#consumermitr

RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS IN INDIA: 

The basic rights of the consumer in India are; 

 1. The right to choose from the variety of goods and services available in the market. 

2. A consumer is to be protected from any hazardous product being sold in the market. 

 3. The law now gives a legal right to every consumer to know the details of the goods which include the details about the; 

a. Quality 

 b. Quantity 

 c. Purity 

 d. Nutrition 

 e. Standard 

 f. Price and many more 

 4. If any of the rights guaranteed to a consumer are violated or infringed then the consumer has a right redressal as he can a file a complaint against such an infringement before a consumer disputes redressal forum. 

 5. The law now guarantees the right to consumer education to all in order to ensure that consumers are well aware of their rights and the duties of the opposite party. 

 6. This Act directly strikes at unfair trade practices adopted by the manufacturers and ensures that consumers are able to purchase goods and hire services at a fair price. 

7. Lastly, the consumers have a right to be heard in all decision making processes related to consumer interests. 

BEWARE OF FRAUD AND CHEATING TOWARDS HOLIDAY PACKAGES 

Fraud and cheating it is highly important to highlight the frauds and cheating committed in the name of holiday packages. It has been witnessed that people have not only been cheated into non-existing flights but have also been defrauded into non-existing accommodations in the name of cheap holiday packages. Legal experts often state that one must not approach such offers which are too good to be true since these offers are ultimately the root cause of cheating innocent people by tricking them into irrelevant offers.

KNOW WHAT A NO COST EMI IS 

 In a layman’s language, no-cost EMI means the distribution of a particular amount into monthly instalments on which no interest is to be paid. But the same is not true in reality. The top banking lawyers in India while discussing the concept of no-cost EMI in India lay great emphasis on the circular issued by the Reserve bank of India in the year 2013 which laid down that the concept of no-cost EMI or zero interest EMI does not exist. While explaining the concept of no-cost EMI the RBI said that the interest element in no-cost EMI schemes is often camouflaged and passed on to the customer in the form of processing fee or cancellation of the discount offer. The bank receives the interest amount even on a no-cost EMI scheme because the RBI has clearly laid down that no loan can be offered without an interest being charged. It’s important to mention that the interest on the installments is not charged in addition to the total amount but it is adjusted from the total amount only. 

If a situation arises whereby a project gets stuck for years without any genuine reason the legal options available to the person are: 

1. Filing of an application before the appropriate authority: If one's project is stuck the first option available is to file an application before the concerned authority who has withheld the project and know the reasons behind their decision.

 2. Filing of a writ petition in a High Court: If after filing of an application before the concerned authority a person is not given the explanation and the project is stuck due to unlawful demands a person can file a writ petition either before the High Court or before the Supreme Court. Thereafter the court may issue the appropriate writ directing the authority concerned to pass the project or to provide for the reasons for not passing the project. 

Whenever a consumer buys any sort of eatables from the market it has numerous details finely printed on the wrapping and surprisingly only a handful of consumers bother to read the fine printing on the eatables purchased by them. Very easily a person ignores the fine printing on the eatables and thereby overlooks his right to know. Reading the fine printing on eatables is highly important as these are published to preserve the right of a consumer to know about the details of the product. Before understating the importance of the fine printing it is highly important to know the things mostly written in the fine printing. 

The details mostly mentioned in the fine printing on eatables are; 

1. Name of food 

2. Manufacturers name and address

3. Ingredient 

4. Nutrition value 

5. Weight 

6. Storage instructions 

7. Manufacturing details 

8. Allergy and intolerance information 

9. Shelf life 

10. Price 

11. FSSAI mark and 

12. Helpline number if any 

Various rights and duties of an allottee/homebuyer are: 

1. Right to obtain information relating to the sanctioned plans, layout plans which are approved by the competent authority. 

2. Right to know the details of stage-wise time schedule for the completion of the project. 

3. Right to claim possession as per the declaration given by the promoter. 

 4. Every buyer has a right to claim refund from the promoter 

5. A buyer is entitled to be given all such documents and plans after the delivery of the possession by the promoter. 

 6. It is the duty of every buyer to make necessary payments in due time. 

7. Every buyer is liable to pay interest at such rate as is agreed for any delay in payments. 

POSSESSION CERTIFICATE 

 The possession of a thing even if it is wrongful is said to be a good title against the whole world except the real owner. This is the reason why possession is considered to be nine points in the law. A well-accepted legal implication of possession is that it creates ownership by prescription in favour of the person who has the possession. 

The basic procedure of a consumer complaint followed by the District Forum after admitting a complaint can be summed up as follows;

Once the consumer complaint made by the complainant is admitted by the District Forum a copy of the admitted complaint is sent to the opposite party within 21 days of the filing of the complaint directing the opposite party to submit its reply within 30 days.

In certain cases the defect alleged is such that it mandatorily requires various analysis and tests to be conducted in order to determine whether the alleged defect exists or not. In such complaints, the District Forum sends a sample of the goods in question to the appropriate laboratory to conduct the tests for the determination of the alleged defect. The Forum also directs the laboratory to submit its findings and report within 45 days of the receipt of the reference from the Forum. However, it is important to mention that whenever goods are referred to an appropriate laboratory complainant may be asked by the deposit such fees as may be required for carrying out necessary tests and analysis in relation to the goods in question.

As soon as the laboratory submits its report a copy of the report is sent to the opposite party along with the remarks of the Forum.

If any of the parties dispute the correctness of the findings of the laboratory or the method adopted by the laboratory then the party who disputes the finding shall submit in writing his objections to the Forum

Thereafter both the parties will be given an opportunity of being heard and if the forum is satisfied that the allegation made in the complaint have been proved it shall pass an order against the opposite party.