INTRODUCTION TO CONSUMER AWARENESS
Consumer awareness is the understanding and knowledge that a buyer should have of his rights as a customer. The awareness is very important for the buyer since it permits him to get the most from what he buys. Consumer awareness is making the consumer aware of His/Her rights. Consumer awareness is a marketing term. It means that consumers note or are aware of products or services, its characteristics and the other marketing P's (place to buy, price, and promotion). Consumer protection has earned an important place in the political, economic and social agendas of many nations. In India, the Government has taken many steps including legislative, to protect consumers. Education is a life long process of constantly acquiring relevant information, knowledge and skills. Consumer education is an important part of this process and is a basic consumer right that must be introduced at the school level. Consumers by definition include all citizens who are, by and large the biggest group, who are affected by almost all government, public or private decisions. The most important step in consumer education is awareness of consumer rights. However, consumer education is incomplete without the responsibilities and duties of consumers, and this influences individual behaviour to a great extent.
MERITS OF CONSUMER AWARENESS
It is in a consumer's best interest to have a high awareness of the products he/she buys. Higher awareness can lead to saving money and/or improving the quality of the goods purchased, or in economic terms, increasing the chances of being on a higher (better) indifference curve. If we look at the opposite scenario, a poorly-informed consumer will spend more money on products that provide less utility to the consumer, and there can be a loss, either private or social. Naturally, awareness is not 'free' in the economic sense: it requires time and energy, two valuable commodities to a consumer, to be informed. The idea is, however, that the marginal benefits of being informed and having good consumer awareness tend to outweigh the marginal cost of being informed, so it is usually worth it.
WAYS BY WHICH CONSUMERS ARE EXPLOITED
Some common ways by which consumers are exploited by manufacturers and traders are given below : 􀂋 Underweight and Under-measurements : The goods being sold in the market are sometimes not measured or weighed correctly. 􀂋 Sub-standard Quality : The goods sold are sometimes of sub-standard quality. Selling of consumables beyond their expiry dates and supply of deficient or defective home appliances are generally the regular grievances of consumers. 􀂋 High Prices : Very often the traders charge a price higher than the prescribed retail price. 􀂋 Duplicate Articles : In the name of genuine parts or goods, fake or duplicate items are being sold to the consumers. 􀂋 Adulteration and Impurity : In costly edible items, such as oil, ghee and spices, adulteration is made in order to earn higher profits. This causes heavy loss to the customers; they suffer from monetary loss as well as spoil their health. 􀂋 Lack of Safety Devices : Electronic goods, electrical devices or other appliances produced locally, lack the required inbuilt safeguards. This causes accidents to the consumers.
􀂋 Artificial Scarcity : In order to amass illegitimate profit, businessmen create artificial scarcity by hoarding. They sell it at the later stage at higher prices. 􀂋 False or Incomplete Information : Sellers easily mislead consumers by giving wrong information about a product, its price, quality, reliability, life cycle, expiry date, durability, its effect on health, environment, safety and security, maintenance costs involved, and terms and conditions of purchase. Cosmetics, drugs and electronic goods are common examples where consumers face such problems.
􀂋 Unsatisfactory after-sale Service : Many of the high cost durable items, such as electrical or electronic equipments, home appliances and cars, need adequate after-sale care. The suppliers do not provide the satisfactory after –sale services despite the necessary payments. 􀂋 Rough Behaviour and Undue Conditions : In matters like LPG gas connection, fixing of a new telephone line, procurement of licensed items, etc., consumers are often harassed and undue conditions are put before them.
CONSUMER PROTECTION IN INDIA
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is an act of Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to protect interests of consumers in India. It makes provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consum­ers' disputes and for matters connected therewith. Consumer Protection Councils are established at the national, state and district level to increase consumer awareness. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (DCDRF): Also known as the 'District Forum' established by the State Government in each district of the State. The State Government may establish more than one District Forum in a district. It is a district level court that deals with cases valuing up to 2 million (US$31,000).
Consumer awareness is on the rise in India, but it still needs serious attention. Even after 25 years of the Consumer Protection Act (CoPRA) in India, only 20 percent of consumers know about it and only 42 percent have heard about consumer rights. Fifty-three percent of consumers are unaware of the country’s redress system, the objective of which is to give consumers access to simple, speedy and inexpensive redress of their grievances.
CONSUMER PROTECTION IN U.A.E.
Protection of consumer rights is a serious issue in the UAE. The UAE Government passed Law No. 24/2006 to safeguard consumer rights and interests. The consumer protection laws prohibit unfair trade practices, curb unreasonable market manipulation, ban sale of sub-standard, fake, expired products and monitor pricing amongst other necessary measures to ensure consumer confidence and create an atmosphere of transparency in the market.
H. H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, recently launched Customer Charter for Federal Government services. The charter enlists commitment of service providers and duties and responsibilities of consumers.
The Department of Consumer Protection in the Ministry of Economy handles consumer complaints and issues at the federal level. Consumers with grievances can contact Ministry of Economy on 600 522 225.
Department of Economic Development deals with consumer rights issues in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. These departments are also involved in supervising the implementation of consumer protection laws, raising awareness amongst consumers about their rights and duties and addressing illegal trade practices. Sharjah Municipality deals with consumer issues in the emirate.
CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL
Consumers International (CI) is the world federation of consumer groups that serves as the only independent and authoritative global voice for consumers. It is based in London, England. Founded on 1 April 1960, currently with over 220 member organisations in 115 countries around the world, the organisation continues to build a powerful international movement to empower and protect consumers everywhere. In campaigning for the rights of consumers across the world, CI seeks to hold corporations to account and acts as a global watchdog against any behaviour that threatens, ignores or abuses the principles of consumer protection.