Role of State and Society in Consumer Protection: with special reference to India

A consumer is said to be a king in a free market economy. The earlier approach of caveat emptor which means, “Let the buyer beware”, has now been changed to caveat venditor “Let the seller beware”. However, with growing competition and in an attempt to increase their sales and market share, manufactures and service providers may be tempted to engaged in unscrupulous, exploitative and unfair trade practices like defective and unsafe products adulteration, false and misleading advertising, hoarding, black marketing etc. Consumers are not aware of their rights and reliefs available to them as a result of which they are exploited. In order to save consumer from exploitation consumer protection is needed. Thus Consumer Protection Act 1986, sale of goods act 1930, Bureau of Indian standard 1986 was introduced to make consumers aware about then rights and to give them legal protection. Consumer Protection Act provides three-tier machinery at the district, state and national level for educating consumers about their rights and responsibilities, but also helps in getting their grievances redressed. The prospect of the consumer justice system in our country appears to be bright in view of the proactive policies schemes/ programmes adopted by the government. The present study will be conducted on secondary sources to understand the role of state and society in consumer protection in present time.