ON

CONSUMER
AWARNESS IN
INDIA
By,
EKANSH AGARWAL ( XI J )
 Who is a consumer?

Consumer is the person who hires or avails of any

services for a consideration which has been paid or
promised or partly paid and partly promised or under any
system of deferred payment. But Consumer exploitation
is very rampant these days. Consumers get exploited in
many ways through the more dominating and
knowledgeable sources. On the other hand, consumers
have to be aware not only of the commercial aspects of
sale and purchase of goods but also of the health and
security aspect. Besides this, they should be aware of
their rights and duties being as rational human beings
viz., price and quality of products used by them, about
Fair Price Shops, standardization of products, about
Consumer Forums etc. Therefore, Consumer
exploitation should be bought down with proper
awareness to the consumers on their rights and how they
could go about with things, if they feel they have been
cheated.
1. Introduction
1.1 Rise Of Consumer Awareness
In the globalization, liberalization and privatization era,
most of the economic decisions are taken by the market.
Though, the government has
withdrawn itself from many economic activities, it
interferes very often when the market mechanism fails
due to structural rigidities in the economy and other
factors, to provide goods and services to the people.
Consumption is one of the important economic
activities, which
requires regular government intervention, as
market is unable to promote security and welfare
aspects of the consumers. On the other hand, consumers
have to be aware not only of the commercial aspects of
sale and purchase of goods but also of the health and
security aspect also. Besides this, they should be aware
of their rights and duties being as rational human beings.
Though, the first consumer movement began in En
gland after the Second World War, a modern declaration
about the consumers rights was first made in USA
in the year 1962, where four basic consumer rights
i.e. Choice, information, safety and right to be heard
were recognized. Ralph Nadar, a consumer activist is
considered as the father of ConsumerMovement. 15th
March is now celebrated as the World Consumer
Rights Day. The U.N.O. Also adopted in the year 1985,
certain guidelines to achieve the objectives of
maintaining protection for consumers and to establish
high level ethical conduct for those engaged in
production and distribution of goods and services. In
India, 24th December is celebrated as Consumers
Day every year.
1.2. Objectives of the Study
The Study based on following objectives:
1.To study the level of consumer awareness of the
consumers in the study area
 2.To make the students habituated about the survey
work.
3.To make the students acquainted how different
statistical tools can be applied in different socio-
economic problems.
1.3 Meaning of Consumer Awareness
Consumer awareness means awareness of consumers
in different aspects of consumption activities. Consumer
awareness is a broader and wider concept. It covers the
followings:
a) Consumer awareness about Maximum Retail Price
(MRP).
b) Consumer awareness about Fair Price Shop.
c) Consumer awareness about price, quality and expiry
date of the product.
d) Consumer awareness about their rights and duties.
e) Consumer awareness about the certified products
like ISI, Agmark, ISO-2000
1.4. Forms of Consumer Exploitation
Consumer exploitation is a type of exploitation in which
the consumers are exploited or cheated by the business
community in terms of poor quality of product,
underweight, under-measurement, duplicate articles etc
Some of the common ways by which the consumers are
exploited by the business community are as follows:
 1.Underweight and under-measurement
2.Sub-standard quality
3.High prices
4.Duplicate articles
5.Adulteration and impurity
6.Lack of safety devices
7.Artificial scarcity
8.False and incomplete information
9.Unsatisfactory after sale services
10. Rough behaviour
1.5. Factors causing exploitation of the Consumers
The following are the factors that cause exploitation of
consumers:
11. Limited information
12. Limited supply
13. Limited competition
14. Low literacy
2. Rights and Duties of The Consumers
2.1 Rights of the Consumers
The following are the rights of the consumers as coded
in the Indian laws, which the business community has to
keep in mind:
1.Right to safety
2.Right to choose
3.Right to seek redressal
4.Right to consumer education
5.Right to be heard
 6.Right to be informed.
2.2 Duties of the Consumers
In order to secure rights, the consumers have to fulfill the
following duties:
1.While purchasing goods, consumers should look at
the quality of the products as well as on the warranty
of the product.
2.They should ask for Cash Memo for the item
purchased.
3.They should form consumer awareness
organizations.
4.They must complain for their genuine grievances.
5.The must know their rights and duties.
3. Consumer Protection Measures
3.1. Introduction
In order to protect the interest of the consumers,
government has adopted three strategies:
1.Administrative measures
1.Technical measures
1.Legislative measures
3.2. Administrative Measures
Administrative measures of the government include the
distribution of essential commodities through Public
Distribution System (PDS). PDS is a system through
which the government distributes some essential
commodities at a reasonable price through Fair Price
Shop. In a free market economy, price of a commodity is
determined in the market through the free play of demand
and supply. Equilibrium price is that price at which
demand and supply of the commodity are equal to each
other i.e. there is zero excess demand and excess
supply. But sometimes government interferes in the
market systems by fixing the price lower than the
equilibrium price, to protect the interest of the consumers
belonging to the lower strata of the society. This price is
known as Control Price. When government fixes price
lower than the equilibrium price, demand exceeds
supply, which leads to black-marketing and hoarding. To
check this government sales different commodities at
different FPS at control price.
3.3. Technical Measures
Technical measures consist of Standardization of the
product. One of the important measures taken by the
government to protect the consumers is the creation of
institutions for setting up the standards for making and
producing various products and enforcing them. In
India, this has been achieved through Bureau of Indian
Standards (BIS), and Agmark. While BIS caters to the
industrial and consumer goods while Agmark is meant for
the agricultural products.
The Bureau of Indian Standards, earlier known as the
Indian Standards Institution (ISI), whose headquarter is
located at Delhi, has the responsibility of lying down the
standards for industrial and consumer goods on a
scientific basis and certifying the goods that meet the
standards and the prescribed quality.
The Agmark is implemented under the Agricultural
Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act of 1937, as
amended in 1986. This scheme is run by
the Directorate of Marketing and Intelligence (DMI) in
the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Products
such honey, masala etc, carry such marks.
At international level, an institution called International
Organization for Standardization (ISI), established in
1947 locate at Geneva, serves to provide such a
common reference standard. All the international
Companies, goods produced by them, and institutions
are certified as ISO 6000, ISO 14000 etc.
For setting international food standards, there is a similar
body called Codex Alimentaries Commission (CAC).
This was formed in 1963 by the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) and World Health
Organization(WHO), located at Rome, Italy. It develops
food standards, guidelines and codes for production and
international trade in food products like milk, fish etc.
3.4. Legislative Measures
Legislative measures include enactment of Consumer
Protection Act, 1986. The Government enacted a
specific law called the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
The Act provides for the establishment of consumer
disputes redressal agencies at District, State and
National level for the protection of consumer interests
and to redress their grievances in speedy, simple and
inexpensive manner. The Act has led to the setting up
separate Department of Consumer Affairs in Central
and State Government, which focus exclusively on the
rights of the consumers, as enshrined in the Act.
CONSUMER COURTS

NATIONAL CONSUMER COMMISSION (National Level)

STATE CONSUMER COMMISSION (State Level)

DISTRIST CONSUMER FORUM (District Level)

 QUESTIONNAIRE

Questionnaire on consumer awareness

i. Name :
ii. Address :
iii. Telephone no:
iv. Education :
v. Service :
vi. Income- :
vii. Age- : (A) [15-20]
(B)[21-30]
(C)[31-40]
(D)[41+]
1. Do you check the prices, of goods you buy, from
alternative sources?
(a) Yes
(b) No

2. Do you check the M.R.P. (Maximum Retail Prices)

before buying the products?
(a) Yes
(b) No

3. Do you know that M.R.P is inclusive of every tax and

no one can sell his/her product above this price?
(a) Yes
(b) No
4. Do you examine the expiry date of the food items and
medicines when you buy them?
(a) Yes
(b) No

5. Have you ever cross checked the weights of the

products mentioned on the item?
(a) Yes
(b) No

6. Have you ever been exploited in a market place?

(a) Yes
(b) No

7. If yes, How have you been exploited?

(a) by being given false or incorrect information
about the product
(b) charging extra than what was mentioned before
(c) by being sold duplicate products
(d) others

8. Do you know about consumer rights?

(a) Yes
(b) No
9. Do you know that it is compulsory by law to mention
a customer care contact/helpline on every product?
(a) Yes
(b) No
 10. Do you know that Indian government also has a
well-established department to take care about
consumer rights and complains?
(a)Yes
(b) No

11. Do you know that every district has its consumer

court for redressal of accusations of consumer?
(a) Yes
(b) No

12. Do you know that in case of injustice from district

level court, you can appeal at state consumer forum and
over and above National consumer forum?
(a) Yes
(b) No

13. If yes, have you ever filed a case in the consumer

court?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Awareness Matrix
S.No LEVEL No.of correct ans. YOUR LEVEL
1 Good 9-12
2 Average 5-8
3 Poor 1-4