Consumer Rights

CBSE Class 10, NCERT Economics (Social Science)

Answers of NCERT Economics Textbook Chapter 5, InText Questions

Page - 77

Question 1: What are the various ways in which people may be exploited in the market?

How the consumers are exploited in the market?

What are the different forms of consumer exploitation?

Answer: People may be exploited in the market in the following ways:

Underweight

Many dishonest shopkeepers weigh less than what they should.

Additional charges

Sometimes traders add charges that were not mentioned before, also known as hidden cost.

Adulteration

At times adulterated or defective goods are sold in the market.

False and incomplete information

Generally false information is passed on through media and other sources to attract consumers are incomplete or misleading.

Artificial scarcity

Traders create artificial scarcity of a particular good to increase the price and earn high profit. Not only traders, even large companies sometimes manipulate in the market to take illegal advantage.

Duplicate goods

Some dishonest producers produce duplicate goods of some renowned brands.

Rough behaviour

At times, sellers do not behave well especially with illiterate and ignorant customers.

Poor service

Unsatisfactory after-sale service or beach of terms and conditions as given before sale.

Question 3: What do you think should be the role of government to protect consumers?

Answer: To protect the consumers, the government should play the following legislative, administrative and technical roles:

Legislative

The government should implement the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 with great devotion. It should remove the loopholes and strengthened this Act so that the consumer could be benefited from this Act or practice.

Administrative

It includes all administrative measures that should be done to ensure consumer protection. The government should distribute all essential commodities through Public Distribution System (PDS) i.e., the government regulated ration shops among the poorer section of the society. These ration shops keep stock of food grains, sugar, kerosene oil etc. These items are sold at a price lower than the market price.

Technical

It consists of standardization of products and services. That is, the government should set certain standards for a product or service on the basis of its desired qualities like safety, durability, utility, weight, colour, etc. Though in India, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) observes such things in the industrial and consumer goods while Agmark is meant for agricultural products. The working of these institutions should be improved.

Page - 78

Question 1: What could have been the steps taken by consumer groups?

Answer: The following steps could have been taken by consumer groups:

1) Wiring articles on consumer's rights and duties.

2) Holding exhibitions for consumer awareness.

3) To look into the malpractices in ration shops such as diverting the grains to open market to get better margin.

4) To give pressure on business firms and government to correct business conduct which may be unfair and against the interests of consumers at large.

Question 2: There may be rules and regulations but they are not followed. Why? Discuss.

Answer: The following are the main reasons responsible for the above situation:

(a) Corrupt government officials: The law implementing officials are very corrupt. They give space to escape dishonest traders and shopkeepers by taking bribe from them.

(b) Red-tapism: The dishonest shopkeepers also break the rules and regulations resorting to red tapism. They find out relationship with the concerned government officials and able to do malpractices.

(c) Ignorant consumer: Illiteracy causes ignorance. Even the literate consumers do not bother about the price, quality, durability, composition, etc. of the product. So, it is easy for the shopkeepers to break the concerned rules and regulations.

(d) Limited supplies: If the supply of a good is less than its demand, the price rises. This encourages the tendency of hoarding among sellers by breaking the law.

(e) Limited competition: If the production of a good is in a few hands, they restrict the supply of that product and manipulate its price.

Page - 79

Question 1: For the following (you can add to the list) products/services discuss what safety rules should be observed by the producer?

a) LPG cylinder

b) Cinema theatre

c) Circus

d) Medicines

e) Edible oil

f) Marriage pandal

g) A high-rise building

Answer: The following safety rules should be adopted in the case of following products:

(a) LPG cylinder: There should be no leakage in the cylinder. The quality and proper weight of the cylinder should be ensured.

(b) Cinema theatre: There should be proper exit, fire extinguisher, safe building, toilet, etc.

(c) Circus: The producer should observe fire extinguisher, safe cage for dangerous animals, trained personnel, etc.

(d) Medicines: Manufacturing date, expiry date, batch number and ingredients should be printed.

(e) Edible oil: There should be no adulteration. Agmark and date of packaging with batch number, shelf-life should be given on the bottle.

(f) Marriage pandal: Safe pandal, fire extinguishers, proper exit should be ensured.

(g) A high-rise building: Consultation with efficient architect, safe building, fire extinguishers, proper exit, well maintained toilet and verandah should be ensured.

Page - 80

Question 1: Why is it that rules have been made so that the manufacture displays the information regarding ingredients used, price, batch number, etc?

Answer: This is because; consumers have the right to be informed about the particulars of goods and services that they purchase. They can then complain and ask for compensation and replacement if the product proves to be defective in any manner.

Question 2: What is Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005?

Answer: In October 2005, the Central Government of India enacted a law, which is popularly known as RTI (Right to Information) Act, which ensures is citizens all the information about the functions of government departments.

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