India

National Consumer Rights Day 2020: Know the Significance, and theme of the Day

The National Consumer Day is observed on December 24, every year in India to spread awareness about consumer importance, their rights, and responsibilities.

The Consumer Protection Act 1986 came into effect on this day. This day provides an opportunity for people to highlight the importance of the consumer rights movement and the need to make every consumer more aware of their rights and responsibilities.

‘Jago Grahak Jago’, which means ‘Be aware consumer’, is a consumer awareness program launched by the Department of Consumer Affairs. As part of this initiative, the government has used channels to create consumer awareness through print, media advertisements, audio campaigns, and video campaigns for consumer information and education.

The main objective of the Consumer Protection Act is to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation such as defective goods, unsatisfactory services, and unfair trade practices.

Significance of this day:

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is regarded as the ‘Magna Karta’ in the field of consumer protection for checking unfair trade practices. It has led to the establishment of a widespread network of consumer forums and appellate courts all over India which ensures speedy and inexpensive settlements of consumer disputes. It has significantly impacted how businesses approach consumer complaints and have empowered consumers to a greater extent.

Consumer Protection Act, 1986 ensures speedy and inexpensive settlements of consumer disputes. The eight rights recognized under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 includes six rights of the consumers provided in the UN charter.

The rights are given to consumers under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 are the Right to Protection, Right of Information, Right of Choice, Right of Hearing, Right of Redressal, and Right of Education.

The theme for National Consumer Rights Day 2020:

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has decided the theme for National Consumer Rights Day 2020 to be: ‘New features of consumer protection act, 2019’. This theme will focus on the features of the new Consumer Protection Act passed by Parliament last year.

State governments are expected to hold panel discussions and webinars where domain experts will discuss the new laws and clear doubts of common citizens regarding consumer rights. The changes made to the Act in 2019 involve streamlining consumer complaints and establishing an online infrastructure to settle grievances and complaints.

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