Comparative Study of Consumer Protection in India as Per UN Guidelines

Abstract

This paper attempts to present the state of affairs of consumer protection in India by inspecting the current status with respect to UN guidelines for consumer protection. The paper throws light on the present scenario by conferring some data and headlining the problems. It inspects that the legal and policy framework in India is adequately good as per the measures stated by UN guidelines (Consumers International), but when it comes to implementation, the scenario is not up to the mark. It concludes with some recommendations that might further improve the consumer protection in India. I. Objective: The objective of this paper is to present the plight of Consumer Protection Act by analysing its current status with reference to Consumers International or as per UN guidelines. It states the major deviations between the consumer protection framework and its application, their drawbacks and the reasons behind it. It also highlights the need of Consumer Education and the urgency of initiating the Consumer Movements to combat consumer exploitation. The upcoming concept of industrialisation coupled with globalisation, liberalisation across the nations has empowered the consumers to realise their role in governance and society. An analysis of marketing management has made it clear that consumer is the king pin of the market. The producer should produce goods keeping in mind the requirements of the consumer and satisfy the consumer needs. In a developing country like India where the prevalence of poverty and unemployment is very high and level of literacy is very low, because of which people have to go through bulk of problems, notably in consumer related issues. Unlike in the developed world, consumer such countries lack in promotion of development process. As we all know, the basic purpose of economic planning is to allocate resources for maximum satisfaction of consumer needs. Ultimately the goods and services produced in any economy are meant for the king of the market i.e. the consumer. In a rational economy, there is this logical, political, and moral force in the proposal that the consumers themselves should have the right to take and make decisions for fulfilling their needs with wise use of resources being allocated. Realising this, the international organisation of consumer unions, now known as Consumers International took the action and under its consistent persuasion, the UN adopted a set of guidelines for the Consumer Protection on April 9, 1985 which were amended in 1999. These guidelines address the consumers keeping in view their needs and interest worldwide by promoting consumer protection and administer the legal framework for government stressing on development and newly independent countries by embellishing and strengthening consumer protection policies and legislation. Consumer protection is very wide. It includes various rights and various remedies which are available to consumers.