CONSUMER RIGHTS AND CONSUMER MYTHS-A CRITICAL STUDY
ABSTRACT
Consumer right is the right to have information or the right to know about the potency, quality, quantity, price, purity and standard of goods and services. The consumers should be protected from unfair trade practices. It is very important and mandatory for the consumers to know their rights. If they know their rights properly then they can be saved from exploitation from the shop keepers. To safeguard the consumers and their rights the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 has been introduced. It ensures correct information to the consumers and fair competition in the market. But on the other side consumers are also exploited. Many people are cheated by low quality or duplicate products but people do not claim for it. Nowadays we are not able to find the duplicate and original products. There are many consumer rights but there are some facts and myths too. Most of the people are not aware of their consumer rights and who to complain once any of the rights are infringed. Though consumer rights are provided with each and every consumer should be aware of the products which they buy. On the one side consumers are protected by their rights on the other side consumers are being cheated by attractive advertisements, guarantees, warranty etc.
KEYWORDS
• Exploitation
• Products
• Online
• Advertisements
• Credit cards
• Bank
INTRODUCTION
Though people are aware of social responsibilities the consumers are being exploited then
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The law of unfair terms in consumer contracts have experienced changes over the years, the most significant of which was the Consumer Rights Act which came into effect on October 1st 2015. However, before the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015), unfair terms in consumer contracts were covered under two pieces of legislation; the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977(UCTA 1977) and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCR 1999) . The UCTA 1977 and UTCCR 1999 provided liability for transactions occurring in the course of a business as well as business and consumer contracts. Both UCTA 1977 and UTCCR 1999 provided protection for consumers from terms in a contract so as to prevent them from being at a disadvantage for not read contractual terms and conditions. The UCTA 1977 defined a consumer under s.12 (1) (a); as a party dealing not in the course of a business and not holding himself to do so; while in s12 (1) (b) the other party is acting in the course of a business. The UTCCR’s definition was very narrow, Regulation 3 stated that a consumer must be a natural person that is not a legal person e.g. a company who contracts outside his business.
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