Consumer Protection Awareness- Role of Education

Abstract

With the advancement in technology, education and the impact of globalization, consumers are enjoying high privileges. They have access to everything at the click of a button; they are using more electronic gadgets and are dependent on online purchases. On the other side it is unfortunate to know that consumers are becoming the main target of exploitation. They are the worst victims of unfair trade practices. Government has implemented new laws and measures to protect the consumers. In spite of government's efforts the consumers are still being exploited mainly because of lack of awareness of Consumer rights. In this scenario an attempt was made to understand the level of awareness among educated and uneducated consumers about Consumer rights. A Sample of 1000 consumers from Andhra Pradesh was selected through purposive sampling method. SPSS 20.0 was used. Exploratory factor analysis, correlation and regression tests were applied. The study found that education did not create much difference in the level of awareness, majority of consumers do not have knowledge of Consumer Rights and laws. A positive correlation was found between Consumer Perceptions, buying Practices and Problems. The study identified three critical factors of Consumer Protection namely Government Initiatives, Consumer Awareness and Accessibility. Consumers about their rights and protection measures.. The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) is a compassionate social legislation that provides for protection of rights of the consumers and redressal of consumer disputes. CPA has provided for three tier quasi-judicial consumer dispute redressal mechanism at district, state and national level. The Act applies to all goods and services, excluding goods for resale or for commercial purpose, services rendered free of charge and under a contract for personal service. In spite of these Consumer Protection Acts and measures consumers are still being exploited and the main reason is lack of awareness. In this scenario an attempt is made in this paper to study the awareness level of consumers about Consumer Protection, their buying, practices and perceptions of consumers about their rights.