Lok Sabha Question No. 435 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-25
Subject: World Consumer Rights Day
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Sunil Dattatray Tatkare

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 435

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.06.2019

## WORLD CONSUMER RIGHTS DAY

435. SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE: DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE: DR. HEENA GAVIT:SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

## Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk/k vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government celebrated World Consumer Rights Day recently;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the aims and objectives of celebrating the Day;
- (c) the details of main theme of this year's World Consumer Rights Day;
- (d) the details of the programmes/ events organized during the World Consumer Rights Day;
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  set  up  any  mechanism  to  effectively  protect  the  rights  of  the consumers and protect against the market abuses;
- (f) if so, the details thereof;
- (g) the number of consumer courts functioning in the country to protect the rights of the consumer and the number of cases disposed of during the last three years; and
- (h) the further steps taken/being taken by the Government to strengthen the consumers' rights?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h ¼Jh jke foykl ikloku½

## THE MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI RAM VILAS PASWAN)

(a) to (d)  : Yes,  Sir.  The  Government  celebrated  World  Consumer  Rights  Day  this  year  on  15 th March,  2019  with  the  theme  'Trusted  Smart  Products'.  The  World  Consumer  Rights  Day  is  an opportunity  to  promote  and  protect  the  basic  rights  of  consumers.  In  the  course  of  celebration,  the issues and the challenges facing the consumers were discussed with the stake holders.

- (e) & (f)  : Under  the Consumer  Protection  Act, 1986, there is a three tier quasi-judicial mechanism, namely  National  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commission,  State  Consumer  Disputes Redressal  Commission  and  District  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Fora  for  providing  simple, inexpensive  and  speedy  justice  to  the  consumers.  In  addition,  the  Department  runs  a  National Consumer  Helpline  with  a  toll  free  number  1800-11-4000  and  a  short  code  14404  as  an  alternate consumer grievance redressal mechanism.

(g) & (h)   : There are 684 Consumer Fora (National Commission, 35 State Commissions and 648 functional District Fora) functioning in the country at present. The details of the disposal of cases in Consumer Fora during the last three years are given below:

| Year    |   National Commission |   State Commissions |   District Fora |
|---------|-----------------------|---------------------|-----------------|
| 2016-17 |                  5532 |               34162 |          190211 |
| 2017-18 |                  5983 |               28772 |          121081 |
| 2018-19 |                  6095 |               39185 |          112352 |

To make people aware of the rights as consumers, the Government carries out a multi-media publicity  campaign,  besides,  the  National  Consumer  Helpline  and  Zonal  Consumer  Helplines  have been  set  up  as  an  Alternate  Consumer  Grievance  Redressal  Mechanism  to  facilitate  redressal  of consumer grievances.

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