PROJECT REPORT

CONSUMERS PERCEPTION OF THEIR RIGHTS

AND DUTIES A STUDY WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO KOCHI
Submitted to
School of Management Studies
Cochin University of Science and Technology
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the
Degree of Master of Business Administration
JAYARAJ .G
Reg.No.85412028
Under the supervision of
DR. MANOJ EDWARD
ASST. PROFESSOR
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
COCHIN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COCHIN- 682022, KERALA.



DECLARATION


I hereby declare that the report titled CONSUMERS PERCEPTI ON OF THEIR
RI GHTS AND DUTI ES A STUDY WI TH SPECI AL REFERENCE TO KOCHI .is a
bonafide record of the work done by myself during the academic year, 2013-2014 in partial
fulfilment of the requirements of MBA degree from Cochin University of Science &
Technology. This work has not been undertaken or submitted elsewhere in connection with
any other academic course.





Place: Cochin JAYARAJ .G
Date: 03-08-2013







CERTIFICATE


This is to certify that the project report entitled CONSUMERS PERCEPTI ON OF
THEI R RI GHTS AND DUTI ES A STUDY WI TH SPECI AL REFERENCE TO
KOCHI . is a bonafide record of the work done by Mr. JayarajG ,fourth semester MBA
student of this school, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the
degree of Master of Business Administration of Cochin University of Science and
Technology.





Dr. MANOJ EDWARD Dr. M. Bhasi
Project Guide Director









ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My indebtness and deep sense of gratitude to everyone that guided and helped me to
complete this project.
First of all, I bow before the God Almighty for all his benevolence mercy upon me.
My heartiest thanks to our respected director Dr. M. Bhasi for providing all required facilities
for completing the project.
I am extremely thankful to Prof. Manoj Edward, my project guide and Prof Dr. Sebastian
Robert Mampilly, head of the department of management studies, who gave me guidance and
illuminating suggestions, inspired me in shaping the report in its existing form.
I express my whole hearted thanks to all the teaching staffs, my family and my friends whose
continuous encouragement, cooperation, appreciation and support helped me in the successful
completion of this project.

JAYARAJ G














TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter
No:




CHAPTERS

PAGES
1.


INTRODUCTION


STATEMENT OF PROBLEM


SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY


SCOPE OF STUDY


OBJECTIVES OF STUDY


HYPOTHESIS OF STUDY


RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

3.
THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK


CONSUMER PROTECTION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS


PROBLEMS FACED BY CONSUMERS


CONSUMER PROTECTION


LEGAL PROTECTION TO CONSUMERS


CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1986

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
5. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6. REFERNCES
7. APPENDIX


LIST OF TABLES
Sl no Particulars Page no
1 AGE OF RESPONDENTS
2 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
3 OCCUPATION
4 MONTHLY INCOME
5 GENDER
6 CONSUMERS KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW
7 EXTENT AWARENESS OF RIGHTS
8 MEDIA EXPOSURE
9 BUYING BEHAVIOUR
10 PROCEDURAL KNOW HOW
11. BUYING COMPETENCY
12 CONSUMER EDUCATION
13 CONSUMER EXPECTATION
14 TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS 1
15 CONSUMER PROTECTION AS A WHOLE
16 TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS 2
17 HYPOTHETICAL TABLE

LIST OF CHARTS
Sl no Particulars Page no
1 CONSUMERS KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW
2 THE EXTENT AWARENESS OF RIGHTS
3 MEDIA EXPOSURE
4 BUYING BEHAVIOUR
5 PROCEDURAL KNOW HOW
6 BUYING COMPETENCY
7 CONSUMER EDUCATION
8 CONSUMER EXPECTATION















CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION










INTRODUCTION

India is one of the biggest rural consumer markets in the world. Indian markets
havebeen witnessing several changes following on towards globalization,
liberalization andprivatization and a large scale entry of multinational company
is a major outcomes of neweconomic order.A consumer are vital values of
man, they are notdepends of producer or seller, the producer and seller depends
only a consumer, the consumerare the boss of business and the producer or
business man is the server of the consumer.Now a days, the most of the
consumer watching television, hearing radio, readingnews paper and magazines.
Even though Television attracted by various programme, in thisprogramme
many advertisement appearing on, radio, newspaper and magazines etc.
Sometime, they are mishear, they are burden withproblem of choosing the
product because morethan one product some utility with less
information.Cosumers perception is mainly based on their awareness about the
consumer protection.
Consumer Awareness
Any person who buys or uses goods and services is a consumer. A consumer is
anyperson, business, firm or governmental unit that chooses goods and services,
spends moneyon them, and uses these goods and services primarily to satisfy
their own wants. From birth,everyone is a consumer in one or the other way
The Government, Industry and the Consumers form the three main partners in
the
venture of National Development. While the Government provides the capital
resource,industry utilizes the capital for producing goods and consumer
procures the goods payingmoney for their benefits and facilities. Thus, in
layman's understanding, money gets convertedto products which in turn get
reconverted back to money for an everlasting and constantlygrowing cycle
operation, through the agencies concerned viz. Government, Industry
andConsumers.But this is not as simple as stated. In any cycle operation, there
can be many blocks.For example, bad counterfeit money is not accepted and
circulation gets limited to goodmoney only. Similarly good products get
circulated better than bad ones. In other words, goodquality products get better
acceptance from the consumers who are the buyers. So consultingconsumers
and satisfying their needs is essential for developing Consumers play a vital role
in the development of a nation. Mahatma Gandhi said, "A consumer is the
most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us, we are on
him. He is not an interruption to our work; he is the purpose of it. We are not
doing a favour to a consumer by giving him an opportunity. He is doing us a
favour by giving us opportunity to serve him. But of late unfortunately
cheating by way of overcharging, black marketing, misleading advertisements,
etc has become the common practice of greedy sellers and manufacturers to
make unreasonable profits and without heed to confer consumer rights and
interests.
Modern business is an integral part of current day society. Each company has as
a socio-economic impact on the people and has to deliver the goods and
services and the standard of living as per the aspirations of the people. It has a
great social responsibility towards the well being of society. Therefore
consumer is an important component of society and business has an obligation
to him. But, when the goods are short in supply the producers charge high prices
and consumers have no choice other than to purchase what is available.
Therefore, consumer is to be protected from unsafe products, poor quality of
goods and services, high prices, unfair trade practices and misleading
advertisements. Therefore, it is necessary for CRA, awareness to prevail
amongst the consumer to protect them from unscrupulous trade practices and to
give them the idea of the utility of money spent by them. Consumer occupies a
supreme position in a free economy. But, he never received the attention he
deserves. In a country like India, he is not the sovereign but a slave. The welfare
of the consumer lies in the fulfillment of his normal and legitimate expectation
with regards to the goods and service.
Consumer rights awareness is about making the consumer aware of products or
services; however, this is largely unknown to many citizens irrespective of
whether they are educated or uneducated. With an enormous population along
with high levels of poverty, unemployment and poor literacy levels, consumer
rights awareness continues to remain low. Education is a lifelong process of
constantly acquiring relevant information, knowledge and skills. Consumer
education is an important part of this process and is a basic consumer right that
must be introduced at the school level. Consumers by definition include all
citizens who are, by and large the biggest group, who are affected by almost all
government, public or private decisions. The most important step in consumer
education is awareness of consumer rights. However, consumer education is
incomplete without the responsibilities and duties of consumers, and this
influences individual behaviour to a great extent.
Consumer rights awareness is now an integral part of our lives like a
consumerist way of life. They have been well documented and much talked
about. We have all made use of them at some point in our daily lives. Market
resources and influences are growing by the day and so is the awareness of one's
consumer rights. These rights are well-defined and there are agencies like the
government, consumer courts and voluntary organizations that work towards
safeguarding them. While we all like to know about our rights and make full use
of them, consumer responsibility is an area which is still not demarcated and it
is hard to spell out all the responsibilities that a consumer is supposed to
shoulder. There are six rights of consumer which are provided in the Consumer
Protection Act, 1986.
Today an average Indian consumer is poor, illiterate, ignorant, passive,
unaware, unorganized and sometimes helpless. Due to illiteracy, unawareness,
traditional or passive outlook consumer is being exploited in different ways.
The manifestation of consumer neglect are evident in the adulterated food we
eat, the spurious, unsafe and substandard product we buy, the repeated shortage
of essential commodities accompanied by black marketing and profiteering, the
hazardous drugs (banned in some of the countries) that are pushed through the
counter, the glossy, unethical and manipulative advertisements with which we
are bombered, the humiliation, indignity and harassment that we are subjected
to by public sector undertakings such as railways, transport corporations,
nationalized banks insurance companies, hospitals, etc. and the polluted water
we drink and air we breathe.

Business firms spend huge amount of money on advertising their products and
services. Most of these advertisements contain exaggerated and unprovable
claims. Commonly seen advertisements of tooth-pastes, cosmetics, tonics, body-
building, figure improving and height increasing instruments makes claims in
very attracted way and catchy way. Through these advertisements do not
explain how the claimed qualities of the products produce the benefits; the
consumer believes them because of the appealing way of presentation,
ultimately the consumer feel cheated at last. Although the above points clearly
states the problems exploitation of consumer, but some other points can also be
mentioned in support of these. These exploitation are in the forms of:
Unfair trade practices (ii) spiraling prices (iii) adulteration (iv) poor quality
products (v) deceptive packing (vi) deficiency in services (vii) monopolistic
trade practices etc.


STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The particular topic is chosen because the consumerism is fast emerging as an
environment force affecting major business decisions as consumers become
aware about the rights. Even though there are consumer protection and redressal
system most of the consumers are not reacting to it. This study is conducted to
know about consumers perception about their rights and the Act and also their
action in case of dissatisfaction from the purchased goods. The problem is to be
investigated in this project is stated as CONSUMERS PERCEPTION OF THEIR
RIGHTS AND DUTIES A STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO KOCHI

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
Consumerism is fast emerging as an environmental force affecting major
business decisions. Even though comprehensive statutory measures have been
provided in India for curbing unfair business practices, for promoting
consumerism, there yet to do a lot. The consumers are not in a position to utilize
their knowledge and are simply ignorant of these laws. The reason may be the
non popularity of these laws because they are framed in highly technical
terminology that it would not be possible to comprehend by a layman. Some
customers are aware about the Act but not go for redressals.
Modern technological growth and complexities of the sellers techniques,
existence of a vast army of middlemen and unethical and untruthful
advertisements have aggravated the situation of consumer exploitation. The
consumer has to be aware of his rights and play a key role. The success of
consumerism is a strong function of consumer awareness and to avoid
exploitation consumer must become knowledgeable. This study is conducted to
know about consumers perception about consumer protection.
SCOPE OF STUDY
Due to the constraint of time and resources only Kochi is selected for this study.
The prime objective of this project is to study the consumers perception on
consumer protection. The sample taken for this is 50 persons based on a
convenience sampling technique. Different questions are asked to the
respondents on the basis of purpose of study. The study is conducted taken into
consideration of seven variables such as; knowledge about the Law, procedural
know how, consumption habits, buying competency, media exposure, consumer
education and consumer expectation.
Amballorpanchayath is selected because it is highly literate panchayath situated
in rural area. Study covers all the aspects of consumer protection. The study is
not only confronted to consumer protection Act 1986 only , it also covers all
other consumer laws, legislations, organizations etc. The variables selected in
the study are analysed from different point of views. Consumer in the study is
between the age of eighteen to sixty five who buys goods and services at a
consideration.
OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
1. To study about the theoretical framework of consumer protection in
India.
2. To study consumers knowledge and perception about consumer
protection movement including COPRA 1981.
3. To study the influence of media upon consumer rights protection.
4. To understand the buying behavior of people.

HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

There is no difference between the gender of the respondents and their
level of perception about consumer protection .
People irrespective of their formal education have similar competency
in buying.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

UNIVERSE OF STUDY

The study is undertaken in Kochi in Ernakulum District. Everybody is a
consumer, so the entire peoples in the panchayath are considered as universe.
To make the study more realistic peoples or customers of the age between
eighteen and sixty five is considered.
SAMPLING PROCEDURE

Samples are selected from Kochi. Each sample is selected in such a way
that it should be one which truly represents the population.
Sampling method

Sampling method adopted is convenience sampling. Samples are
selected conveniently from different wards after considering many
aspects. To make the sampling selection more realistic different
age, education, income category peoples are selected
proportionately from 16 wards.


Sampling size

Sampling size is 50. The total population of AmballoorPanchayath
is 20970, in which 10477 is males and 10493 are females. At least
3 persons are selected as samples from all wards.

SOURCE OF DATA

The data for this study has been collected from primary andsecondary sources.

Primary data

Primary data are those, which are collected a fresh and for the time
and thus happen to be original in character. In this study the
Questionnaire was used for the primary data collections.

Secondary data

Secondary data are those which have already been collected by
some
other context and which have been already processed through the
Statistical process. Secondary data was collected through journals,
Books, websites, and published data.

METHOD OF STUDY
This study is based on different factors. Seven factors are selected for the
study, they are;
Consumers knowledge of law
media exposure
consumption habits
buying competency
procedural know how
consumer education , and
Consumer expectation.

Consumers knowledge of law is a factor which studies the extent of
knowledge of consumers about the law especially about their rights. By law
there are six rights to consumers viz; Right to Information, Right to Safety,
Right to be Heard, Right to Choose, Right to Consumer Education, Right to
Redressal and by analyzing this factor the awareness of consumers about this
rights are checked.

Media exposure is the second factor in which the role of medias in consumer
protection and consumer education is analyzed. Media is the most important
role player in consumer protection movements. Here the role of media in
spreading consumer awareness is enquired.
Next factor is consumption habits of the consumers; it varies from consumers
to consumers because the extent and type of products purchased are different
among consumers. Consumption habits checks the purchasing power of
consumers.
Next is buying competency of the consumers , it checks the competency of
customer while purchasing and includes awareness about MRP,quality
standards, expiry date etc.

The next factor is the procedural know how, here with this factor, consumers
knowledge about the procedures of various rules and regulations are observed.
It is an important factor because it is a strong determinant of perception of
consumers on consumer protection especially about their duties and rights.

The sixth factor is consumer education here the level of consumer education
obtained by the consumers and the need for consumer education is pointed out.
Consumer education is a vital factor to be studied to measure the consumers
perception because it give the base in consumer knowledge, buying
competency, procedure know how etc.

And the last factor is consumer expectation, here consumers expectations about
the consumer protection in future. It measures their hope for a better consumer
era. So all the above factors are considered in detail to conduct this study.
Consumers perception on their duties and rights are analyzed from various
perspectives.
TOOLS OF STUDY

Based on the objectives of study different statistical tools like tables ,graphs,
charts , Averages, chi square etc is used. The statistical tools are selected in
accordance the pattern of questions asked and the usability of each question.
SCHEME OF PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT
CHAPTER1:It is the introductory chapter. It includes statement of problem,
significance of study, scope of study, objectives of study, hypothesis of study,
research methodology etc. This chapter gives an overall picture of the study.
CHAPTER2:It deals with Review of literature. Review of literature is based on
past studies and journals on the topic consumers awareness and perception on
consumer protection. The studies inside India which is conducted between the
year 2000 to 2013 are considered.
CHAPTER3:This chapter focuses about Consumer Rights and Consumer
Protection and the Theoretical Framework of the study. Here the historical
background of consumer protection, various laws on consumer protection
especially consumer protection Act is discussed deeply. Various factors of the
study is also considered here in detail.
CHAPTER4:This chapter is Data analysis and Interpretation. The data collected
through questionnaire are analyzed using various statistical tools especially chi-
square test , and this analysed data is interpreted based on the results. Here the
hypothesisis tested.
CHAPTER5:Last chapter is Findings and Recommendations. Valuable findings
and suggestions are made after analysis and interpretation. Here the hypothesis
either rejected or accepted.














CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE









REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The consumer movement in India is as old as trade and commerce. In
KautilyasArthashastra, there are references to the concept of consumer
protection against exploitation by the trade and industry, short weighment and
measures, adulteration and punishment for these offences. However, there was
no organized and systematic movement actually safeguarding the interests of
the consumers.

With the advent of the 20th century due to rapid industrialization and
multifaceted development in India after the Independence, there appeared a
flood of consumer goods and services in the Indian Market, which almost
changed the relationship between the consumer and the trader. Technological
advancements in the field of media led to flooding of advertisements of goods
and services further worsening the otherwise grim situation. Lack of consumer
awareness, illiteracy, poverty, etc. further led to the exploitation of consumers.

Awareness of consumer rights varies in different regions in the country. It is
very poor especially among the population in rural and far-flung areas of the
country. Compared to the developed countries, the levels of consumer
awareness in such a vast country with a large population like India is much
lower. This is rooted in economic inequality, low levels of literacy and
ignorance. Because of this, consumers are not able to assert their rights and on
many occasions are exploited by the trade and industry and service providers.
Protecting and promoting the welfare of consumers has thus become one of the
major concerns.
At present the consumer movement in India is in its infancy. Vast majority of
the people are not even aware of consumerism as a movement closely connected
with the protection of their interest. Many constitutional provisions have been
made by government to protect the consumers. Until and unless the consumers
avail of these provisions, the protection of consumer becomes inevitable. There
is a great need to make them aware of their rights and responsibilities.
To study the implications of different issues in the implementation of the
Consumer Protection Act and also to identify the areas already investigated,
certain important studies already undertaken on consumer protection and
awareness are given below.
1. The first study is one which is conducted by CUTS International in
three years from 2010 to 2012 by Focusing on... Consumer movement,
Consumer Policy, Consumer protection, consumer rights, Consumer
trust, India .
George Cheriyan from CI member CUTS International discusses the results of a
recent survey showing the poor state of consumer awareness in India.Even after
25 years of the Consumer Protection Act (CoPRA) in India, only 20 percent of
consumers know about it and only 42 percent have heard about consumer rights.
Fifty-three percent of consumers are unaware of the countrys redress system,
the objective of which is to give consumers access to simple, speedy and
inexpensive redress of their grievances. These are some of the key findings of a
national survey conducted by CUTS International as part of a project entitled
Indian Consumers in the New Age: A Forward Looking Agenda to Address the
Concerns of the Common People

The purpose of the study is to get a closer look at the consumers level of
awareness of their basic rights and to present a forward-looking outline to the
Indian government to help guide ongoing action based on the recommendations.

The study has been conducted in the backdrop of the establishment of a working
group to give input into the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer
Protection(UNGCP) . The UNGCP are an international reference point for the
consumer movement and Consumers International will be working with its
members over the coming months to feed in proposals on how the guidelines
can better address the concerns of today's consumers.
Key findings of the research;
From Part A :Out of the total 2419 respondents from 12 districts, almost
quarter of percent were female participants. 32 and 33 percent of the total
respondents were graduate and higher secondary pass respectively. Remaining
was divided among primary, upper primary or illiterate. 96 percent of these
respondents had electricity at home, and out of this, 60 percent had agriculture,
84 percent had domestic, 4 had industrial and 8 with non-domestic category
connection
From Part B: 96 percent of the respondents avail electricity connection and
from the remaining four percent, a huge number of respondents, almost 68
percent, felt procedural delays as the main reason for not getting them to
electricity services, whereas 10 percent from this four percent accounted for
lack of proper infrastructure and 12 percent from this four percent only quoted
exorbitant prices of electricity as the other concerns/reasons. With regard to
regulatory reform process, a huge number of respondents, almost 65 percent are
still unaware of Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission and its functions.
This definitely indicates an improvement in the overall awareness on these
reforms that started around 12 years back, sometime in year 2000. But it is a
matter of concern that from the remaining 35 percent of respondents, who are
aware or had heard about RERC or know about its functioning, 84 percent had
not participated in any public hearing either on their own or through some
organisation, which represents a disappointing picture of consumer participation
in the regulatory reform processes. Almost half of the respondents had rated
feeder renovation programme as good project run by the government and found
it useful and consumer-friendly. On the other hand, 59 percent are not aware of
the new Public Service Guarantee Act.
From Part C: On questions related to consumers satisfaction, 59 percent
respondents are still unaware of the available grievance redressal mechanism
(GRM) adopted by utilities. From the remaining 41 percent, who are aware of
GRM, 65 do not know about the process to access GRM. From the remaining
35 percent, who knows how to reach it, 74 had not lodged. any complaint and
surprisingly 69 of the remaining 26 percent respondents, who had lodged any
type of complaint, do not seemed to be satisfied with the way their complaint
was resolved. From this set of 74 percent respondents, who had not lodged any
complaint under GRM, 26 found the redressal system as huge time taking, 22 as
worthless, 33 percent never felt the need for it presuming that it will
automatically get resolvedand rest quoted that they dis-believe in GRM.
Regarding receiving electricity connections after applying, 45 percent
respondents found it difficult to get the connection, which almost take more
than 30 days. In continuation, 53 percent were charged separately as additional
amount while given connection. 63 percent respondents do not know electricity
police stations (EPS) and from the remaining 37 percent, who knows it, 85
percent have never filed any complaint in EPS. From the remaining 15 percent,
who have filed complaint in EPS, only 13 percent seemed satisfied with the
response, they did get from EPF. 79 percent respondents are not aware of
Ombudsman. From the remaining 21, who knows it, 83 never filed appeal of
their complaints. 66 percent of the respondents reported problems/loss caused
due to supply of high voltage and out of these 66 percent, 87 percent
respondents reported that they did run to get compensation from the service
providers on account of loss caused due to high voltage resulting in burning of
electrical appliances and equipment etc. but in vein. 75 percent of the
respondents reported about the insufficient (in terms of quantity) supply, while
69 were totally unsatisfied with the quality. In case of changing faulty
meters/transformers etc., 33 percent specified nearly seven days time to get
these. 68 percent complained about fast running of their meters, which resulted
into rapid change in reading.In an interesting question, respondents were asked
as to whether the distribution companies pay to the consumers 5 percent of the
cost as compensation for taking more than the prescribed time limit to get the
meter replaced, a huge number of 80 percent said that they never received any
such compensation. 53 percent of the respondents said that electronic meters
were much more efficient and worthy than the normal meters. This result totally
disapproves the myths about this kind of meteramong consumers. 53 percent
seemed satisfied with their complaints being rectified for defective billing.

2. Another study conducted in june 2012 on the topic A Study on Consumer
Protection Awareness among Rural Consumers in Cuddalore District
by
B. Krishnakumar and S. Sakthiventhan .
The purpose of this study is to examine the consumer protection awareness in
rural consumer and lone of consumer protection awareness in rural area, in
Cuddalore district. And to examine the validity of this general statement that is
being discussed day to day activities, of consumer Protection awareness.
Sampling Procedure of the study was the researcher adopted multi stage
randomsampling technique. Cuddalore district has 7 Taluk.These 7 taluk are
classified two categories viz., high population and low population.One block
from each category was randomly selected for the study.
Cuddaloretalukwaschosen from the group of high populationtaluk and
Kurinjipaddi was selected for lowpopulation taluk. Finally, 20 respondents from
each village were randomly selected. In totally 160 sample respondents are
approached to collect the information. But, out of 160, the researcherreceived
only 125 responses were found to fit for analysis. Hence the total sample
sizedworked out to 125. The researcher developed a ten statement regarding to
the consumer protection awareness withfive point scale. Their opinions are
grouped and calculated the mean and standard deviation.From the mean value it
is observed, the respondents are experienced that the advertisementhas not
educated consumer rights and they also worried about of false weights. But
therespondents are un familiar with their rights regarding adulteration, misuse
of weights andmeasures. Packaging is also a big problem for the rural
respondents. Respondents are felt thatthey are getting deceitful packaging.
Using store for weights, using handmade balance andadulteration of food are
the protection laws are not much aware of the respondents. It is found that the
respondents are somewhat aware of law on protection of false
weights.Advertisements are exaggerated the product quality and quantity also. It
is understand thatthe consumers are less aware of consumer legal lawexplain the
role of mass media for creating consumer legal law about productstandard. The
respondents are asked to view their opinion, how they are get the
informationregarding the product standard. Majority of the respondents got
some information ofconsumer protection through newspaper (60.8%) followed
by Radio (53.6%) and out dooradvertisement (52.0%). Journal and magazine
are the media least commonly used sources ofinformation. TV is played a
moderate role of creating consumer interest. It is found that mostof the rural
consumer they came to aware of consumer protection they newspaper and
Radio.
It is a fact that the rural consumers are highly favored to listening Radio
programme. In everyvillage there is a tea shop, in the tea shop, most of them
assembled every morning and gothrough the newspaper and then they passed
the message to others. On the basis the ruralconsumers have the awareness of
consumer legal law. Hence, they are given higher priority toRadio and
newspaper.

Level of awareness regarding various terminologies is observed in the table-3.
The
data showed that 78.4 percent of the respondents aware of 916KD terminology
and 56 percent of them aware of carat (CT) terminology. 52.8 percent and 45.6
percent of respondentsare aware of Agmark and ISI terminology. But, very few
of them only aware of sanforzed,mercerized FPO, BIS and star terminology. It
is found that the rural respondents aresomewhat aware of the popular
terminology likes 916KDM, CT, Agmark and ISI. But, theother terminology
sanforized, mercerized, BIS and star. It is understand that the ruralconsumers
are having some level of awareness when they purchase gold and food.
Hence,they have awareness of gold item terminology and food item
terminology. But, they are nothaving awareness on steel related terminology,
electrical goods terminology.
Table - 4 explain the respondents opinion towards consumer protection
awareness
based on gender of the respondents.From the mean value it is observed that the
male respondents are comparativelyhaving the high level of awareness towards.
But, female are having comparatively moreawareness towards.


Findings, Recommendation and Conclusion
On the basis of research objectives the researcher applied a appropriate
statistical toolsto know the awareness level of consumer protection among the
rural consumers. From theanalysis the researcher found the important findings
of the study. In this chapter the researcherpresented a finding of the study,
recommendation to the policy makers and conclusion also
drawn.The awareness of legal law on adulteration of food stuff is low among
the rural respondents.The awareness of legal action for adulteration of drugs are
moderate level among the ruralrespondents.Awareness of legal law for misuse
of weight, using handmade balance for weight, lessquantity in the package are
very low.Rural respondents are felt that the advertisements are deceitful. Apart
from that packages arealso deceitful.Most of the respondents are expressed that
the mass media like TV, Radio and Newspaper arethe most important sources
for creating consumer protection awareness. Whereas Journalsand Magazine are
the least sources among the rural respondents fro making consumerprotection
awareness. Moreover, out door advertisements are also having the some impact
on
consumer protection awareness.There is a significant difference of opinion
towards consumer protection legal law on thebasis of respondents age. Young
age respondents are having more level of awareness on legallaw of adulation of
food and drug then others. And they also felt that the advertisement
andpackaging are dishonest. Middle age respondents are having moderate level
of awareness
towards the legal law of misuse of weights. But, old age people are having less
awareness onconsumer protection law.There is a significant different of opinion
towards consumer protection legal law on the basisof respondents gender. When
comparing the male and female, male are having comparativelyhigh level of
awareness than female.
Recommendation
It is found that the rural respondents are having low level of awareness on
consumerprotection/law. The government, voluntary organization and
educational institute shouldcome forward to educate the rural respondents
towards important of their rights andresponsibilities. This com be done through
the frequently conducting of awareness compagain in rural area.Hence, the
manufactures try to create the awareness on this terminology. And
therespondents should be trained the importance of these terminology.
Manufacture/firm ownersshould spend some of the amount towards educating
the rural respondents.TV, Radio and Newspaper are the vital media in rural
places. Hence, the authorities try tosave advertisement through this media for
consumer protection. What are protection laws isavailable for them and how
they can protect themselves. These things can be advertised
through this media.It may be recommended that Mass Media and educational
institutions need play an effectiverole in consumer awakening and imparting
information regarding organizations working forthe consumers interest in their
area.It is extremely imperative to encourage volunteers; who are gallant,
audacious and fort rights,concerned in consumer protection movement.
Organizations, NGOs, institutions and agencies allied to consumer movements
shouldhearten administrative advocacy in setting consumer disputes.

3. Another study is on the topic Consumer Protection Act Awareness
among dentists? conducted in november 2012 by Sikka MS, Anup NP,
Aradhya Singh in Jaipur.
The background of the study was ,With the inclusion of health care services
under Consumer Protection Act, a spurt in litigations arising out of breach in
medical/dental profession is seen. Thus, it becomes imperative for health
professionals today to be aware of such laws. And the objective of the study
was to assess and compare the awareness about Consumer Protection Act
among dentists (dentists in teaching institutions and dentists in private practice.)
And the materials and method of the study was questionnaire survey was carried
out on
a total of 224 dentists [112 dentists in teaching institutions (DTI)] from Manipal
and Mangalore and 112 dentists in private practice (DPP) from Udupi and
Mangalore, Karnataka, India]. Statistical Analysis was done using SPSS version
10. Chi- square test was used to compare between the categorical variables. The
findings from the study was as follows; the demographic details of the
participating dentists are given in Table 1. A total of 224 dentists completed the
questionnaire. Males and females were equal in proportion. Among the
participating dentists, 69.6% of dentists in teaching institutions (DTI) as
compared to 76.8% of dentists in private practice (DPP) stated to be aware of
Consumer
Protection Act (Table 2) however subsequent analysis did not reveal the
same. A non significant difference was seen among DTI and DPP for awareness
regarding various rules and regulations about COPRA. Only 15.4% and 11.6%
of
DTI and DPP respectively were aware of maximum compensation under
COPRA as greater than 20 lakhs. Similarly very less percentage of DTI and
DPP (23.1% Vs
23.3%) were aware of maximum time period to sue with evidence under
COPRA
as within 2 years of treatment. Relatively few DTI 59% as compared to 69.7%
of DPP were aware that beneficiaries in case of mishap in a minor case are both
child and parents/guardians .

4. Next study conducted by CUTS international with the support of Minstry of
consumers Affairs ,Government of India in 2012 . The title of the study is,
Indian Consumers in the New Age: A Forward Looking Agenda to Address
the Concerns of theCommon People (ConsumersUp)
The major findings of the study was In India, even after 25 years, only 20
percent consumers know about the Consumer Protection Act (COPRA)
and who has heard about consumer rights is just 42 percent. However,
these findings are still encouraging considering the fact that five years
ago the consumer awareness level was just18 and 34 percent
respectively.
There are various laws and regulations that directly or indirectly
influence citizens right to basic needs. However, in spite of this basic
right, it is still a distant dream mainly due to the lack e of proper
implementation of various schemes/programmes to ensure this right.
In order to make the sustainability approach both successful and
sustainable, India needs to have a process of giving incentives to
producers of green goods through preferential allocation of resources,
facilitate development of infrastructure, additionally there is a need to
make the supply chains of resources and technology more efficient and
effective.
There is an increasing felt need for an introduction of consumer issues
with more emphasis in school and college curriculum, establishment of
consumer clubs in education institutions, increasing involvement of civil
society organisations in consumer awareness programmes would further
strengthen consumer education.
The strength of the right to choice of consumers is directly proportional
to the level of competition in the economy.
There is also a need for massive awareness campaigns and information
dissemination among the consumers about the existing legal remedies
available to consumers.
To make the grievance redressal process more convenient for consumers
an effective consumer education with respect to consumer rights need to
be provided and the existing mechanism for grievance redressal need to
be further strengthened.

5. Another study is on the title Comparative Study of Consumer
Awareness among Males and Females of Kangra District of Himachal
Pradesh and it was conducted in 2012 by JatinderKishtwaria, Shikha
Sharma, Avinash Sharma and ArunaRana.
The study was conducted on 120 respondents comprising 60 males and 60
females in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh to ascertain awareness level of
both the categories for consumer terminologies, legal laws and organizations.
Mean scores on consumer awareness statements depicted that nearly fifty
percent respondents were having low level of awareness.
The objectives of the study was
To assess the awareness of respondents towards (i) consumer
terminology (ii) legal laws.
To ascertain the awareness of respondents regarding consumer
organizations and various information sources.
The Research methodology of the study are: a) Research Design: Survey
method was used with a structured type questionnaire as the data-collecting
instrument.
(b) Pre- Testing: Pre testing was done on 20 subjects (10 males and 10
females) for clarity andreliability of the tool.(c) Sampling Procedure: The
sample for the
study was selected from Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Selective
sampling was chosen after critical review of literature. It has been observed that
consumer behaviour has been imposed on a range of people belonging to middle
class. Both rich and poor have different problems. Therefore, the present study
was limited to middle class society. Fifty percent respondents were males and
50 percent females having formal education. (d) Data Collection: In total 150
questionnaires were distributed out of which 120 sample was finally selected.
The results of the study are as follows;
Consumer Awareness: It was observed from Table 1 that out of total, 41.6
percent respondents have low level of awareness regarding consumer terms.
Amongst this, 15.0 percent are males and 26.6 percent females. Only 23.3
percent respondents had partial awareness out of which 15.0 percent are males
and 8.3 percent females.
Out of total, 35 percent respondents had high level of awareness with 20 percent
belonging to males and 15 percent to females.
Legal awareness: Regarding legal awareness showed that majority of males
and female respondents were awareabout the legal laws protecting the
consumers
against adulteration of food stuffs (90 percent males, 86.6 percent females),
adulteration of drugs (90 percent males, 86.6 percent females): short weighing
(86.6 percent each of males and females); false weights and measures (86.6
percent males, 76.6 percent females); using stones for weights (80.6 percent
males, 63.3 percent females); using hand made balance (76.6 percent males and
50
percent females) and using deceitful packaging (70 percent males and 43.3
percent females). It was concluded from the above findings that males were
having better awareness regarding legal laws than female respondents.
Awareness of Respondents Regarding Consumer Terminology: Level of
awarenessregarding various terminologies was observedin Table 3. The data
showed that 53.3 percentmales and 66.6 percent females were aware ofterm Ag
mark. The term I.S.I was known to 60percent males and 66.6 percent female
respondents. About 30 percent males and 40 percent female respondents were
aware of the term mercerization. It was inferred from the findings that more
number of female respondents were aware of these specific terms than men. It
may be attributed to the fact that it is related more to clothing which is
frequently purchased.
Source of I nformation Regarding Consumer Terminology: Majority of male
and femalerespondents got some information of consumerinterest through T.V.
(86.6 percent males and6.6 percent females) followed by radio, newspaperand
magazines (Table 4). Journals were leastcommonly used sources of information
(33.3percent males and 36.3 percent males). It can be concluded that mass
media can effectively be used to promote information and awareness especially
to educated respondents belonging to middle income group. Mass- media can
also play an effective role for masses belon-ging to different socio- economic
categories also.
Awareness Regarding Consumer Organizations: The data in Table 5 showed
that 80percent males and 53.3 percent females were awareabout consumer
organizations working in andaround their area. On the contrary, only 40 males
and 26.6 percent females had shown any interest in joining these organizations.
The reason given by majority of them was lack of time and no interest in joining
them, as it will yield no results.
Recommendation of the study was mass- media and educational institutions
need to play an effective role in consumer awakening and imparting information
regarding organizations working for the consumers interest in their area.

6. Another study conducted by DR. AbhigyanBhattacharjeeAssociate
Professor, Department of Management, North Eastern HillUniversity, Tura
Campus, Meghalaya in October 2013 on the title An Empirical Analysis
on the Consumers Awareness of Rights and Educationwith reference to
FMCG products
Objective of the Study of the study where ;To have an idea about the utilization
of existing knowledge of consumereducation towards FMCG products, an
extensive empirical survey among the ruralpopulace was conducted in Kamrup
district (rural) among the target consumers.The prime objective of the paper is
to find the extent of utilization of existingknowledge of Consumer Education
among the rural populace of Assam towardsFMCG products.
The research methodology of the study was Altogether 300 consumers
belonging to General, SC and ST community were surveyed adopting a multi
staged random sampling technique. Over twenty villages in the two sub-
divisions are being selected for the purpose of our study. The selection of four
blocks from Guwahati sub-division constitutes 30 per cent of the total blocks
(11) in the same sub-division, whereas the selection of one block from Rangia
sub-division constitutes 30 per cent of the total blocks (4) of the same
subdivision. The proportion of households belonging to the three classes, viz,
Gen, ST and SC categories is kept in the ratio 3:2:1 i.e. out of 300 household
150 for General Caste, 100 for Scheduled Tribe and 50 for Scheduled Caste.
The results of the study are as follows ;
Extent of Utilization of Existing Knowledge of Consumer Education by
Rural
Consumers on matter of bargain over MRP: Table1 indicates that of the rural
respondents, nearly half (47%) of theGeneral category respondents always
bargained over the MRP, while 25% seldombargained and rest 28% of the
respondents belonging to general category neverbargained over the MRP. In
case of respondents belonging to the ST community thefigure shows that 35%
of the respondents always bargained over the MRP, thefigure is more in case of
respondents who seldom bargain over the MRP (44%),whereas 21% of the
respondents never bargained over the MRP. The respondentsbelonging to the
SC community were 36% who always bargained over the MRP,while 44%
bargained seldom and 20% of the respondents of the same communitynever
bargained over the MRP.It may be seen that the respondents have the
knowledge that there is a
provision to bargain over the MRP of a product. In most of the cases the
respondents opined that the retailer also lowered the price on the MRP if
bargain is made in a proper way.
Extent of Utilization of Existing Knowledge of Consumer Education by
Rural
Consumers on matter of expiry of products: It is important to note that more
than half of the respondents belonging to the category, viz., GEN, ST and SC,
never verify expiry date before buying goods as reflects from Table 2. This
figure tends to 57.3%, 52% and 46% respectively among the category of
respondents. Whereas only 24.6%, 8% and 10% of the respondents belonging to
the Gen, SC and ST respectively always verify the expiry date before buying the
goods. The respondents who seldom verify the expiry date entailed to 18.6%,
40% and 44% of the same category respectively. The figure connotes that
verifying expiry date is not a necessary criteria while buying goods.
Extent of Utilization of Existing Knowledge of Consumer Education by
Rural
Consumers on looking /insisting popular branded products: In case of
respondents who always insist for popular branded products while making
purchase, amounts to 56% of the General, 36% of the ST and 54% of the SC
community as evident from Table 3. While 11.3%, 35% and 32% respondents
respectively seldom insist for popular branded products. Further, respondents
who
never insist for popular branded products were 12% in case of SC, and 32.6% in
case of Gen and 29% for ST respectively.
It is also found that the reason for insisting popular branded products was
due to the influence of advertisement which they see in the TV. The respondents
are having latest knowledge of the availability of branded products which they
insist for while making purchase.
Extent of Utilization of Existing Knowledge of Consumer Education by
Rural
Consumers on matter of insisting retailer for vouchers/cash memo: It was
strange to note from Table 4, that more than three-fourth of the respondents
belonging to the Gen, ST and SC (84.6%, 82%, and 84%) respectively never
took cash memo after buying. Only 6%, 8% and 4% of the respondents
belonging to the Gen, ST and SC category took cash memo after buying.
Respondents who seldom take cash memo were 9.3%, 10% and 12 % of the
category respectively. This reflects that majority of the respondents never know
it to be a necessary right to be exercised. Many respondents although construed
that they are provided with a paper slip with the amount mentioned which they
consider as good as cash memo.

Extent of Utilization of Existing Knowledge of Consumer Education by
Rural
Consumers on checking ISI/AGMARK: Regarding the checking of ISI mark
and AGMARK a very similar pattern has been observed in rural areas (Table 5).
Approximately identical percentage (71.3%, 73% and 72%) belonging to the
Gen, ST and SC category respectively of the rural respondents never bothered
to check these marks on the products. As far as checking of ISI mark
/AGMARK on food products among fast moving consumer goods is concerned
only 14% in case of Gen, ST and only 12% belonging to SC of the rural
respondents always checked it, followed by almost identical percentage, i.e.
14.6% for Gen, 13% for ST and 16% for ST who seldom checked the concerned
mark.
This shows that the buying decisions of the rural respondents belonging to the
each of the category viz., Gen, ST and SC are almost identical.
The findings and recommendations of the study was from the present study, it
has been observed that amongst all the respondents belonging across GEN, ST
and SC populace, the rural consumers are having poor awareness in displaying
adequate knowledge in consumer education. Although consumers exhibited
awareness in some segments of consumer knowledge as explored in the study,
the rural consumers need to be much aware in the extent of utilization of
existing knowledge of consumer education in their respective purchase
decisions. The post purchase evaluation in terms of which a selected product
meets or exceeds the expectations of the consumer is generally held to be ideal
outcome of consumer decision which is guided by adequate consumer
knowledge leading to consumer satisfaction. Thus, it is need of the hour that the
rural consumers exhibit more knowledge in their purchase behaviour in order to
safeguard their own rights and shield themselves from deception and
malpractices of sellers which cannot be overcome in midst of ignorance and
lack in consumer knowledge and education. Consumer awareness camps,
organizing seminars by NGOs and proactive role of government and more
particularly an informed populace can help in ensuring a sustained practice in
the domain of consumerism.

7. Next study is on the title Assessment of Consumer Awareness amongst
Undergraduate Students of Thane District-A Case Study conducted by
Indira Nair M.A., M. Phil., Assistant Professor, Smt. C.H.M. College,
Ulhasnagar- Mumbai, India in may 2012.
The objectives of the study were;
To prod consumer awareness regarding ration card and card holders
rights.
To assess consumer awareness amongst under graduate students
regarding information to be displayed in a ration shop.
To probe the awareness of the undergraduate students regarding the
intellectual property rights and consumer protection.
To analyze the opinion poll amongst the students.


The research methodology of the study are ; the study is largely descriptive and
analytical. The required data for the study was collected from primary and
secondary sources; the primary source constitutes the main corpus of
information as it will make the major thrust area to collect reliable complete and
first hand information about the awareness of consumers in the areas under
study. To test the objectives, field study was conducted wherein a combination
of direct approach, comprising of questionnaire-aided interviews, discussions
and observational techniques was followed.
Primary data was collected from the sample subjects, the undergraduate
students of conventional courses from six different colleges which were
randomly selected from the areas of Ambarnath, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan, Murbad,
Bhiwandi, and Thane talukas of Thane District on the basis of geographical
location convenient to the researcher.
Similarly, information was collected from officials of Consumer Guidance
Society, Mumbai GrahakPanchayat and consumers at large.
In order to test the above stated objectives 850 questionnaires were distributed
to the under graduate students. Out of the 850 questionnaires, 758
questionnaires which were correctly filled were taken into account, out of which
404 were females and 354 were male students.
Findings of the study are ;Assessment Regarding Ration Card and Card
Holders Rights:While assessing the awareness of student regarding the
statement that weekly quota is not forfeited if not purchased, it was observed
that only 17.5% students from all the six colleges taken together were aware of
the law. Partially aware percentage was estimated to be 12.0% and majority of
the students who were unaware of the law was 70.4%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the statement that samples
of food grains to be displayed in sealed plastic bags it was observed that
majority of students from all the six colleges taken together were aware of the
law i.e. 48.4%. Partially aware percentage was estimated to be 17.8% and the
students who were unaware of the law was 33.8%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the information that yellow
receipts have to be issued with date of purchase, it was observed that majority
of students from all the six colleges taken together were aware of the law i.e.
52.2%. Partially aware percentage was estimated to be 12.7% and the students
who were unaware of the law was 35.1%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the law that there is no rule
that ration quota can be purchased only once a day, it was it was observed that a
meager percentage of the students from all the six colleges taken together were
aware of the law i.e. 14.9%. Partially aware percentage was estimated to be
12.9% and majority of the students who were unaware of the law was 72.2%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the law that no fees to be
charged for adding or deleting names in the existing ration card , it was
observed that a small percentage of the students from all the six colleges taken
together were aware of the law i.e. 25.7%. Partially aware percentage was
estimated to be 8.5% and majority of the students who were unaware of the law
were 65.8%.
Assessment Regarding Information to be displayed in a Ration Shop:
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the rule that it is mandatory
to display registration number of the ration shop , it was it was observed that
majority of the students from all the six colleges taken together were aware of
the law i.e. 60.8%. Partially aware percentage was estimated to be 8.5% and
students who were unaware of the law were 30.7%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the rule that it is mandatory
to display inspectors name and time of his weekly visit, it was it was observed
that only30.7% of the students from all the six colleges taken together were
aware of the law. Partially aware percentage was estimated to be 17.9% and
students who were unaware of the law was estimated to be 51.4%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the rule that it is mandatory
to display of stock position of all ration commodities in units, it was observed
that only18.6% of the students from all the six colleges taken together were
aware of the law. Partially aware percentage was estimated to be 11.6% and
majority of the students who were unaware of the law i.e. 69.8%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the rule that it is mandatory
to display of official price list, it was observed that 32.6% of the students from
all the six colleges taken together were aware of the law. Partially aware
percentage was estimated to be 11.9% and majority of the students who were
unaware of the law i.e. 55.5%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the rule that it is mandatory
to display of total number of ration cards registered with the shop, it was
observed that meager percentage of the students from all the six colleges taken
together were aware of the law i.e.14.6%. Partially aware percentage was
estimated to be 11.4% and majority of the students who were unaware of the
law i.e. 74.0%.
While assessing the awareness of students regarding the rule that it is mandatory
to display of total number of units registered with the shop, it was observed that
a very small percentage of the students from all the six colleges taken together
were aware of the law i.e.13.7%. Partially aware percentage was estimated to be
11.4% and majority of the students who were unaware of the law i.e. 74.9%.
Assessment Regarding Intellectual Property Rights and Consumer
Protection:
While assessing the information of students in all the six colleges under study
regarding the awareness of existence of Trademarks Act of 1999, it was found
that majority percentage of the students i.e. 63.2% of the students from all the
six colleges taken together were aware of it and only 36.8% of the students were
unaware of the Act.
While assessing the information of students regarding the awareness of
Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection Act, 1999), it
was found that only a meager percentage of the students i.e. 18.2% of the
students from all the six colleges taken together were aware and majority of the
students who were unaware of it was estimated to be 81.8%.
While assessing the information of students regarding the awareness of
Competition Act, 2002, it was found that only a meager percentage of the
students i.e. 25.5% of the students from all the six colleges taken together were
aware and majority of the students who were unaware was estimated to be
74.5%.
Suggestions of the study are;
Imparting Consumer Education ,Formation of Local Organizations of Ration
Card Holders,Need for a Strong Intellectual Property Right Regime,Activation
of Consumer Clubs in Schools andColleges etc.

8. Another study is on the title Buying Practices and Consumer Rights
Awareness Amongst Management Students conducted by Manoj S.
Kulkarni1 and M. B. Mehta ,AssistantProfessores, Institute of Management
Studies Career Development & Research,Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India in
july 2013.
Objectives of the study was;
To examine the buying practices among management scholars,
To ascertain the awareness level of management scholars about consumer
rights.
Research methodology of the study was;
Both primary as well as secondary data are used to compile this study. Primary
data is collected from the students of management institutions from
Ahamadnagar while secondary data is collected from ministry of consumer
affairs food and public distribution and various consumer organizations. The
survey is conducted through a questionnaire in order to collect data. Sample size
for this study was 50 management students from the Ahmednagar city, which
were selected through simple random sampling method.
Research results and discussion of the study are;
The research result indicates that 54% management students as a consumer
always check the expiry date of the products, 22% management students as a
consumer often check the expiry date of the products, 8% sometimes, while 6%
rarely and 10% never check the expiry date of the products which they buy. It is
very interesting that most of the management students as a consumer (92%)
dont cross check the weights of the products, just only 8% cross check weights
of the products. Most of the management students as a consumer (70%) always
check the prices of the goods while 20% often check, 6% sometimes and 4%
rarely check the
prices of the products. A large number of management students as a consumer
(68%) always check the quality of the products, 24% often, 4% sometimes and
4% rarely check the quality of the products while purchasing the merchandise.
It is surprising that 42% management students as a consumer never ask for the
purchasing bill, but 40% always ask while 10% rarely, 4% sometimes and 4%
often ask for the same. Most of the management students (65%) are aware about
consumer forums while 62% also are aware about consumer rights.Among these
62% management students, most of them are aware about their five basic rights
as a consumer i.e. right to information, right to redressal, right to safety, right to
choose, and right to education about products and services. It is also surprising
that only 5% of the total aware and educated (about consumer rights)
management students have lodged the complaint in consumer forums.
Findings and suggestions of the study was the management students as
consumers check the expiry date of the product, quality, the price of the
merchandise, but the majority of the consumers does not cross check the weight
of the merchandise and do not for the bill. Due to this approach, the government
loses the revenue. Management students are aware about consumer rights but
they never lodge complaint against sellers. Consumer organizations and
government should make them aware about the procedure of registering
complaints and seeking redressal. Their complaints should be heard and taken
care off. Only these efforts can bring change in the mindset of society regarding
consumers rights.

9. Next study is on the title Consumer awareness and Consumer
Protection Act a study by Sewanand,Research Scholar, CMJ University
in june 2010.

The Paper has been written to study the general awareness among consumer for
consumer protection and specially awareness of provisions of Consumer
Protection Act. It specifically studies the level of awareness with regard to
procedural formalities to be completed while filing a complaint in consumer
forum. It also explains the important theoretical points related to protection of
consumers interest. For this purpose a sample of 50 respondents has been
taken. Data has been collected through well structured questionnaire. Analysis
and interpretation of data have shown very interesting, alarming and
informative results and findings. At the end some recommendations have been
given for strengthening the present setup more effective.

Important objectives of the present study are:
To understand the concept of consumer and its problems, to have a
glimpse on the concept of consumer protection and on methods of
consumer protection.
To study the general awareness among consumers regarding consumer
protection measures.
To specifically study the awareness among consumers regarding the
various important procedural formalities for filling complaints under
Consumer Protection Act 1986.
To draw some conclusions and give some recommendations for
strengthening the consumer awareness programme more effective.

Research methodologyofthe study is mainly based on primary data. The primary
data has been collected from 50 consumers, through a well - structured
questionnaire. Consumers have been selected from the various parts of Haryana
State. This was purposive-cumconvince sampling method. In addition to
primary data, secondary data also have been used. Various journals, magazines,
books, electronic sources have also been consulted.

The general awareness regarding consumer protection among 50 respondents. It
shows that all the respondents are fully aware about the concept of consumer
protection. The entire respondent are aware about the term, 'JagoGrahakJago',
the special punch line used by the government to create consumer awareness
among society, All of them have listened or seen some or more advertisement
on this theme. Everyone is aware regarding qualitative aspects related to
products and services. Consumer protection act 1986 is a known Act for all of
them. Table has shown that 100% response in relation to general awareness
regarding consumer protection.
Conclusions and Suggestions of the study are Consumer Awareness in India is
growing day by day. Consumer Associations, Business Associations and
Government Legislations are working to safeguard the interests of the
consumers. The consumer protection Act 1986 is the benevolent social
legislation intended to protect the large body of consumers from exploitation. It
has become vehicle for enabling consumers to secure speedy and inexpensive
redressal of their disputes. It clearly specify the concept of goods, services,
defect, deficiency etc. It clearly explains the procedure for filing complaint,
relief available, appeals etc. It is working as a three tier system (District, State,
National) as a quasi-judicial machinery. The survey clearly shows that all the
respondents are having general awareness in relation to consumer protection.
They are well-versed with the term 'JagoGrahakJago' almost in all respect.
Quality parameters/standards like ISI, ISO, Agmarks etc. are also not new for
them. To overcome this unawareness it is hereby suggested that although huge
amount is being spended by the government for creating awareness, but the
procedural part is not being shown in the advertisements. Special
advertisements should be created to educate the consumers regarding procedure
for filing complaint, where to file complaint, when to file complaints etc. News
Paper, News Channels should also come forward to educate the consumers on
these points. Consumer Association should also come forward to should work
more and more to aware the consumers to raise voice against exploitation. Last
but not the least; the consumers must educate himself/herself
about his rights and availability of redressal mechanisms.

10. Next study is on the title Perception Of Ethics & Consumer Protection
Act (CPA) Among Doctors by Santhosh C S, Associate Professor,
andNawaz B, Assistant professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, J. J.
M. Medical College, Davangere, India conducted in November 2013.

The purpose of this study is to stress the importance of medical ethics & CPA
among Doctors. This study included the Academic Professional doctors as they
have to realize the importance of these topics in their day to day practice.
A cross-sectional study was conducted at Bapuji Hospital and Research
center, Davangere. A questionnaire was prepared and one hundred Doctors
(Academic professionals) who willfully consented to participate were asked to
fill their response among the choice given. A self-administered, structured
questionnaire written in English validated through a pretested survey including
20 items was used to evaluate the awareness and practices regarding ethics and
CPA among all the participants. The questions were based on ethics, awareness
of provisions of CPA as applied to medical profession, aims and objectives of
CPA, conditions a consumer comes under CPA, time period for the patient to
sue the concerned doctor, in case of frivolous complaint, time of appeal against
orders of
the district forum. No prior intimation was given about this questionnaire and
they had to fill their response on the spot. Knowledge about medical ethics and
Consumer Protection Act (CPA) is very essential now a day as it is the era of
litigations. A questionnaire regarding Ethics and CPA was prepared to know
about the awareness of these topics among doctors. Though 98% of the doctors
had heard about CPA and knew that they were included in CPA, only 46% of
the doctors could identify the limitation period for suing a doctor correctly. A
overwhelming 32% of the doctors believed that limitation period for filing a
complaint was 14 days. To conclude it is our duty to know about CPA and adapt
protective measures like good documentation, discussing with the patients about
treatment/ operation, taking Consent personally and thus avoid litigations in the
future. The results clearly indicate the knowledge of Medical Ethics and CPA is
limited. Adapt protective measures like good documentation, discussing with
the patients about treatment/ operation, taking Consent personally and thus
avoid litigations in the future.









CHAPTER 3
THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK











CONSUMER PROTECTION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS
In business and economic planning the consumer should be held supreme in any
economy. It is his ultimate satisfaction that matters. While addressing a group of
businessmen, Gandhiji also once said, "A customer is the most important visitor
on our premises. He is dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an
interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is a part of it. We are not
doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an
opportunity to do so." Gandhi's words place the consumer on a very high
pedestal. But the consumer's high place is only a myth so far as the Indian
economy is considered. Indian consumer is an utterly helpless fellow. He has no
say in the quality or nature of goods that are sent to the market for his
consumption.
He is a victim of numerous malpractices. He is often made to buy adulterated or
substandard goods. Second hand goods are passed on to him as new. Clever
businessmen, through glossy salesmanship, misleading advertisements and tall
claims about their products, rob the consumer of his hard-earned money. The
consumer knows what is happening to him. But except making a loud,
individual kind of protest, which has no effect on the mammon-worshipping
businessmen, there is very little that he can do to check his systematic
exploitation.
Since a majority of our consumers, particularly in the rural areas, are illiterate,
they are not able to distinguish between the genuine and the spurious or the
good and the bad. It is mainly these consumers who suffer at the hands of
unscrupulous businessmen. Our consumers also suffer from a total absence of
awareness among them. They know nothing about their rights, they are ignorant
of the laws. First of all, the laws on trademarks, essential commodities, drugs,
weights and measures etc., are not very effective. Secondly, the standard of
morals in our country being what it is, the businessmen do not find it difficult to
steer clear of laws through greasing the palms of the inspection staff. Besides,
litigation is such a costly and time consuming affair that no consumer has the
courage and patience to throw cudgels on behalf of his ever suffering
community.
The cumulative result of these commissions and profit margins has been a lop-
sided and totally unfair arrangement which seeks to take advantage of the plight
of the consumer who realizes that he is being fleeced but is totally helpless to do
anything about it. Fortunately, the realization has lately dawned on the
authorities at various levels that something needs to be done to protect the
interests of the consumer to save him from exploitation arid to ensure that he
gets the worth of his money in respect of both quality and quantity.
Some years ago, Mr. Rajyadhyaksha, a former judge of the Supreme Court
spoke of the rights of a consumer in a free society and of how these rights could
be assured. In particular, he laid emphasis on three rights the right to choose, the
right to be informed and the right to be heard. All these rights assume the
existence of certain conditions.
The basic rights of a consumer were precisely defined by no less a person than
the late President John F. Kennedy, who articulated what had long been known
in advanced countries and among vigilant, highly educated people. The rights as
defined by him are : (1) the right to safety and to be protected against the
marketing of goods which are health hazards or pose a danger to life itself; (ii)
the right to be informed so as to be protected against fraudulent, deceitful or
grossly misleading information, advertising, labeling or other such practices and
to be given the facts he needs to make an informal choice; (iii) The right to
choose and to be assured; as far as possible, access to variety of products and
services at competitive prices, and in industries in which free competition is not
workable and Government regulation is substituted to be assured satisfactory
quality and service at fair prices; and (iv) The right to be heard and thus to be
assured that consumer interests will receive full and sympathetic consideration
in the formulation of governmental policy and fair and expeditious treatment in
its administrative tribunals.
Since India has for decades been a seller's market where the manufacturer and
the trader have the upper hand and manage to sell whatever is marketed, the
awareness of the consumer's basic rights as defined by former President,
Kennedy and others, has taken a longtime coming. For all practical purposes,
the consumer has been made the victim of monopolistic practices even where
there is no monopoly goods. Until recently, there was no appropriate legislation
on the statute book to ensure a fair deal to the consumer, where there was some
kind of protective legislation, it was seldom enforced and remained on paper
only.
A few purposeful Acts have been passed by Parliament to protect the interests
of the consumer and these reflect the Government's desire to do the needful in
this direction. But as stated above, the flaw has been in the implementation. The
manufacturers, the traders, both wholesalers and retailers, know this and,
therefore, they go on merrily overcharging and fleecing the consumer in both
quality and quantity. The poor consumer is left high and dry.
The Weights and Measures (Law Revision) Committee, commonly known as
the Maitra Committee, estimated a few years ago that the faulty weights and
measures enabled the trade to gain both ways; even one per cent error in
commercial transactions carried out in the country by inaccurate weights and
measures causes the consumer a loss of over Rs 170 crores in cities; the farmers
stand to lose about Rs. 150 crores by such a fault. A later report released in
January 1977 disclosed that under-weighing alone cheated the consumers to the
extent of Rs. 3,000 crores annually. This indicates the magnitude of the loss the
consumerssufferall through the lapse on the Government's part in enforcing a
strict check on the weights and measures being used by traders at various levels.
The interests of the consumer can be protected by making more stringent laws
and making the enforcement machinery perform its function honestly and
diligently. Among the methods adopted by the Government in its effort to
protect the consumer's interests are : the order requiring display of price lists in
shop; the orders fixing the limits of stocks of certain commodities which can be
stored at one time; the order requiring fixation of price tag& and printing weight
and prices on cartons; opening of more fair price shops; the prescription
necessitating a certificate from the Bureau Indian of Standards (BIS) regarding
the quality of the stuff being sold. There is also the Monopolies and Restrictive
Trade Practices Act (MRTP) to act as the watch dog of the Indian consumer.
The consumer movement in India, unfortunately, has developed very slowly.
Periodic efforts are made to organize a network of consumer societies, but the
impact has been minimal. Again it is ironical that while defects in automobiles,
freezers, fans, packed foods etc. have been, highlighted, not much attention has
been given the people's essential requirements. The masses are virtually
voiceless in this field; they accept whatever is given by the 'grocer'. Owing to
their general ignorance, they are the most common victims of the force of
capitalists exploitation. Consumer protection should start at the lower levels
and work upwards. The laws of the land should be adjusted accordingly.
The Indian consumer also needs to be educated about his rights, as has been
done in the U.S.A., Britain and other advanced countries. Quality should
become the norm instead of being the excep-tion in this country. Every possible
effort should be made to enable the consumer to get full value for his money. In
this venture the co-operation of all sections of the people and also of the
industrialists is essential. If industry exercises self-discipline and persuades all
the manufacturers and businessmen to ensure quality and correct weights, much
of the difficulty will vanish. Consumers organizations exist in some towns of
the country, but after the initial flush of enthusiasm they become silent and
cease to function. The network of super patroni was established with high
hopes, but they have made only a marginal impact on the general price level.
They do have considerable patronage but owing to a certain bureaucratic
practices and the time-consuming procedures they follow, many people prefer,
to continue patronizing the petty traders near their homes.
Obviously, consumers protection is possible in India, but effective enforcement
by legislation and a sustained drive to educate the people are necessary.
Happily, TV programmes have begun to dis-cuss the problems of consumer
protection and consumers movement and a separate cell for consumer
protection has been formed in the Ministry of Food and Supplies. Let us hope
the consumer movement gathers momentum in times to come.
PROBLEMS FACED BY CONSUMERS
Consumers may be deceived in various ways by unscrupulous businessmen
including traders, dealers, producers and manufacturers as well as service
providers. Some of the following unfair practices must have come to your
notice sometime or the other:

Adulteration
Sale of spurious products
Use of false weights and measures
Sale of duplicates
Hoarding and black-marketing
Tie-in-Sales
Offering gifts having no additional value
Misleading advertisement
CONSUMER PROTECTION:-
Consumerism/consumer Awareness in India is growing. The growing feeling
among them that they are ruthlessly exploited and taken for a ride which has
organized the consumer movement. Many sellers even do not response to the
genuine grievance of consumers and many products fails to satisfy the requisite
quality and safety standards. Due to all these consumer have been more
critical/aware of the policies and practices of business houses in the recent years
than ever before. Consumers are organizing themselves for the protection of
their interests. Such a move to better the protection offered to the consumer is
called consumerism, which in other word is also called consumers protection
awareness. In simple words consumer protection is a form of social action
which is created to attain the well being of consumers.

For effective consumer protection, a practical response on the part three parties,
for example, the business, the government and the consumers, is essential.
Firstly, the business, comprising the producers and all the elements of the
distribution channels, has to pay due regard to consumer rights. The producer
has an inescapable responsibility to ensure efficiency in production and quality
of output. He should also resist the temptation to charge exorbitant prices in a
sellers market. Many a time, the imperfections on the supply side, like
hoarding and black marketing, mercilessly gouge the consumer. Hence, a
socially responsible producer should see to it that whatever is produced reaches
the ultimate consumer in time and at reasonable prices.
As T.Thomas observes, Restraint is best exercised voluntarily than through
legislation which will otherwise become inevitable. Advertising agencies and
marketing management have a very important role to play in this respect. By
overplaying the claims, they will be cutting the very branch on which they are
perched
Secondly, the government has to come to the rescue of the helpless consumer to
prevent him from being mislead, duped, cheated and exploited. It should also
take special care of the vulnerable sections.
The UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection points out that the government
role in consumer protection is vital and finds expression through policy making,
legislation and the development of institutional capacity for it enforcement. To
provide a legal basis for enforcing basic consumer rights, every country needs
to have an irreducible minimum of consumer protection legislation, covering
physical safety, promotion and protection of consumers economic interests,
standards for the safety and quality of goods and services, distribution facilities,
redress, and education and information programmes. Government also requires
the necessary machinery to enforce such legislation. The guidelines encourage
governments to develop, strengthen or maintain a strong consumer protection
policy. In so doing each government must set its own priorities for the
protection of consumers in accordance with its economic and social
circumstances and the needs of its population.
The UN Guidelines also calls upon the Government to establish distribution
facilities for essential consumer goods and services. It is suggested that
governments should ,where Appropriate ,consider: (a)Adopting or maintaining
policies to ensure the efficient distribution of goods and services to consumers;
where appropriate ,specific policies should considered to ensure the distribution
of essential goods and services where this distribution is endangered ,as could
be the case particularly in rural areas .such policies could include assistance for
the creation of adequate storage and retail facilities in rural centres ,incentives
for consumer self-help and better control of the conditions under which
essential goods and services are provided in rural areas; and (b)encouraging the
establishment of consumer cooperatives and related trading activities ,as well as
information about them especially in rural areas.
Further, according to the Guidelines, governments should establish or maintain
legal and/or administrative measures to enable consumers or, as appropriate,
relevant organizations to obtain redress through formal or informal procedures
that are expeditious, fair, inexpensive and accessible. Such procedures should
take particular account of the needs of low-income consumers. Governments
should also encourage all enterprises to resolve consumer disputes in a fair,
expeditious and informal manner, and to establish voluntary mechanisms,
including advisory services and informal complaints procedures, which can
provide assistance to consumers. Information on available redress and other
dispute resolving procedures should be made available to consumers.
Thirdly, consumers should accept consumerism as a means of asserting and
enjoying their rights .consumerism should succeed in making the business and
the government more responsive to the rights of the consumers. Consumerism is
a social force to (i) make the business more honest, efficient, responsive and
responsible, and (ii) pressurize the government to adopt the necessary measures
to protect consumer interests by guaranteeing their legitimate rights.
Peter Drucker has remarked that consumerism is the shame of the total
marketing concept, implying that the concept is not widely implemented.
Consumerism reflects not only the failure of the business to widely implement
the marketing concept but also the need to give the business policies a social
orientation so as to enhance long run social welfare.

LEGAL PROTECTION TO CONSUMERS
A number of laws have been passed by the Government of India over the
yearsto protect the interest of consumers. A brief outline of the purpose of
theselaws in given below:
(i) Agricultural Products (Grading and Marketing) Act, 1937:ThisAct
provides for grading and certifying quality standard of agriculturalcommodities
which are allowed to be stamped with AGMARK seal ofthe Agricultural
marketing department of the Government.
(ii) Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951: This Act provides
for control over production and distribution of manufactured goods.According
to this Act, the Central Government may order investigationof any industry, if it
is of the opinion that there has been substantial fall inthe volume of production,
or a marked decline in the quality of a product,or any unreasonable rise in price.
After due investigation, the Governmentmay issue directions to set things right.
If the directions are not actedupon, the Government may take over the
concerned undertakings.
(iii) Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954:
This Act provides forsevere punishment for adulteration of food articles. In the
case of saleof adulterated food which is injurious to health and likely to
causedeath, life imprisonment with a minimum fine of Rs 3000 may bepayable.
Food inspectors are appointed and they have powers to liftsamples and send
them for analysis. Penalties are also provided underthe act for offences
committed by persons with regard to manufacture,import, storage, sale and
distribution of adulterated food articles.
(iv) Essential Commodities Act, 1955: Under this Act, the Government
haspower to declare any commodity as essential in the public interest.Thereby
the Government can control the production, supply anddistribution of the
trading of such commodities. It also provides for actionagainst anti-social
activities of profiteers, hoarders and black-marketers.
(v) The Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1956:This Act providesfor
the use of standard weights and standard measures of length throughoutthe
country. Metre has been specified as the primary unit for measuringlength,
and kilogram as the primary unit for measuring weight. Beforethis act came
into force, different system of weights and measures wereused in different parts
of the country like Pound, Chhatak and Seeras Weights, Yard, Inch and
Foot for length, etc. These differences providedopportunities for traders to
exploit the consumers.
(vi) Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969:Under
theprovisions of this Act, as amended in 1983 and 1984, consumers
andconsumer groups can exercise their right of redressal by filingcomplaints
relating to restrictive and unfair trade practices. TheGovernment has constituted
the MRTP commission which isempowered to deal with consumer complaints
after due investigationand enquiry. The Commission has power to award
compensation forany loss or injury suffered by consumers.
(vii) Prevention of Black-marketing and Maintenance of EssentialSupplies
Act, 1980:The primary objective of this act is to provide fordetention of persons
with a view to prevention of black-marketing andmaintenance of supplies of
commodities essential to the community.The maximum detention for persons
acting in any manner against theintention of the act can be imprisonment upto 6
months.
(viii) Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986:The Bureau of Indian
Standardshas been set up under this Act, replacing the Indian Standards
Institution(ISI), to protect and promote consumer interest. It has two major
activities: formulation of quality standards for goods and their certification
throughthe BIS certification marks scheme by which manufacturers are
permittedto use the standardisation mark (ISI) on their products after
dueverification of conformity with prescribed quality standards of safetyand
performance. The Bureau has set up a consumer affairs departmentto create
quality conciousness among ordinary consumers. There is alsoa public
grievances cell to which consumers can make complaint aboutthe quality of
products carrying ISI mark.


CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1986
INTRODUCTION :-
The Consumer Protection Act 1986, (herein after to be referred to as 'Act') is
one ofbenevolent social legislation intended to protect the large body of
consumer fromexploitation. The Act has come as a panacea for consumers all
over the country and hasassumed the shape of practically the most important
legislation enacted in the country duringthe last few years. It has become
vehicle for enabling people to secure an inexpensiveredressal of their disputes.
With the enactment of this law, the consumer now feel that theyare in a position
to declare" sellers beware" whereas previously the consumers were at
thereceiving end and generally told 'buyer beware'.The Act postulates
establishment of central consumer protection council and state
consumerprotection councils for the purpose of spreading consumer awareness.
Central council isheaded by minister, incharge of the consumer affairs in the
Central Government and in thestate it is the minister incharge of the consumer
Affairs in the state government who headsstate council.
To provide cheap, speedy and simple redressal to consumer disputes, quasi-
judicial
machinery is set up at each District, State and National level called District
Forums, StateConsumer Disputes Redressal Commission and National
Consumer Disputes RedressalCommission respectively. At present there are
604 District Forums, 35 state commissions,with apex body as a National
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) havingits office at
JanpathBhawan, A wing, 5th floor Janpath, New Delhi.Important information
shows that the Act has started working in the right - direction. Totalno. of cases
filed, before National commission since inception of National commission up
to05.08.11were 70787 out of which 61484 (86.86%) were disposed off. Further
total no. ofComplaints filed, before state commissions since inception of state
commissions were (up to05.08.11) 546134 out of which 446440 i.e. 81.75%
were disposed off. Whereas total no. ofcases complaints filed before district
forums since their inception (up to 05.08.11) were3010281, out of which
2755418 (i.e., 91.53%) were disposed off.
SOME IMPORTANT PROVISIONS OF THE ACT
Who Can File Complaint
The followings can file a complaint under the Act : (i) A consumer, (ii) Any
voluntaryconsumer organisation registered under the Registration of Societies
Act, 1860 or under thecompanies Act, 1956 or under any other law for the time
being in force, (iii) The centralGovernment (iv) The state Government or Union
Teritory Administration, (v) One or moreconsumers on behalf of numerous
consumers who are having the same interests.
What Constitute a Complaint
Under the Act 'Complaint' means any allegation in writing made by complainant
in regard toone or more of the following:
i) Any unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade practices adopted by any trader.
ii) The goods bought by him or agreed to be bought by him suffer from one or
moredefects.
iii) The services hired or availed of or agreed to be hired or availed of by him
suffer fromdeficiency in any respect.
iv) A trader charging excess of price as compared to : (a) fixed by or under any
law forthe time being in force or (b) displayed on goods, (c) displayed on any
packet
containing such goods, or (d) agreed between the parties.
Where to File a Complaint
A written complaint as amended by consumer (Amendment) Act, 2002 can be
filed;
If the cost of the goods or services and compensation asked for is uptoRs. 20
lakh,then the complaint can be filed in District Forum which has been
notified by the stateGovernment for the district where the cause of action has
arisen or where the oppositeparty resides. A complaint can also be filed at a
place where the branch office of theopposite party is located.
If the cost of goods or services and compensation asked for is more than Rs.
20 lakh,but less than Rs. 1 crore, then the complaint can be filed before the
state commissionnotified by the state commission or UT concerned.If the
cost of goods or service and compensation asked for exceed Rs. 1 crore then
the complaint can be filed before the National Commission at New Delhi.
How to File a Complaint
Procedure for filing complaints and seeking redressal are simple. There is no
prescribedperforma for the submission of complaint. However it must be
written. It may be submitteddirectly or by post. A nominal amount of fees is
also required to be deposited for makingcomplaints before Distt. Forum. A
complaint should contain the following information: (i)Name and address of the
complainant, (ii) Name and address of the opposite party or parties,(iii)
Description of the fact of the complaint, (iv) Documentary evidence
collaborating thecomplaint, (v) Relief expected as redressal of complaint, (vi)
Signature of the complainant orhis authorised agent.The complaint can be filed
within two years from the date on which cause of action hasarisen. Complainant
can plead his case/complaint on his own, this means that he is not
undercompulsion to hire the services of lawyer.
Relief Available to the Consumer
If after the proceedings conducted under section 13, the District Forum is
satisfied that thegoods complained against suffer from any of the defect
specified in the complaint or that anyof the allegation contained about the
services are proved, it may give orders for one or moreof the following reliefs :
(i) removal of defects from the goods, (ii) replacement of the goods,
(iii) refund of price to the complainant, (iv) award appropriate compensation for
the loss orinjury suffered (v) Removal of deficiencies from service, (vi)
discontinuance of unfair tradepractices, (vii) to cease manufacturing of
hazardous goods (viii) award for adequate costs toparties (ix) removal of
misleading advertisement.

Procedure for Filing Appeal
Any person aggrieved, by an order made by District Forum may prefer an
appeal against suchorder to the state commission within a period of 30 days
from the date of order, in such formand manner as man be prescribed. No
appeal shall be entertained by the state commissionunless the appellant has
deposited in the prescribed manner 50% of that amount in terms ofan order of
the District Forum or Rs. 25000, whichever is less. Further any person
aggrieved,by the order made by the state commission, may prefer an appeal,
against such order to thenational commission within a period of 30 days from
the date of the order in such form and
manner as may be prescribed. In this situation appellant has to deposit in the
prescribedmanner 50% of the amount or Rs. 35000 whichever is less. Appeal
against the order of theNational commission can be filed before the Supreme
Court within a period of 30 days. Atthis stage the appellant is required to
deposit in the prescribed manner 50% of that amount orRs. 50000 whichever is
less.
The Six Consumer Rights
Another important point which is the most important is the rights of the
consumer specificallymentioned (chapter II, Sec. 6) in the act. The Act which
was enacted in India in 1986 verysoon after the adoption of the U.N. guidelines
for consumers in April, 1985, is considered asone of the most unique
legislations of the world for consumer protection. The Act enrichessix rights to
the consumers which are: (i) Right to safety, (ii) Right of Choice, (iii) Right to
beinformed (iv) Rights to be heard (v) Right to seek redressal and (vi) Right to
consumerEducation.
Right to safety:
Consumers have a right to be protected against marketing of goods
which are injurious to health and life. As a consumer if you are conscious of this
right, youcan take precautions to prevent the injury or if injury is caused in spite
of precaution, youhave a right to complain against the dealer and even claim
compensation. For example, ifyou buy any medicine, the pharmacy selling it
can be held responsible if the medicine provesharmful. Again if gas cylinder is
used for cooking, you have to check that it does not leakwhen it is supplied to
you. If it starts leaking afterwards, the supplier will be liable to
paycompensation if the leakage of gas leads to fire and causes injury or death to
anyone.
(ii)Right to be informed:
Consumers also have the right to be informed about the quantity,quality, purity,
standard or grade and price of the goods available so that they can makeproper
choice before buying any product or service. Also, where necessary, the
consumer
must be informed about the safety precautions to be taken while using the
product to avoidloss or injury. Taking the example of gas cylinder again, the
supplier must inform the user tostop the flow of gas with the help of the
regulator when it is not in use.
(iii)Right to choose:
Every consumer has the right to choose the goods needed from a widevariety of
similar goods. Very often dealers and traders try to use pressure tactics to sell
goods of poor quality. Sometimes, consumers are also carried away by
advertisements onthe TV. These possibilities can be avoided if consumers are
conscious of this right.
(iv)Right to be heard :
This right has three interpretations. Broadly speaking, this right meansthat
consumers have a right to be consulted by Government and public bodies when
decisionsand policies are made affecting consumer interests. Also, consumers
have a right to beheard by manufactures, dealers and advertisers about their
opinion on production andmarketing decisions. Thirdly, consumers have the
right to be heard in legal proceedings inlaw courts dealing with consumer
complaints.

(v)Right to seek redressal :
If and when any consumer has a complaint or grievance due tounfair trade
practices like charging higher price, selling of poor quality or unsafe products,
lack of regularity in supply of services etc. or if he has suffered loss or injury
due to defectiveor adulterated products, he has the right to seek remedies. He
has a right to get the defectivegoods replaced or money refunded by the seller or
dealer. He also has the right to seeklegal remedies in the appropriate courts of
law. Through this right the consumers are assuredthat their complaints will
receive due attention. This right also provides for due compensationto
consumers if they have suffered a loss or are put to inconvenience due to the
fault of the supplier or manufacturer

(VI)Right to consumer education :
To prevent market malpractices and exploitation ofconsumers, consumer
awareness and education are essentially required. For this purpose,consumer
associations, educational institutions and Government policy makers are
expected
to enable consumers to be informed and educated about (a) the relevant laws
which areaimed at preventing unfair trade practice; (b) the ways in which
dishonest traders andproducers may try to manipulate market practices to
deceive consumers; (c) how consumerscan protect their own interest; and (d)
the procedure to be adopted by consumers whilemaking complaints

Responsibilities of consumers
There is a well known saying that there cannot be rights without
responsibilities. Having examinedthe consumer rights and the purpose served
by them, it is necessary to consider whether consumersshould also be
responsible enough to be entitled to exercise their rights. For instance, to be
ableto exercise their right to be heard, consumers should avail of the
opportunities to know and keepinformed about consumer problems. To exercise
their right to seek redressal of complaints,
consumers must take all precautions to choose the right goods at the right price
and learn how touse the products to prevent injury or loss. Specifically, the
responsibilities of consumers mayinclude the followings:

(i) Responsibility of self-help
It is always desirable that a consumer should not depend on the seller for
information and choice as far as possible. As a consumer, you are expected to
act in a responsible manner to protect yourself from being deceived. An
informed consumer can always take care of his/her interest more than any one
else. Also, it is always better to be forewarned and forearmed rather than getting
remedies after suffering a loss or injury.

(ii) Proof of Transactions:
The second responsibility of every consumer is that the proof of purchase and
documents relating to purchase of durable goods should be invariable obtained
and preserved. For example, it is important to get a cash memo on purchase of
goods You should remember that in case you have to make any complaint about
defects in goods, the proof of purchase will enable you to establish your claim
for repair or replacement of the goods. Similarly, durable consumer goods like
TV, refrigerator, etc. carry warranty /guarantee cards issued by the dealers. The
cards entitle you to get the service for repairs and replacement of parts free of
cost during a certain period after purchase.
(iii) Proper claim:
Another responsibility that consumers are expected to bear in mind is that while
making complaints and claiming compensation for loss or injury, they should
not make unreasonably large claims. Very often, consumers have to exercise
their right to seek redressal in a court. There have been cases in which
consumers claimed huge compensation for no apparent reason. This is regarded
as an irresponsible act which should be avoided.
(iv) Proper use of Product/services:
Some consumers, especially during the guarantee period, make rough use of
the product, thinking that it will be replaced during the guarantee period. This is
not fair on their part. They should always use the products properly. Besides the
above responsibilities, consumers should be conscious of some other
responsibilities. They should stick to the agreement made with manufacturers,
traders and service providers. They should make timely payment in case of
credit purchases. They should not tamper with the media of services, like
electric and water meters, bus and train seats, etc. They should rememberthat
they can exercise their rights only when they are willing to fulfill their
responsibilities
CONSUER PROTECTION AND CONSUMERISM IN INDIA
Plight of the Indian Consumer
An examination of the important problem facing the Indian consumer would
make clear the need for more effective government intervention and consumer
movement to safeguard consumer rights.
The following factors make the plight of the Indian consumer miserable.
1. Short supply of many goods and services, especially of essential items, is a
very serious problem afflicting the Indian consumer. The demand supply
imbalance has produced all the associated evils of profiteering, hoarding and
black marketing, corruption nepotism irresponsiveness and arrogance towards
consumers. Although the situation has improved as a result of the increase in
competition due to liberalization, it is still far from satisfactory.
2. Many products with which consumers in advanced countries are quite
familiar are still new to a very large segment of the Indian consumers. The
unfamiliarity of consumers with product features makes the sale of substandard,
inferior or even defective products easier in India than advanced in advanced
countries.
3. Due to low literacy levels and unsatisfactory information flows, the Indian
consumers, by and large, are not conscious of all their rights. This encourages
irresponsible and unscrupulous business attitudes and tactics.
4. It has been said that the legal process in India is comparatively time-
consuming and cumbersome .this discourages the consumers from seeking the
redressal of this grievance by means of the judicial process.
5. Consumerism in India is not well organized and developed.
6. Though the public sector had been developed and expanded to serve the
public interest by providing effective competition to the private sector,
increasing production, improving distribution etc.,it failed to produce benefits
that were commensurate with the investment. It is an irony that through
consumer welfare is an avowed objective of the public sector , in certain areas
the poor performance of the public sector monopolies has made the plight of the
consumer miserable. Some of them have even been charged with unfair trade
practices.
7. Though there are a number of laws to safeguard the interests of consumers,
they are not effectively implemented and enforced to achieve the objectives.
8. The Indian consumers is also victim of lack of effective or workable
competition. Competition among sellers, even though imperfect, may be
regarded as effective or workable if it offers buyers real alternatives sufficient to
enable them ,by shifting their purchase from one seller to another, substantially
to influence quality,service,and price. Unfortunately this is not working
properly in India.
The above factors call for the effective state intervention and consumerism to
ensure the rights of consumers.



















CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION










DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS
General Information
Age of the respondents:
Below 30 30-40 45-60 Above 60 Total

20

15

11

4

50

(percentage)
Below 30 30-40 45-60 Above 60 Total

40


30

22

8

100

Educational qualification:
Upto SSLC Upto plus two Upto Degree Above degree Total

8

9

12

21

50

(percentage)
Upto SSLC Upto plus two Upto Degree Above degree Total

16

18

24

42

100

Occupation:


Monthly income:
Private
employee
Government
employee
Self employee Profesional others Total
19 7 6 10 8 50
Private
employee
Government
employee
Self employee Profesional others Total
38 14 12 20 16 100
Rs. 25000 25000-50000 50000-75000 75000-100000 Above 100000 Total

19

11

9

8

3

50

(percentage)


Gender:

(Percentage)



The study is based on seven factors and each factor is analysed separately.
The first factor is Consumers Knowledge Of The Law.







(percentage)
Rs. 25000 25000-50000 50000-75000 75000-100000 Above 100000 Total

38

22

18

16

6

100
Male Female Total

29

21

50
Male Female Total

29

21

50
Yes No No response Total
Right to information 48 2 _

50
Right to safety 46 4 _

50
Right to be heard 39 11 _

50
Right to choose 43 7 _ 50

Right to consumer
education
47 3 _ 50
Right to redressal 32 15 3 50
Yes No No response Total
Right to information 96 4 _

50
Right to safety 92 8 _ 50












As the graph shows 96% of the respondents are aware about the right to information and 4%
of the respondents are unaware about it.92% of the respondents are aware about the right to
safety and 8 % of the respondents are unaware about the right. Another right is right to heard
, only 78% of repondents are aware about it and 22% are unaware. 86% of respondents are
aware about the right to choose and 14% are unaware about it. 94% of respondents are aware
about the right to consumer education. Next is right to redressal ,64% of the respondents are
aware about it andand 30 % of the respondents are unaware about the right and 6% of the
respondents have no response.


Right to be heard 78 22 _

50
Right to choose 86 14 _ 50

Right to consumer
education
96 6 _ 50
Right to redressal 64 30 6 50
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Yes
No
No response
Next is the analysis of the extent awareness of rights.

(percentage)

The right to informtion is fully awared by 26% of the respondents and moderately aware by
38% and 30% reasonably aware and 6% has no response. The right to safety is fully aware by
30%and moderately aware by 26% and reasonably awared by 30% and 14% has no response.
30% is fully awared the right to heard and moderately aware by 24%and reasonably awared
by 30% and 16% of the respondents have no response. The right to choose is fully awared by
24 % and moderately awared by 32% and reasonably awared by 36% and 8% no response.the
right to heared is fully awared by 30% and moderately awared by 20% and 26% reasonably
awared and 24% have no response.


0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
a) Right to
Information
b) Right to Safety c) Right to be Heard d) Right to Choose e) Right to
Consumer Education
f) Right to Redressal
FULLY AWARE
MODERATELY
AWARE
REASONABLY AWARE
NO RESPONSE


Fully
Awar
e
Moderatel
y
Aware
Reasona
bly
Aware
No
Respons
e
Tota
l
Right to
Informatio
n
13 19 15 3 50

Right to
Safety
15 13 15 7 50
Right to be
Heard
15 12 15 8 50

Right to
Choose
15 20 12 3 50
Right to
Consumer
Education
12 16 18 4 50
Right to
Redressal
15 10 13 12 50


Fully
Awar
e
Mode
rately
Awar
e
Reasonab
ly Aware
No
Respons
e
Total
Right to
Information
26 38 30 6 100

Right to
Safety
30 26 30 14 100

Right to be
Heard
30 24 30 16 100

Right to
Choose
30 40 24 6 100

Right to
Consumer
Education
24 32 36 8 100
Right to
Redressal
30 20 26 24 100

Next factor to be analysed is the media exposure.

SL.NO SOURCES RANK
1.1
Television

A
1.2 Radio

E
1.3 Newspaper

B
1.5 Magazine

D
1.6 Outdoor advertisement

F
1.7 Social networking sites

C
The above rank is assigned on the basis of the ranking of respondents. Most of
them rank television as the best source from which they get consumer protection
awareness. Second rank goes to newspaper and then social networking sites.
Fourth rank goes to radio and outdoor advertisement is has least rank as as a
source of consumer awareness.
Second analysis in media exposure is on the basis of the below table.
Yes no No
response
Total
Do you think media can play an
important role in increasing consumer
awareness?

42

8

_

50
Do you think that the media favours
the business corporates ?

30

13

7

50
Do you think that the effort of media is
not enough towards protecting
consumerism?

32

13

5

50
Do you expect more standard in
awareness campaigns of media?

31

16

3

50
Do you think that the media influence
your buying behavior?

28

19

3

50



(percentage)

As the graph shows for the question Do you
think media can play an important role in
increasing consumer awareness? 84% of the
respondents said yes and 16% said no. and
for the question do you think media favours
business corporate 60% vote as yes and
26% as no and 14% has no response. And
for the question Do you think that the effort
of media is not enough towards protecting
consumerism?64% answered as yes and
26% as no and 10% have no response . 62%
said yes and 32% said no and 6% have no
reponse in the question Do you expect
more standard in awareness campaigns of
media?. And for the question Do you think
that the media influence your buying behavior? 56% said yes and 38 said no and 6% said no
response.



0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
media's role in awareness media's relation with corporates is media enough for consumer
protection
consumer expectation on media influence of media in buying
yes
no
No response

yes no No
respon
se
Total
Do you think media can play
an important role in
increasing consumer
awareness?

84

16

-

100
Do you think that the media
favours the business
corporates ?

60

26

14

100
Do you think that the effort
of media is not enough
towards protecting
consumerism?

64

26

10

100
Do you expect more
standard in awareness
campaigns of media?

62

32

6

100
Do you think that the media
influence your buying
behavior?

56

38

6

100
The third factor considered for the study is buying behaviour.
Ten variables are considered to analyse the factors considered by consumers
while making purchase.
Sl.no
FACTORS OF PURCHASE RANK
1. Price of the Product 1
2. Quality of the product 2
3. Promotional offer 6
4. Brand preference

7
5. Eco- friendly Products 5
6. Packaging 10
7. Availability 4
8. Attractive advertisement 8
9. Image of the company 3
10. After sale service 9

By analyzing the response of 50 persons on the factors considered before making purchase,
price of the product is the most considering factor by consumer. Second preference goes to
quality of the product. Next is image of the company and fourth rank goes to availability of
the product. The respondents prefer eco friendly products as next and promotional offer
comes after that. Next is preference is for the brand preference and eighth rank goes to
attractive advertisement. After sales service and packaging score the last two positions
respectively.
The purchase behaviour of the respondents is analysed by asking some questions they are ;











Frequentl
y

Occasionaly

Rarely
Not At
All
No
Comment
s

Total
a) Do the Children influence
purchase of particular
product?

12

16

8

8

6

50
b) Do you purchase goods in
bulk quantity?

6

16

20

8

_


50
c) Do you purchase consumer
durables from super stores
or from big show rooms?

17

19

8

6

_

50
d) Did you purchase products
at season and festival
times?

17

15

13

5

_

50
e) Did you interested to avail
the credit facilities to
purchase the product?

12

18

5

15

_

50
(percentage)










For the question do the Children influence purchase of particular product? 24% of the
respondents answered frequently and 32% respond occasionally 16 %said rarely 16% as not at
all and 12% no response. For the question Do you purchase goods in bulk quantity? 12%
answered frequently and 32% occasionally and 40% rarely, 16% as not at all. The next question
is Do you purchase consumer durables from super stores or from big show rooms? For that
question 34% respond frequently, 38% occasionally, 16% rarely and 12% not at all. And for the
question did you purchase products at season and festival times? 34% answered frequently,
30% occasionally and 26% rarely and 10% respond as not at all. And for the question did you
interested to avail the credit facilities to purchase the product? 24% answered frequently, 36%
occasionally 10% rarely and 30% as not at all.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Childrens influence Goods in bulk Purchase from big
shops
Purchase at festivel
time
Credit facilities
Frequently
Occasionally
Rarely
Not At All
No Comments

Frequentl
y

Occasionaly

Rarely
Not At
All
No
Comment
s

Total
a) Do the Children influence
purchase of particular
product?

24

32

16

16

12

100
b) Do you purchase goods in
bulk quantity?

12

32

40

16

_


100
c) Do you purchase consumer
durables from super stores
or from big show rooms?

34

38

16

12

_

50
d) Did you purchase products
at season and festival
times?

34

30

26

10

_

100
e) Did you interested to avail
the credit facilities to
purchase the product?

24

36

10

30

_

100

YES
NO
NO
RESPONSE
Total

The next variable under study is procedural know how.
(percentage)

Did you heard the term JAGO GRAHAK JAGO?
36

14

-
50
Have you ever used national consumer helpline? 8 42 - 50
Have you ever attended any seminar regarding consumer Protection?

12 38 - 50
Do you know the procedure for filing complaint? 16 34 - 50
Are you aware about the time-limit for filing complaint? 21 29 - 50
Have you ever filed any complaint in consumer forum?

11 37 2 50
Are you aware about that the services of lawyer required or Not? 16 29 5 50
Are you aware about the levels of consumer forum? 11 37 2 50
Are you aware about the jurisdiction of consumer forums? 12 35 3 50
Are you aware about the Appeal? 18 32 - 50
YES
NO
NO
RESPONSE
Total
Did you heard the term JAGO GRAHAK JAGO?
72

28

-
100
Have you ever used national consumer helpline? 16 84 - 100
Have you ever attended any seminar regarding consumer Protection?

24 76 - 100
Do you know the procedure for filing complaint? 32 68 - 100
Are you aware about the time-limit for filing complaint? 42 58 - 100
Have you ever filed any complaint in consumer forum?

22 74 4 100
Are you aware about that the services of lawyer required or Not? 32 58 10 100
Are you aware about the levels of consumer forum? 22 74 4 100
Are you aware about the jurisdiction of consumer forums? 24 70 6 100
Are you aware about the Appeal? 36 64 - 100
YES NO No
response
Total
a) Do you check the MRP (Maximum Retail Price) before buying
a product?
76 16 8 100

b) Are you charged the MRP or more than/less than the MRP?
56 40 4 100









For the question did you heard the term JAGO GRAHAK JAGO? 72% of the
respondents said yes and 28% said no. And for the next question have you
ever used national consumer helpline? 16% of the respondents said yes and 84%
said no. the next question is have you ever attended any seminar regarding
consumer Protection? In which 24% of the respondents said yes and 76% said no.
and for the question do you know the procedure for filing complaint?32% of the
respondents said yes and 68% said no. next question are you aware about the time
limit for filing complaint in which 42% said yes and 58% said no. and for the
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
YES
NO
NO RESPONSE

c) Do you examine the expiry date of the items you buy?


86


14

-

100

d) Do you check the weight of the products mentioned on the
items?

54

46

-

100

e) Have you check the standards like ISI, ISO, AGMARK, HALL-
MARK etc. Of the product?


58

38

4

100
f) Do you check whether the price match with the product level
before buying?


56

34

10

100
g) Do you demand for the bill before making payment?


64

36

-

100
h) Do you check the eco friendly standards of the product?


52

42


6

100
i) Do you examine whether the product has match up with the
trend and technology?

50

42

8

100
question are you aware about the services of a lawyer needed or not?22%
answered as yes,74% as no and 4% have no response. And for the question have
you ever filed any complaint in consumer forum? 32% said yes , 58% said no and
10 % have no response. Next question is are you aware about the levels of
consumer forum? 22% said yes, 74% no and 4% have no response. Ans for the
question are you aware about the jurisdiction of the consumer forums? 24% said
yes . 70% said no and 6% have no response. And for the last question are you
aware about the appeal? 36% said yes and 64% said no.


Next factor is consumers buying competency.

For the question do you
check theMRP before
buying a product? 76%
of the respondents said
yes and 16% said no
and 8% have no
response. next question
Are you charged the
MRP or more than/less
than the MRP? 56%
said yes ,40% said no and 4% have no response . for the question do you examine the expiry
date of the items you buy?86% said yes and 14% said no. And for the question do you check
the weight of the products mentioned on the items?54% said yes and 46% said no. Next
question have you check the standards like ISI, ISO, AGMARK, HALL-MARK etc. Of the
product? 58% said yes ,38% said no and 4% said no response. For the question Do you check
whether the price match with the product level before buying? 56% said yes ,34% said no and
10% have no response. And for the question do you demand for the bill before making
payment? 64% said yes and 36% said no. Next question Do you check the eco friendly
standards of the product? 52% of the respondents said yes , 42% said no and 6% have no
response. The last question Do you examine whether the product has match up with the trend
and technology? 50% said yes 42% no and 8% have no response.

0
20
40
60
80
100
YES
NO
No response
Next factor is consumer education.
yes no No
response
Total
Do you think that you have received consumer education? 14 33 3 50
Do you have become member of a voluntary consumer forum? 5 43 2 50
Do you have the habit of regularly attend its meeting? 4 36 4 50
Do you spend some time to read articles on consumer education? 31 17 2 50
Do you think that reasonable consumer education is necessary to every
common man now a days?
39 8 3 50
(percentage)




For the question do you think that you have received consumer education?28% of the
respondents said yes, 66% said no and 6% said no response. Next question do you have
become member of a voluntary consumer forum? 10% said yes 86% said no and 4% have no
response. For the question do you have the habit of regularly attend its meeting? 8% said yes
72% said no and 8% said no response. For the question do you spend some time to read
articles on consumer education?62% said yes 34% said no and 4% said no response. And the
last question do you think that reasonable consumer education is necessary to every common
man now a days? 78% said yes , 16% said no and 6% said no response.



0
20
40
60
80
100
yes
no
No response
yes no No
response
Total
Do you think that you have received consumer education? 28 66 6 100
Do you have become member of a voluntary consumer forum? 10 86 4 100
Do you have the habit of regularly attend its meeting? 8 72 8 100
Do you spend some time to read articles on consumer education? 62 34 4 100
Do you think that reasonable consumer education is necessary to every
common man now a days?
78 16 6 100
The last factor is consumer expectation.
yes No No
response
Total
Do you think that awareness about consumer rights and protection should
be started in school levels?
48 2 - 50
If you are not satisfied with the price/quality of the products do you
realize the need for joining with some consumer clubs to fight for rights?
33 15 2 50
Are you ready to join such forums for the redressal of your grievance? 31 14 5 50
Do you think that there is a need for change the laws of consumer
protection?
21 17 12 50
Do you think that there is a need to change in the working of consumer
forum?
33 8 9 50
Do you think that there is any need for change in the working of
consumer organizations?
28 10 12 50

yes No No
response
Total
Do you think that awareness about consumer rights and protection should be
started in school levels?
96 4 - 100
If you are not satisfied with the price/quality of the products do you realize the
need for joining with some consumer clubs to fight for rights?
66 30 4 100
Are you ready to join such forums for the redressal of your grievance? 62 28 10 100
Do you think that there is a need for change the laws of consumer protection? 42 34 24 100
Do you think that there is a need to change in the working of consumer forum? 66 16 18 100
Do you think that there is any need for change in the working of consumer
organizations?
56 20 24 100

For the question do you
think that awareness
about consumer rights
and protection should be
started in school levels?
96% said yes and 4%
said no. Next question If
you are not satisfied
with the price/quality of
the products do you
realize the need for
joining with some
consumer clubs to fight
for rights? 66% said yes
30% said no and 4%
have no response. For the question Are you ready to join such forums for the redressal of your
grievance? 62% said yes 28% said no and 10% said no response. For the question do you think that
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
yes
no
No response
there is a need for change the laws of consumer protection? 42% said yes ,34% said no and 24% have
no response. For the question do you think that there is a need to change in the working of consumer
forum?66% said yes, 16% said no and 18% have no response and the last question do you think that
there is any need for change in the working of consumer organizations?56% said yes 20% said no and
24% have no response.

Testing of hypothesis 1
Null hypothesis: there is no difference between the gender of the respondents and their level
of perception about consumer protection.



Consumer
Protection
Male Female
Z
Value

Conclusion Mean
Score
Standard
Deviation
Score
Mean
Score
Standard
Deviation
Score
1 Knowledge
About The
Law

16.24 9.93 16.14 6.12 .075 Table value is 1.96 at 5%
significance level, here z value is
less than the table value, hence
the null hypothesis is accepted
2 Media
Exposure

12.9 3.18 12.48 3.68 .4214 Table value is 1.96 at 5%
significance level, here z value is
less than the table value, hence
the null hypothesis is accepted
3 Buying
Behaviour

17.72 11.26 18.05 11.53 .102 Table value is 1.96 at 5%
significance level, here z value is
less than the table value, hence
the null hypothesis is accepted
4 Procedural
Know How

17.24 20.56 13.14 17.04 .77 Table value is 1.96 at 5%
significance level, here z value is
less than the table value, hence
the null hypothesis is accepted
5 Buying
Competency

21.55 13.9 22.33 7.56 .2541 Table value is 1.96 at 5%
significance level, here z value is
less than the table value, hence
the null hypothesis is accepted
6 Consumer
Education

9.65 5.22 8.62 3.82 .8047 Table value is 1.96 at 5%
significance level, here z value is
less than the table value, hence
the null hypothesis is accepted
7 Consumer
Expectation

14.17 8.3241 15 5.29 .43 Table value is 1.96 at 5%
significance level, here z value is
less than the table value, hence
the null hypothesis is accepted
Consumer protection as a whole







From the above test we can analysethat the z value is less than the table value 1.96 at 5 %
significance level , hence the null hypothesis can be accepted and we can conclude that there
is no difference between the gender of the respondents and their level of perception about
consumer protection. When taking each factor one by one , z value of all the factors are less
than the table value hence we can conclude that there is no difference between the gender of
the respondents and their level of perception about consumer protection.


Z value =
X1 X2
(S1)2 (S2)2
n1 n2
Testing of hypothesis 2
Null hypothesis: People irrespective of their formal education have similar competency in
buying.
Chi square test:
Education
opinion
SSLC and
Plus Two
Degree Post
Graduation
Total
Yes

5 9 12 26
Neutral and No

12 6 6 24
Total

17 15 18 50

Male Female

Z
value
Sum of
Mean
Scores
Sum of
Standard
Deviation
scores
Sum
of
mean
scores
Sum of
standard
deviation
scores

Consumer
protection

15.66

10.34

15.11

7.863

.2157

Hypothetical table:

Education
opinion
SSLC and
Plus Two
Degree Post
Graduation
Total
Yes

9.18 6.48 11.34 27
Neutral and No

7.82 5.52 9.66 23
Total

17 12 21 50

Chi square test:

O E O-E O-E
2
O-E
2
E

5 9.18 4.18 17.4724 1.9033
7 6.48 1.48 2.1904 .3380
15 11.34 3.66 13.3956 1.1812
12 7.82 4.18 17.4724 2.2343
5 5.52 .52 .2702 .048
6 9.66 3.66 13.3956 1.3867

X
2
= 7.0915
Here the chi square value is less than the table value at 5% significance level. The table value
is 5.991. The null hypothesis is rejected because the chi square value is more than the table
value.So we can conclude that buying competency have relation with their formal education .
Buying competency is depends upon educational qualification









CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS










FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS
Key findings and suggestions of the study as follows; the findings are made
after different statistical analysis of the collected data.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
Following are the various findings made from the study;
1. Almost all the respondents are aware about six consumer rights. 85% of
the respondents are aware about various consumer rights in total and 14%
not aware about the rights and 1% have no response.

2. When come to the extent of awareness of rights in total 28.34% of
respondents fully aware about their rights, 30% of respondents are
moderately aware about the rights, 29.33 %of the respondents are
reasonably aware and 12.33% have no response.


3. Television is ranked first by the respondents as the best source in which
they get consumer protection awareness, newspaper and social
networking sites get second and third rank respectively.

4. Most of the respondents think that media plays an important role in
consumer awareness and they admit that media influence their buying
behaviour. So the role of media in consumer protection is very crucial.

5. Price of the product is the most important factor considered by the
respondents while making purchase decision. Quality of the product,
image of the company, advertisement, and eco friendly products are also
factors which affect buying behaviour.

6. The procedural know how of the respondents is not much favorable .only
32.2% of respondents are aware about the procedures in totality, 65.4%
not aware about the procedures of consumer protection and 2.4% have no
response.

7. The term JagoGrahakJago is known by 72% of the respondents and
28% dont know it. But in the same time only 16% known about the
consumer helpline number and 84% is unaware about it.

8. Buying competency of the respondents is better than the procedural
know how.62% of the respondents have competency in buying that they
check the MRP, expiry date, price, bill, weight ,standards etc of the
product.34.44% of the respondents dont have buying competency and
3.56% of respondents have no response.

9. Consumer education of the respondents is not so much satisfiable.37.2%
of the respondents are aware about consumer education and expect for a
better consumer education,54.8% of the respondents are not aware or not
get any education as a consumer and 8% of the respondents have no
response.

10. 62% of the respondents spent time in reading articles on consumer
education and 78% of the respondents think that reasonable consumer
education is necessary to every common man now a days.

11. Among the respondents 96% think that awareness about consumer rights
and protection should be started in school levels. 62% of the respondents
are ready to join consumer clubs for the redressal of their grievance.

12. In the matter of consumer protection laws 42% of the respondents think
that there is a need for change the laws of consumer protection and 34%
dont need such change and 25%have no response.

13. 66% of the respondents think that there is need to change in the working
of consumer forums and 56% of the respondents think that there is a need
to change in the working of consumer organsations.

14. Even though most of the consumers aware about the consumer rights only
22% of the respondents file complaint in the consumer forum.

15. The educational qualification and buying competency is interrelated. A
person with good educational qualification is more competent in buying.

16. The next and last finding of the study is that there is no difference
between the gender of the respondents and their level of perception about
consumer protection.

SUGGESTIONS
Following are the various suggestions made after analyzing the findings;
1. The main problem is consumers are well aware that they have
rights but they dont know how to execute or how to respond. They
are unaware about the procedural complexities. So step should be
taken by consumer organization and government to improve the
procedural knowledge of the respondents.

2. The role of media is significant in consumer protection. First
position goes to television, but to make a better result in future new
trends should be adopted like social networking site. Also all other
components of media should also used to increase consumer
awareness on consumer protection.

3. The consumer helpline number is not much popular, or it is not
used more by the consumers. so to increase the popularity of
consumer helpline number more advertisement should be given by
the government and it should be made mandatory that in the
packing of every product the consumer helpline number should
also printed with the MRP and expiry date.


4. Consumer protection awareness programmes should be conducted
through ayalkootams and kudumbasree so that rural masses also
get knowledge about it.
5. Consumer laws should be amended based on the changes in the
society and it should made more user friendly that common man
can also understand it easily.

6. Consumer education should be started from school level and
booklets and articles should be distributed among students so that
they can make use of it for future reference. Exams should also be
conducted on consumer protection and this will help to build up a
future generation with good knowledge.

7. Small booklets and journals should be made by the government
including consumer rights, laws and duties. And the booklets
should be printed in different languages and so that all common
man can read and understand it. These booklets should be
distributed through schools, book stalls, panchayath etc.

8. Buying competency of the uneducated ones should be improved by
giving proper training through different government programmes .
This is important because buying competency makes the consumer
more able in making wise purchase decision and this will also act
as a check on manufacturers too.

9. Buying behaviour of the consumers is changed day by day this will
make changes in consumer protection aspect also. So that laws
should be redrafted by considering the changes in buying
behaviour.

10. Consumer organizations should be given more assistance and
support by the government and the organization should adopt steps
to attract more consumers as members towards it. There should be
atleast one consumer organization in each panchayath.

11. It should be made mandatory for the traders and suppliers to
display the address and telephone numbers of the nearest district
forum at prominent places in the shop.












CHAPTER 6
REFERNCES










REFERENCES

1. Books and magazine
a. Francis(2005) Business environment, Himalaya Publishing
House, Chennai, p.166-185

2. Websites
a. https://www.academia.edu/721893/consumer protection in India/
b. https://www.theinternationaljournal.org/ojs/index.php?journal...
c. http://www.uky.edu/~wmbowl0/consumerm
protection%5B1%5D.ppt
d. http://www.slideshare.net/enallst/india-presentation-consumer
protection in india

3 .Research thesis
a) Prajapati R. (2009) A Study of Consumer Awareness
Regarding Household Goods and Services Among Female of
Mehsana City unpublished Master dissertation submitted to
Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Patan

b) GandotraV.andDivatia A. 2005, Consumer Education 1st
ed., Dominant Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi










CHAPTER 7
APPENDIX










CONSUMERS PERCEPTION OF THEIR RIGHTS AND DUTIES - A STUDY
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO KOCHI
QUESTIONNAIRE
PERSONAL INFORMATION
1. NAME :

2. AGE : BELOW 30 30 - 45 45-60 ABOVE 60


3. EDUCATION : Up to SSLC PLUS TWO GRADUATION POST GRADUATION


4. OCCUPATION : PRIVATE EMPLOYEE GOVT EMPLOYEE SELF EMPLOYEE PROFESSIONAL

OTHERS


5. GENDER : MALE FEMALE

6. MONTHLY INCOME ( In Rs/-) : Up to 25000 25000-50000 50000-75000

75000-100000 100000 and above

I.
A. DO YOU AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING CONSUMER RIGHTS?


CONSUMER RIGTHS YES NO NO COMMENTS
a) Right to
Information


b) Right to
Safety


c) Right to be
Heard


d) Right to
Choose


e) Right to
Consumer
Education

f) Right to
Redressal

I.
B. IF YOU ARE AWARE IN WHAT EXTENT?

























II.
A. FROM WHERE DID YOU SEE AND UNDERSTAND CONSUMER PROTECTION/
AWARENESS COMPAIGNS MOSTLY? RANK THE SOURCES ACCORDINGLY;

SL.NO SOURCES RANK
1.1
Television


1.2 Radio


1.3 Newspaper


1.4 Magazine


1.5 Outdoor advertisement


1.6 Social networking sites












FULLY
AWARE
MODERATELY
AWARE
REASONABLY
AWARE
NO
RESPONSE
g) Right to
Informatio
n


h) Right to
Safety


i) Right to be
Heard


j) Right to
Choose


k) Right to
Consumer
Education

l) Right to
Redressal


II.
B.
YES NO NO
COMMENTS
a) Do you think media can play an important role in
increasing consumer awareness?

b) Do you think that the media favours the business
corporates?

c) Do you think that the effort of media is not enough
towards protecting consumerism?

d) Do you expect more standard in awareness
campaigns of media?

e) Do you think that the media influence your buying
behavior?








III.
A. WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER MORE WHILE PURCHASE ?
RANK THEM ACCORDINGLY;
Sl.no FACTORS OF PURCHASE RANK
11.
Price of the Product

12.
Quality of the product

13. Promotional offer


14. Brand preference


15.
Eco- friendliness Products

16. Packaging
17.
Availability

18. Attractive advertisement
19.
Goodwill of the company

20. After sale services




III.
B.



IV.





FREQUEN
TLY

OCCASION
ALY

RARELY
NOT AT
ALL
NO
COMMENT
S
f) Do the Children influence
purchase of particular product?

g) Do you purchase goods in bulk
quantity?

h) Do you purchase consumer
durables from super stores or
from big show rooms?

i) Did you purchase products at
season and festival times?

j) Did you interested to avail the
credit facilities to purchase the
product?

YES NO NO
RESPONSE
a) Did you heard the term JAGO GRAHAK JAGO?


b) Have you ever used national consumer helpline?
c) Have you ever attended any seminar regarding
consumerProtection?

d) Do you know the procedure for filing complaint?
e) Are you aware about the time-limit for filing
complaint?

f) Are you aware about that the services of lawyer
required or Not?

g) Have you ever filed any complaint in consumer
forum?


h) Are you aware about the levels of consumer forum?
i) Are you aware about the jurisdiction of consumer
forums?

j) Are you aware about the Appeal?
V.





VI.

YES NO NO
COMMENTS

a) Do you think that you have received consumer education?


b) Do you have become member of a voluntary consumer forum?


c) Do you have the habit of regularly attending its meeting?


d) Do you spend some time to read articles on consumer
education?


e) Do you think that reasonable consumer education is necessary
to every common man now a days?










YES NO NO
COMMENTS
a) Do you check the MRP (Maximum Retail Price)
before buying a product?


b) Are you charged the MRP or more than/less than the
MRP?


c) Do you examine the expiry date of the items you buy




d) Do you check the weight of the products mentioned
on the items?

e) Have you check the standards like ISI, ISO,
AGMARK, HALL-MARK etc. Of the product?


f) Do you check whether the price match with the
product level before buying?

g) Do you demand for the bill before making payment?


h) Do you check the eco friendly standards of the
product?

i) Do you examine whether the product has match up
with the trend and technology?


VII.










YES NO NO RESPONSE

a) Do you think that awareness about consumer rights
and protection should be start in school levels?



b) If you are not satisfied with the price/quality of the
products do you realize the need for joining with
some consumer clubs to fight for your rights?


c) Are you ready to join such forums for the redressal
of your grievance?


d) Do you think that there is a need for change the
laws of consumer protection?



e) Do you think that there is any need for change in
the working of consumer forums?



f) Do you think that there is any need for change in
the working of consumer organisations?