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CONSUMER PROTECTION –
BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION |
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Each one of us is a
‘consumer’, right from the day the child comes in the womb till
the day one goes to the grave. The child in the womb consumes through his
mother. The question of the protection of the rights of the common consumer,
if viewed in the above background, gains utmost significance. The industrial
revolution and the development in the international trade and commerce has
led to the vast expansion of business and trade, as a result of which a
variety of consumer goods have appeared in the market to cater to the needs
of the consumers and a host of services have been made available to the
consumers like insurance, transport, electricity, housing, entertainment,
finance, banking etc. A well organized sector of manufacturers and traders
with better knowledge of markets has come into existence, thereby affecting
the relationship between the traders and the consumers making the principle
of consumer sovereignty almost in inapplicable. The advertisements of goods
and services in television, newspapers and magazines influence the demand for
the same by the consumers though there may be manufacturing defects or
imperfections or short comings in the quality, quantity and the purity of the
goods or there may be deficiency in the services rendered. In addition, the
production of the same item by many firms has led the consumers, who have
little time to make a selection, to think before they can purchase the best.
For the welfare of the public, the glut of adulterated and sub-standard
articles in the market has to be checked. In spite of various provisions
providing protection to the consumer and providing for stringent action against
the adulterated and sub-standard articles in the different enactments like
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the Sale of
Goods Act, 1930, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Standards of Weights and
Measures Act, 1976 and the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, very little could be
achieved in the field of Consumer Protection. Though the Monopolies and
Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 and the Prevention of Food Adulteration
Act, 1954 have provided some relief to the consumers yet it became necessary
to protect the consumers from the exploitation and to save them from
adulterated and sub-standard goods and services and to safe guard their
interest. In the matter of consumer
protection a major step was taken by the United Nations when after good
amount of consultations with Governments and International Organisations, the Secretary General of United Nations
submitted draft guidelines for consumer protection to the Economic and Social
Counsel (UNESCO) in 1983. After extensive discussions and negotiations among
the Governments on the scope and content of the guidelines, the General
Assembly of the United Nations adopted the guidelines for consumer protection
by consensus on 9th April, 1985 (General Assembly Resolution No. 39/248), In
pursuance of the above Resolution of the United Nations, in the following
year, i.e. in 1986, our Parliament has enacted the Consumer Protection Act,
1986 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’). The Statement of
Objects and Reasons, appended to the Bill, which ultimately became the Act,
stated that the Bill was intended to provide for the better protection of the
interest of consumers and for that purpose to make provision for the
establishment of Consumer Councils and other authorities for the settlement of
consumer disputes and other matters connected thereto.
The Preamble to the Act, as
finally passed by the Parliament, is practically on the same lines and the
same reads as under:-
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