- National Consumer Day was observed on December 24, 2018.
- The theme of this year was, “Timely Disposal of Consumer Complaints”.
- The objective of the day is to highlight the importance of the consumer movement and the need to make every consumer more aware of their rights and responsibilities.
Why this day?
- On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted.
- The Act aims to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation, such as defective goods, deficiency in services and unfair trade practices.
- The Lok Sabha passed the Consumer Protection Bill, 2018 on December 20, 2018.
- The Bill seeks to replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
- It also seeks to establish Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions at District, State and National level.
- The district Commissions are authorised to look into complaints involving claims worth one crore rupees, which was 20 lakh rupees earlier.
- The State Commissions’ will look into complaints involving claims worth 15 crore rupees, up from 1 crore earlier.
Complaints about and above 15 crores would be handled by the National Commission. It also seeks to impose stringent punishment for food adulteration.
