Mahatma Gandhi had rightly said: “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work - he is the purpose of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to serve him.”
Consumer value and protection of Consumer Rights is a concept of continuing interest to scholars, marketing researchers, and to many marketing practitioners. However, the presence of multiple meanings, the use of different terms, and even the ignorance of consumers about its rights lead to diversity of opinions regarding its features and give rise to the possibility of confusion in its application.
This article presents a review of on the concept of value in order to shed light on the confusion surrounding this construct.
Kennedy recognized that consumers are the largest economic group in the country’s economy, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. But they were also the only important group who were not effectively organised, whose views were not heard. Consumers need to stand up for their rights. Government has enacted legislation to protect consumers. The six Consumer Complaints right which was enacted in 1986 are:-
- Right to Safety
- Right to Information
- Right to Choice
- Right to be heard
- The Right to Redress
- The right to consumer education.
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986, provides for the better protection of consumers. Unlike existing laws which are punitive or preventive in nature, the provisions of this Act are compensatory in nature. The act is intended to provide simple, speedy and inexpensive redressal to the consumers' grievances. The act has been amended in 1993 both to extend its coverage and scope and to enhance the powers of the redressal machinery. If these rights are not protected then a consumer has every right to complaint against it. He can file an online consumer forum through which he can complain against any injustice or any duplicity against an organization or a person concerned. It is a platform through which a person can register his or her complaints. Consumer Forum helps a person to lodge one’s complaints. One has to just fill an application form and a bunch of experts will give suggestion regarding the matter. So that you will get your piece of advice and get help to overcome the problem. A consumer has to be aware of what he buys and what he pays. Consumer awareness means making the consumer aware of the products and services being purchased by them. It can help the consumers to appropriately satisfy their needs.
The interest of the customers can be protected by encouraging healthy competition in the market which serves the customers and not harm their integrity. The aim of consumer forum is to enforce Consumer Protection.Sometimes customers are not aware of their rights. Consumer Forum is a response towards the ongoing conflict between the customers and their protection. The consumer forums file the complaints of the customers and advice them on the related issues and educates the customers in upholding their rights.