Protection of Consumers in the Age of Rising Economic Complexities in India

Dr. Humayun Rasheed Khan, Dr. Falak Butool

We are living in a highly materialised, commercialised and consumerist way of life. The rising opportunity of earning and easy accessibility of modern markets has given meteoric pace to production and consumption. The modern day scientific and technological advancements have further intensified consumerism. But these developments have also provided greater space for financial deceptions and fraudulent transactions. In most simple terms, a seller sells a product to a buyer, the buyer finds the product not to be upto his satisfaction, some would say it is a mere co-incidence but is it so? In the absence of definitive statistics, the instinct of a consumer living in a capitalist society would lead one to wonder if the seller intentionally did or did not do something that led to a compromised consumer satisfaction. The need for the protection of the rights of the consumer also demands greater concern of the policy makers, quasi- judicial bodies and non- governmental organisations in this new age of commercialisation. This paper focuses on the statutory protection provided to the consumers in India, consumer services, penalties and issues of fairness and transparency.