This document provides an overview of consumer rights and protections in India. It acknowledges the contributions of social studies teachers. It defines a consumer, discusses consumer protection laws and the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. It outlines 5 basic consumer rights: the right to safety, the right to information, the right to choose, the right to be heard, and the right to consumer education. It provides details about each right. It also describes the process for filing a complaint for infringement of consumer rights in the nearest designated consumer court. The document is authored by 8 members.

1. ECONOMICSPROJECT

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTWE WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS OUR SINCERE GRATITUDE TOWARDS OUR SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS FOR THEIR UNSTINTED SUPPORT.BIBILOGRAPHYWIKIPEDIAGOOGLE

4. CONSUMERConsumer is defined as someone who acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing.Even though strong and clear laws exist in India to protect consumer rights, the actual plight of Indian consumers could be declared as completely dismal. Very few consumers are aware of their rights or understand their basic consumer rights.

5. CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWSConsumer protection laws are designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional protection for the weak and those unable to take care of themselves. Consumer Protection laws are a form of government regulation which aim to protect the interests of consumers

7. CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT ,1986Under this law, everyone, including individuals, an undivided family, a firm, and a company, can exercise their consumer rights for the goods and services purchased by them. It is important that, as consumers, we know at least our basic rights and about the courts and procedures that deal with the infringement of our rights.

8. BASIC CONSUMER RIGHTS

9. RIGHT TO SAFETYThis consumer right is defined as the ‘right to be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property’.Specifically significant in areas such as healthcare, food processing and pharmaceuticals, this right spans across any domain that could have a serious impact on the consumers’ health

11. RIGHT TO INFORMATIONThis consumer right is defined as the ‘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’This right should ideally ensure that all consumable products are labeled in a standard manner which contains the cost, the ingredients, quantity, and instructions on how to safely consume the product.

13. RIGHT TO CHOOSEIt is defined as ‘the right to be assured, wherever possible, to have access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices’. Competition, invariably, is the best regulator of a market place. Existence of oligopolies, cartels and monopolies are counterproductive to consumerism

15. RIGHT TO BE HEARD‘The right to be heard and to be assured that consumer's interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums’ is referred to as the right to be heard.This right is supposed to empower Indian consumers to fearlessly voice their complaints and concerns against products and companies

17. RIGHT TO CONSUMER EDUCATIONThe right of each Indian citizen to be educated on matters related to consumer protection and about his/her rightsThis right simply ensures that the consumers in India have access to informational programs and materials that would enable them to make better purchasing decisions

18. COMPLAINT FOR INFRINGEMENT

19. A complaint for infringement of consumer rights could be made under the following circumstances in the nearest designated consumer court:The goods or services bought by a person or agreed to be bought by a person suffer from one or more deficiencies or defects in any respectA trader or a service provider resorting to restrictive or unfair trade practicesA trader or a service provider charging a price in excess of the price displayed on the goods or the price that had been agreed upon between the parties or the price that had been stipulated under any law in forceGoods or services that pose a hazard to the safety and life of a person offered for sale, knowingly or unknowingly, causing injury to health, safety or life.

21. MEMBERSMEENAKSHI MENON FREYAVIDYA VANJITHASREE LAKSHMISUKANYAGLADSYGOPIKA K R