Q.Explain the right to safety with an example.

The right to safety protects a consumer against goods and services that could be hazardous to life, health, or property, requiring sellers to supply products that meet accepted safety standards. It applies most directly to products that are used on the body or that involve electricity, gas, or fire.

The right to safety is one of the six consumer rights recognised under Indian consumer-protection law. It protects a consumer against goods and services that are hazardous to life, health, or property, and it obliges manufacturers and sellers to ensure that the products they sell meet the relevant safety standards before reaching the market.

This right applies most directly to products that come into close or repeated contact with the body, or that involve inherently risky elements such as electricity, gas, pressure, or fire — categories where a manufacturing defect or a cut corner in quality can cause genuine physical harm rather than merely financial loss. A pressure cooker without a properly functioning safety valve can burst under pressure; an electrical appliance with inadequate insulation can cause a shock or a fire; a two-wheeler helmet that does not meet the prescribed safety standard offers only the appearance of protection, not the real thing.

A consumer exercises the right to safety in two ways: proactively, by checking for safety features and recognised certification marks (such as the ISI mark on electrical and industrial products) before buying, and reactively, by refusing to purchase — or by raising a complaint and seeking redressal for — a product that turns out to be unsafe despite reasonable precaution. This right works closely with the right to be informed, since a consumer can only assess safety if enough accurate information about the product is available in the first place.

A common error is giving only the definition without a concrete example, or confusing the right to safety with the right to be informed. Safety is about protection from harm; information is about knowing facts before buying.