Question

What is meant by Consumer Protection? State any three points of importance of Consumer Protection from the consumers point of view.

Answer 1

consumer protection efforts grew out of this business definition of consumerism. Simply put, consumers are people. They are people who buy things. Consumer protection, therefore, refers to laws and other forms of government regulation designed to protect the rights of consumers. The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, serves as our nation's consumer protection agency and administers many different consumer protection laws, like the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

Consumer protection is based on consumer rights or the idea that consumers have an inherent right to basic health and safety.

The importance of consumer protection from consumer's point of view can be understood from the following points:

(a) Consumer's Ignorance: In the light of widespread ignorance of consumers about their rights and reliefs available to them, it becomes necessary to educate them about the same so as to achieve consumer awareness.

(b) Unorganised Consumers: In India, consumers are not organised. Though we do have consumer organisation working in this direction, adequate consumer protection is required to provide power and rights to these organisations to protect and promote the interests of consumers.

(c) Widespread Exploitation of the Consumers: Unaware, ignorant consumers might be exploited by unscrupulous/ exploitative and unfair trade practices like defective goods, adulteration, false and misleading advertising etc. Consumer protection provides safeguard to consumers from such exploitation.