World Consumer Rights Day

March 13, 2024

World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated annually on March 15th to raise global awareness about consumer rights and needs. The day is an opportunity to promote the basic rights of all consumers, demand that those rights are respected and protected, and protest against market abuses and social injustices that undermine them.

Background

The first World Consumer Rights Day was observed on March 15, 1983, and has since become an important occasion for mobilizing citizen action. The date was chosen to commemorate the speech given by former US President John F. Kennedy to the US Congress on March 15, 1962, in which he formally addressed the issue of consumer rights.

He was the first world leader to do so, and the consumer movement now marks March 15th every year as a means of raising global awareness about consumer rights.

Consumer Rights

The consumer movement has outlined several basic consumer rights, which include:

The right to safety: Consumers have the right to be protected against products, production processes, and services that are hazardous to health or life.
The right to be informed: Consumers have the right to be given the facts needed to make an informed choice and to be protected against dishonest or misleading advertising and labeling.
The right to choose: Consumers have the right to be able to select from a range of products and services, offered at competitive prices with an assurance of satisfactory quality.
The right to be heard: Consumers have the right to have their interests represented in the making and execution of government policy and in the development of products and services.
The right to redress: Consumers have the right to receive a fair settlement of just claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, shoddy goods, or unsatisfactory services.
The right to consumer education: Consumers have the right to acquire knowledge and skills needed to make informed, confident choices about goods and services while being aware of basic consumer rights and responsibilities and how to act on them.
The right to a healthy environment: Consumers have the right to live and work in an environment that is non-threatening to the well-being of present and future generations.

Celebrations

World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated in various ways across the world, including seminars, workshops, and awareness campaigns. Consumer organizations and government agencies organize events to promote consumer rights and to create awareness about consumer protection issues.

Many countries also use the day to launch new consumer protection policies and legislation, and to review existing ones. The United Nations also recognizes World Consumer Rights Day and uses the occasion to promote international cooperation in the field of consumer protection.

Themes

The theme for World Consumer Rights Day changes every year, focusing on different aspects of consumer protection and rights. The themes of recent years are as follows:

2023: Empowering Consumers Through Clean Energy Transitions
2022: Fair Digital Finance
2021: Tackling Plastic Pollution
2020: The Sustainable Consumer
2019: Trusted Smart Products
2018: Making Digital Marketplaces Fairer
2017: Building a Digital World Consumers Can Trust
2016: Antibiotics Off the Menu
2015: Helping Consumers Choose Healthy Diets
2014: Fix Our Phone Rights!
2013: Consumer Justice Now!
2012: Our Money, Our Rights: Campaigning for Real Choice in Financial Services
2011: Consumers for Fair Financial Services
2010: Our Money, Our Rights
2009: Junk Food Generation

Interesting Facts

In some countries, such as India, consumer protection laws have been enacted to protect the rights of consumers and to provide them with redressal mechanisms.
The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, adopted in 1985, provide a framework for governments to develop and strengthen consumer protection policies and legislation.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed several standards related to consumer protection, including ISO 10002 (Quality management – Customer satisfaction – Guidelines for complaints handling in organizations) and ISO 26000 (Guidance on social responsibility).

Significance

World Consumer Rights Day is an opportunity to highlight the importance of consumer protection and to promote the rights of consumers worldwide. The day aims to create awareness about consumer rights, needs, and interests, and to encourage consumers to take action against market abuses and social injustices.

The celebration of World Consumer Rights Day also aims to promote international cooperation in the field of consumer protection and to encourage the development of consumer protection policies and legislation worldwide.

India and Consumer Protection

In India, consumer rights are protected by the Consumer Protection Act, which was first enacted in 1986 and later revised in 2019. The act aims to safeguard the interests of consumers by establishing a framework for consumer protection and dispute resolution.

The law provides six basic rights to consumers:

Right to safety
Right to be informed
Right to choose
Right to be heard,
Right to seek redressal
Right to consumer education.

The act also establishes Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions at the district, state, and national levels to adjudicate consumer complaints and disputes. The latest revision of the act in 2019 introduced several new provisions, including stricter penalties for misleading advertisements, the establishment of a Central Consumer Protection Authority, and the regulation of e-commerce platforms. The act has played a crucial role in empowering consumers in India and ensuring fair and just market practices.

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