Consumer Responsibilities

Rights come with responsibilities — a consumer who wants the law's protection must also act with reasonable care and awareness. These are not separately enacted as legal duties in the way the six rights are, but they are a standard and heavily-examined part of the HSC Commerce Consumer Protection syllabus, because in practice a large share of consumer disputes could be avoided if buyers exercised them:

1. Be quality-conscious. Insist on standardised, certified goods — look for marks such as ISI (industrial goods), AGMARK (agricultural produce) and the BIS hallmark (jewellery) before buying.
2. Insist on a bill/cash memo. A proper receipt is the single most important piece of evidence in any later complaint — without it, proving what was bought, from whom, and at what price becomes very difficult.
3. Read labels and instructions carefully. Check price, quantity, ingredients, manufacturing/expiry dates and usage instructions before buying and before use.
4. Be alert to exaggerated or misleading advertising. A consumer should evaluate claims critically rather than acting purely on advertising appeal.
5. Beware of duplicate and spurious goods. Buy from reliable, authorised outlets, especially for medicines, food and electrical goods, where counterfeits carry real safety risk.
6. Know your rights and the available means of redress, and use the proper complaint channel — the seller, then a consumer forum/Commission — rather than resorting to self-help or simply giving up.
7. Organise, individually or in groups. Consumers acting together, through consumer associations, carry more weight than a single, isolated complaint.
8. Be honest in dealings. A consumer's own responsibility includes not misusing return/warranty policies and not making false complaints — the protection system depends on good faith from both sides. …