Bharatiya Grahak Diwas or National Consumer Day is annually observed across India on 24th December to create awareness about consumer rights and responsibilities.
The day also commemorates the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, which received assent from the President of India on 24th December 1986.
- The National Consumer Day is also known as National Consumer Rights Day.
The theme of National Consumer Day 2021 is “Consumer – Know your Rights”.
Consumer Rights in India
Consumer Protection Act, 1986
To promote and protect the rights of the consumers, the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 ensures 6 rights for consumers,
- Right to be protected against marketing of goods which are hazardous to life and property
- Right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices
- Right to be assured, wherever possible, access to an authority of goods at competitive prices
- Right to be heard and to be assured that consumers interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums
- Right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers;
- Right to consumer education.
Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS):
i.Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS) is the National Standard Body of India established under the BIS Act 2016 for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and other related matters.
ii.The various Standard Marks of BIS are,
- ISI Mark and Eco Mark – For products covered under Scheme-I-
- Registration Mark – For products covered under Self Declaration of Conformity Scheme as per Scheme-II-
- Hallmark- For Hallmarked Articles
Indian Standards Institution (ISI):
i.Indian Standards Institution (ISI), which came into being on 06 January 1947, started operating the Certification Marks Scheme under the Indian Standards Institution (Certification Marks) Act, 1952, to provide the advantages of standardization to common consumers.
ii.The scheme was formally launched by ISI in 1955-56.
iii.The ISI mark certifies that a product conforms to an Indian standard (IS) developed by the BIS
ECO Mark:
ECO Mark Scheme was instituted by the Government of India for the labelling of environment-friendly products. The Scheme is being administered by the BIS.
- The presence of ECO Logo along with ISI Mark on a product indicates that the product meets certain Environmental criteria along with the Quality requirements as specified in the relevant Indian Standard.
Jago Grahak Jago campaign:
The government of India launched a national campaign ‘Jago Grahak Jago (Wake Up Consumer)’, in 2005 to create awareness among consumers.
It is one of the most successful operations initiated by the Government
World Consumer Rights Day
World Consumer Rights Day is annually observed across the world on 15th March to create awareness about the power of consumers and their rights. The day is coordinated by Consumers International.
The theme of World Consumer Rights Day 2021 is “Tackling Plastic Pollution”.
About Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution:
Union Minister– Piyush Goyal (Rajya Sabha- Maharashtra)
Minister of State(MoS)– Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Constituency- Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh); Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Constituency- Buxar, Bihar)
