education and protection due to their non-partisan interests. They also disseminate information through their magazines, booklets, newsletters, buying guides, audio visual material and research reports. Many consumer organisations are engaged in comparative testing of products, creating consumer awareness about harmful and unsafe products, product recalls, disseminating information about new legislative provisions for consumers, legal advice and advocacy, handling consumer grievances and complaints and acting as vigilance groups. They hold public meetings and have libraries and documentation centres, and play an important role in consumer awareness, empowerment and consumer movement.
In India we have several consumer organisations bringing out publications in the interest of the consumer. VOICE, a Delhi based consumer organisation, brings out ’Consumer Voice’, CERC, an Ahmedabad based consumer organisation, brings out ‘Insight’. Similarly, the Consumers Union in the US brings out ‘Consumer Reports’; Consumer Association in UK brings out ‘Which’ and the Australian Consumers Association brings out ‘Choice’. Every human being has not only rights but also responsibilities.
You may have heard some people speak of ‘rights and responsibilities’, clearly indicating that both go hand in hand. Thus in order to be able to exercise one’s right it is necessary to be aware of one’s duty. As consumers therefore, we need to be aware of our responsibilities. Consumer responsibilities are: Consumers should have responsibility towards regularly updating their knowledge of various laws and legislative provisions made by the government.
Consumers should be honest in all their dealings and must pay for all their purchases. Fig. . : Ecomark Fig.
. : FSSAI mark Before making a purchase, consumers should do a market survey to find out the different brands, features etc. of items available in different shops and different markets and should compare the prices. This will help them make a wise choice.
. Consumers should feel free to choose from the variety available as per their needs and requirements. . While making a purchase, s/he should read all the information given on the label/ brochure.
. To be assured of quality he should buy products with standardisation marks. . Consumer should keep receipts and other relevant documents of