Q.What is meant by the right to choose?

The right to choose assures a consumer of access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices, wherever more than one option genuinely exists in the market. It protects a buyer from being forced into a single brand or a single seller's product. …

The right to choose is one of the six recognised consumer rights, and it operates mainly at the point of purchase, before a transaction is completed. It assures a consumer that, wherever more than one genuine option exists in the market, they will have access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices, and will not be forced or pressured into buying only one particular brand or from only one particular seller.

This right becomes especially relevant where a shopkeeper, distributor, or service provider tries to restrict a buyer's options — for instance, by refusing to stock or display competing brands, by pressuring a customer with aggressive sales tactics toward one specific product, or by structuring a scheme so that a consumer is compelled to buy a bundled or tied product they did not actually want in order to obtain the one they need. A shopkeeper who tells a customer 'we only sell this one brand of soap,' even though other brands genuinely exist in the market and are simply not being stocked to push this one, is working against the spirit of this right. …

Students sometimes describe the right to choose as simply 'liking a product,' missing that it specifically protects against forced or single-b …