Sunil Seth
Who is a consumer ? Anyone who exists on this Earth is a consumer. In fact, everyone is a consumer, from ‘ the Cradle’ to ‘ the Grave’. What exactly does it mean? The moment a child is conceived in the womb of a mother, he or she comes under the category of a consumer . During pregnancy, the would-be mother is advised to take nutritious and quality food by the doctor and the well wishers and then the quality of the food and the medical drugs comes into question and the concept of ‘Consumer’ and subsequently the ‘Consumer Protection’ comes into existence. Even the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has endorsed this concept . Next surfaces the picture of the ‘Consumer-Businessman’ relationship since both being the two sides of the same coin and One cannot exist without the other. If I am not wrong, by ‘Business’, here in India, we all mean ‘Money’. Ethics and Quality probably exist only on papers and is a distant dream. Absence of a proper ‘Pricing Policy’ further makes it a ‘Seller’s market and not that of the Buyer’. Analogy to it is is that Best Written books are many- a- times not the Best Sellers. Even an unwritten service too is included in the purview of consumerism. On a broader platform, the consumer is entitled to get the value for his money which he is paying for any item or service. Any defect in the item , be it in the manufacture or warranty or the fallible service or unfair trade practice is liable to come under the law to be categorized as ‘Consumer Protection Law’. Consumerism is at its peak but why is it ? A survey by the Government of India has reflected that the change in the ‘Buying Behavior’ has flared up this new addiction. Many a times we buy something not for the sake of necessity but just for the sake of ‘Discounts’; Sometimes, for a change. Everything around us has been glamorized. Almost everything is available now at the click of a button because of the smart phones. Markets have grown. Incomes are increasing. Globally we are close knit now with better availability, better services across the globe. We end up buying more. Media and advertising agencies are there to flare up the consumerism. Sharp brains behind the marketing are there to entice us to buy the products which may not be of immediate use to us . Gadget up gradation is being done to create the high demand . One may visit a Mall just for leisure but end up in shopping with bags full of things which one may not be needing immediately, courtesy, the discount offers. Digital transaction like
‘Plastic Money’ too is a culprit and psychologically we are comfortable and safe in spending more in online shopping. Marketing brigade is targeting the young blood ( which in India is more than sixty percent right now) more . No business ethics- resulting into markets flooding with fake products; No pricing policies- no solid reason why the products are being sold at prices much below the MRP ; No advertisement codes- case of M.S Dhoni, the case of Amarpalli; Lack of Enforcement; Penalty negligible; Courts taking years and years to decide , Legal system hijacked – have become the order of the day. People refrain from going to the courts for redressal of the complaints as the process is too cumbersome and slow. Boost in the online shopping spree has resulted into more of the consumers ‘ problems where in the already existing ‘Consumer Protection Act’ has become toothless of which the business world is taking advantage of. Consumer is the king on papers only and the Indian market is the seller’s market. Interest of the consumer needs to be protected. The ‘World Economy means Business; Business means Profit; Profit means Money and Money means Consumer’. Then why should not the ‘Consumer Protection’ be the utmost priority? The ‘Consumer Protection Act’ from the archives will now be replaced with the new one from January 01, 2020. Beginning of the New year will also dawn the beginning of the new ‘Consumer Protection Act, 2019’. Features like e-filing of the complaints from any part of the Nation; Video conferencing to make the redressal quick and effective; Establishment of consumer forum like Grahak Suvidha Kendra; Time bound resolution of the cases will all be there to make the new act ‘Consumer Friendly’, and also to make the consumers literate as far as their ‘Consumer Rights’ are concerned. IT enabled ‘Helplines’ and ‘Apps’ will be there to make things easier for the consumers. Monitoring systems like ‘Central Grievances Redressal and Monitoring System’ as tough as the ‘Right to Information’ are going to make the consumers have the much elated feel of the ‘Consumer – the King’ under the protection of the new ‘Consumer Protection Act 2019.
(The writer is a Chartered Engineer)
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