Blitz Bureau
CELEBRATED every year on March 15, the World Consumer Rights Day serves as a reminder of the need to uphold consumer rights and protection. The date was chosen to commemorate President John F Kennedy’s address to the US Congress on this day in 1962, wherein he became the first world leader to recognise consumer rights formally. The day is an opportunity to promote the basic rights of consumers and encourage those rights to be respected and protected.
The theme for this year’s World Consumer Rights Day – ‘A Just Transition to Sustainable Lifestyles’ – reflected the need to make sustainable and healthy lifestyle choices available, accessible, and affordable for all consumers while ensuring that these transitions uphold their basic rights and needs.
Major initiatives
The Department of Consumer Affairs has, over the years, introduced several initiatives and policies to empower consumers, strengthen grievance redressal mechanisms, and ensure a transparent and fair marketplace. Key developments of the last year included improvements in e-commerce regulations, digital consumer protection, product safety standards, and sustainable consumption initiatives.
Consumer Protection Act: With a view to modernising the framework governing the consumer protection in the new era of globalisation, technologies, e-commerce markets etc., the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was repealed and Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was enacted. The new Act provides for a three- tier quasi-judicial machinery at district, state and Central levels, commonly known as ‘Consumer Commissions’ for protection of the rights of consumers and to provide simple and speedy redressal of disputes, including those related with unfair trade practices.
Consumer Welfare Fund: The objective of the Fund is to provide financial assistance to promote and protect the welfare of consumers and strengthen the consumer movement in the country.
Under the Rules, funds are given to the states/UTs as seed money as one-time grant on 75:25 basis (90:10 in the case of Special Category states/UTs) to create a Consumer Welfare (Corpus) Fund. The states/UTs are required to carry out activities to provide coverage to projects for consumer welfare of local relevance out of the interests generated in the corpus Fund every year.
Grievance redressal
E-Daakhil portal: Going through restrictions on consumers due to Covid-19, this portal was introduced as inexpensive, speedy and hassle-free mechanism for filing consumer complaints. It’s an innovative online platform designed to streamline the consumer grievance redressal process, providing an efficient and convenient way for consumers to approach the relevant consumer forum, dispensing the need to travel and be physically present to file grievances. Following the launch of E-Daakhil, the Government launched e-Jagriti, which further streamlines case filing, tracking, and management, ensuring a hasslefree experience for consumers and other stakeholders.
NCH enhancements: The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has emerged as a central point of access for consumers seeking to address their grievances. It has played an essential role in enabling consumers to register complaints and seek resolutions in an efficient and effective manner.
To further enhance the consumer grievance redressal process, the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has rolled out the NCH 2.0 initiative, which incorporates advanced technologies to streamline complaint handling. This includes the introduction of AI-powered speech recognition, a translation system, and a multilingual chatbot. The NCH was upgraded with AI-powered assistance and extended multilingual support to help consumers lodge grievances effectively.
The Department of Consumer Affairs provides essential e-commerce information about all URLs during consumers’ online activities, alerting them if any URL may be unsafe, through the Jaago Grahak Jaago portal and the recentlylaunched mobile application. These portals are dedicated to empowering consumers by providing them with the information, resources and support they need to make informed decisions and assert their rights in the marketplace.
E-commerce guidelines
To safeguard consumers from unfair trade practices in e-commerce, the Department of Consumer Affairs has also notified the Consumer Protection (Ecommerce) Rules, 2020 under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. These rules, inter-alia, outline the responsibilities of e-commerce entities and specify the liabilities of marketplace and inventory e-commerce entities. These guidelines address and regulate 13 specific dark patterns identified in the ecommerce sector, aiming to prevent deceptive practices that mislead consumers.
The draft Indian standard on ‘ECommerce – Principles and Guidelines for Self-Governance’ by the Bureau of Indian Standards aims to establish a transparent, fair, and consumer-friendly framework for online marketplaces. It outlines principles across three key phases – pre-transaction, contract formation, and post-transaction – to ensure ethical e-commerce operations.
The document mandates clear product disclosures, including pricing breakdowns, seller details, country of origin, return policies, and data privacy measures. It enforces explicit consumer consent for transactions, prohibits misleading advertisements, and strengthens grievance redressal mechanisms under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. By prioritising consumer rights and fair business practices, the standard seeks to empower buyers with greater transparency and security in online transactions.
