National Consumer Rights Day, also known as Bharatiya Grahak Diwas or National Consumer Day, is annually observed across India on 24 December to raise awareness of consumer rights and responsibilities.
- The day aims to educate people about their rights as consumers to avoid exploitation like freedom of choice, access to information, and protection against dangerous products.
Background:
i.The day commemorates the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) of 1986, which received the assent of the President of India on 24 December 1986.
ii.The 1st National Consumer Rights Day was observed on 24 December 1986.
About Consumer Protection Act of 1986:
i.The Consumer Protection Bill of 1986 seeks to provide for better protection of the interests of consumers and to set-up Consumer councils and authorities for dispute resolution.
ii.To further strengthen the provisions for consumer protection, addressing challenges posed by e-commerce markets and online platforms, the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 was enacted to replace the CPA of 1986.
iii.Under the provisions of the CPA of 2019, a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has been established from 24 July 2020, to regulate matters related to false or misleading advertisements.
- It aims to protect consumers from defective goods, negligent services, and unfair trade practices.
iv.6 Fundamental Rights of Consumer Protection Act are Right to safety; Right to choose; Right to be informed; Right to be heard; Right to seek redressal; and Right to consumer education.
2023 Events:
i.On the occasion of National Consumer Day 2023, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution inaugurated and released several initiatives during the event organised by DCA in New Delhi, Delhi.
Highlights of the event:
- Inauguration of the e-JAGRITI portal for consumer commissions;
- Inauguration of Venture Capital (VC) Facility at the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC);
- Inauguration of Drone certification facility at the National Test House (NTH);
- Inauguration of National Consumer Helpline 2.0;
- Inauguration of new laboratories at NTH;
- Domestic Appliances testing Laboratory, Mumbai(Maharashtra) & Transformer Testing facility at Guwahati(Assam);
- Organic Food Testing Laboratory at Jaipur(Rajasthan)
- Exchange of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NTH and Regional Reference Standard Laboratory (RRSL) for mutual collaboration In EV (testing).
ii.Following the inaugural event, a technical session was organized on the following themes:
- Artificial Intelligence(AI) & the protection of consumer rights.
- Role of technology in speedy disposal of consumer cases.
- Impact of Dark Patterns on Consumer Choices & preferences
Jago Grahak Jago Campaign:
i.Jago Grahak Jago (Wake Up Customer Wake Up) is a consumer awareness campaign that was launched in 2005 by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
ii.The campaign’s goal is:
- To protect consumers against unfair and unethical trade practices.
- To provide access to different products at competitive rates;
- To provide consumer education to look for justice and redress against any unfair trade practices.
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS):
i.It is the National Standards Body of India established under the BIS Act 2016. It came into effect on October 12, 2017.
ii.It is responsible for the development of the activities of standardisation, marking and quality certification of goods and matters related to or incidental to these activities.
- It also performs product testing and licenses the use of an official mark to indicate that a product has been certified.
iii.It operates under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.
Some of the BIS standard marks are:
- AGMARK (Agriculture Mark); Indian Standards Institute (ISI); BIS Hallmark; Food Products Order (FPO) Mark; and ECO Mark for Ecologically Friendly Product.
About Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution:
Union Minister– Piyush Goyal (Rajya Sabha- Maharashtra)
Ministers of State– Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Constituency: Buxar, Bihar); Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Constituency: Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh)
