Safety
According to the Consumer Protection Act 1986, the consumer right is referred to as ‘right to be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property’.It is applicable to specific areas like healthcare, pharmaceuticals.
Information
The right to information is defined as ‘the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case may be so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices’ in the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social as well as economic order which encourages the buying of goods and services in ever-greater amounts. This term is sometimes associated with critics of consumption beginning with Thorstein Veblen. Veblen's topic of examination.
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What are the responsibilities of a consumer while purchasing things?
Every consumer who sets out to purchase any product from physical or online stores has a list of 7 responsibilities that need to be fulfilled. They are:
- Putting rights into action
One of the prime responsibilities of consumer in India is to put his rights to action. In order to do this, he must know what his rights are. Knowing fully about the product, getting issues solved etc. are some of the basic consumer rights in India.
- Seeking full information
Consumers must ensure that they do not purchase anything without knowing fully about the product. They should conduct enough research and not rely on words of the seller.
- Seeking legal action for solution of authentic issues
Consumers must bring into light, any kind of malpractices that are followed by sellers. According to the consumer rights in India, any consumer can file a complaint if he or she notices a faulty behaviour from the sellers.
- Quality – First approach
This is probably one of the most important responsibilities of consumer in India. Consumers should always give first priority to quality and only purchase those goods that are certified by ISO, Agmark, Woolmark, FPO and the like.
- Looking beyond advertisements
Any rightful consumer should know to look beyond the colour and gloss of the advertisements and to understand the authenticity of the product.
- Valid documents should accompany any purchase
Consumers should take care to ensure that they get a copy of the bill receipt, invoice, warranty card etc. from the seller at the time of purchase.
- Purchases should not be rushed into
Consumers should spend considerable time in purchasing any product. A hurried consumer is an easy target of exploitation for the seller.