleading information, false and false advertisements, and other unfair practices.

4 The right to be heard

This right of the consumer gives him the right to say or present his point or complaint in appropriate forums. In other words, the consumer has the right to present everything affecting his interests before the appropriate forums. They can use this right to force the businessmen and the government to take decisions and make policies according to their interests. To protect this right of the consumer, the government makes arrangements for a legal hearing.

5 The Right to be Redressed

This right of the consumer provides him a fair and just remedy or solution for his grievances and complaints. Under this right, he can take refuge in the court, with this right the consumers can get freedom from unfair and unethical behavior of the businessman or unfair and unethical exploitation.

In short, this right gives him an assurance that if the goods or services purchased are not use in a fair, just, and satisfactory manner, he will have the right to get proper compensation.

6 The Right to Consumer Education

Under this right, the consumer has the right to get education or information about all those things which are necessary for a consumer. In fact, this right is to free the consumer from exploitation. And it is related to getting an education to protect the interests. For example, how to check adulteration in spices like cumin, coriander, chili, etc. How to catch under-weight? Can be given through official publicity media.

7 The right to value

The consumer also has the right to expect that he will get the full value of money pay by him. In fact, this right of the consumer gives him the right to fulfill the promises made by the businesses during the sale or in the advertisement and the hopes raised.

8 The right to a healthy environment

Under this right, the consumer expects such a healthy physical environment from the businessman. So that his quality of life can be improve. Under this right, the consumer expects the businessman to adopt such manufacturing process or technology, use such materials and means, adopt such packaging, which will affect the physical environment (water, air, noise) of the country in any way. There will be no loss. In addition, he also expects that the use of these goods and services will help him lead a more elevated quality of life.

The first seven rights of the consumer have been mention under Section 6 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 of India, but the last and the eighth right, the right to a healthy environment, has not been includ in the Act yet.

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