Consumer Rights

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 sets out a defined list of consumer rights — entitlements a consumer can invoke and that the redressal machinery is built to enforce. Maharashtra HSC (MSBSHSE) OCM students typically need to state and briefly explain each of the following six rights:

1. Right to Safety — to be protected against the marketing of goods and services that are hazardous to life and property. This covers everything from safe electrical appliances and non-toxic food to services (such as air travel or medical treatment) that must meet basic safety standards.
2. Right to Information — to be informed of the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices. This is the legal basis for mandatory labelling, MRP printing, ingredient lists and expiry dates.
3. Right to Choose — to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices. A consumer should not be cornered into buying from a single seller at whatever price is demanded.
4. Right to be Heard — to be heard and to have an assurance that the consumer's interests will receive due consideration at the appropriate forum. This underlies a business's own grievance-redressal channels as much as the formal Commissions described later.
5. Right to Seek Redressal — to seek redressal against unfair trade practices, restrictive trade practices, or the exploitation of consumers. This right is what the three-tier Commission structure (later in this chapter) exists to deliver in practice. …