About You
Who and what is a CONSUMER?
Each of you, each of us, is a consumer.
The definition in the dictionary refers to an individual who buys products or services for personal use and not for manufacture or resale as a consumer.
In the present scenario a consumer is a person engaged in evaluating, acquiring, and using goods and services to satisfy his needs and wants. A consumer is a key figure in the market and all activities are carried on around this person.
The old close relation between production and consumption has changed now. Consumers now depend on a complex industrial system to satisfy their wants. Goods and services have multiplied and become more complicated, making it difficult to choose wisely among them.
What is CONSUMERISM?
The first and basic explanation is the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers. On the other hand i
ts derogatory reference is to the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.
One could also consider the movement by consumers to ensure fair and ethical practices on the part of service providers in relation to consumers as an act of consumerism.
Historically:
There are various rights and responsibilities of consumers. The United Nation (UN) had framed guidelines for consumer protection. The draft UN guidelines were discussed at great length from the 1960s onwards before finally being adopted in 1985. The guidelines were expanded in 1999 with issues of sustainable consumption and were re-adopted in the UN General Assembly decision 54/449. 2010 that marked the 25th year of the adoption of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection.
The UN General Principles set out the legitimate needs of consumers as follows:
- the protection of consumers from hazards to their health and safety
- the promotion and protection of the economic interests of consumers
- consumer access to adequate information to enable making informed choices according to individual wishes and needs
- consumer education, including education on the environmental, social and economic impacts of consumer choice
- the availability of effective consumer redress
- freedom to form consumer and other relevant groups or organizations and the opportunity for such organizations to present their views in decision-making processes affecting them
- the promotion of sustainable consumption patterns (added in 1999).
- Over time, the consumer movement has developed this vision into a set of eight basic consumer rights.
- The right to satisfaction of basic needs – To have access to basic, essential goods and services: adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, public utilities, water, and sanitation.
- The right to safety – To be protected against products, production processes and services, which are hazardous to health or life.
- The right to be informed – To be given the facts needed to make an informed choice, and to be protected against dishonest or misleading advertising and labelling.
- The right to choose – To be able to select from a range of products and services, offered at competitive prices with an assurance of satisfactory quality.
- The right to be heard – To have consumer interests represented in the making and execution of government policy, and in the development of products and services.
- The right to redress – To receive a fair settlement of just claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, shoddy goods or unsatisfactory services.
- The right to consumer education – To acquire knowledge and skills needed to make informed, confident choices about goods and services, while being aware of basic consumer rights and responsibilities and how to act on them.
- The right to a healthy environment -To live and work in an environment, which is non-threatening to the well-being of present and future generations.
Consumer Rights
In India, Government of India passed the Consumer Protection Act (COPRA) in 1986 and recognizes only six of these eight rights:
- Right to Safety
- Right to be Informed
- Right to Choose
- Right to be Heard
- Right to seek Redressal, and
- Right to Consumer Education
On March 15, 1962, U.S. President John F Kennedy made a historical speech about consumer rights when he introduced “The Consumer Bill of Rights” in the U.S. Congress. Ever since, countries all over the world have celebrated March 15 as the “World Consumer Rights Day.” However, in India the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted on December 24 by the Indian Parliament and this day is celebrated as the “National Consumer Day.”
| President John F. Kennedy: ‘Consumers by definition, include us all,’ he said. ‘They are the largest economic group, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. Yet they are the only important group… whose views are often not heard.’ |
Protection of these rights is increasingly viewed as the responsibility of both individual governments and the world community. Now consumers have to link concern for their rights to a renewed reconsideration of their responsibility.
Consumers International, a UK based world federation of consumer groups, of which CERC is a member, has enumerated the consumer rights with a parallel commitment to assume certain responsibilities. The following five consumer responsibilities have identified and promoted over the years.
Solidarity: The responsibility to organize together as consumers to develop the strength and influence to promote and protect our interest.
Critical Awareness: The responsibility to be more alert and questioning about the price and quality of goods and services we use.
Action: The responsibility to assert ourselves and act to ensure that we get a fair deal. As long as we remain passive consumers, we will continue to be exploited.
Social Concern: The responsibility to be aware of the impact of our consumption on other citizens, specially disadvantaged or powerless groups whether in the local, national, or international community.
Environmental Awareness: The responsibility 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.
