India observes

National Consumer Rights Day on 24 December annually with a particular theme across the country.

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the president on this day.

No doubt it is considered a historic milestone in the consumer movement in the country.

This day also provides awareness about consumer rights and responsibilities.

There is a background to this day's importance for all types of consumers.

Before the mid-twentieth century, consumers had limited rights with regard to their interaction with products and commercial producers.

Consumers had limited ground on which to defend themselves against faulty or defective products, or against misleading or deceptive advertising methods.

The consumer movement began to gather a following, pushing for increased rights and legal protection against malicious business practices.

By the end of the 1950s, legal product liability had been established

in which an aggrieved party need only prove injury by use of a product,

rather than bearing the burden of proof of corporate negligence.

Helen Ewing Nelson was a drafter of the Consumer Bill of Rights and sought an outlet for distributing it.

During Kennedy's election campaign he made a promise to support consumers.

After his election, Fred Dutton, a colleague of Nelson's and a government officer who advised the president,

asked for Nelson's suggestions on how the president could support consumers, and she sent him the Consumer Bill of Rights.

Kennedy presented those rights in a speech to Congress on March 15, 1962.

In that speech he named four basic rights of consumers.

Originally there were four rights mentioned for the consumers

First is the The right to safety

The assertion of this right is aimed at the defense of consumers against injuries caused by products other than automobile vehicles,

and implies that products should cause no harm to their users if such use is executed as prescribed.

The right was further formalized in 1972 by the US federal government through the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

This organization has jurisdiction over thousands of commercial products, and powers that allow it

to establish performance standards and require product testing and warning labels.

Second is the The right to be informed

This right states that business should always provide consumers with enough appropriate information to make intelligent and informed product choices.

Product information provided by business should always be complete, truthful and also appropriate.

Aiming to achieve protection against misleading information in the areas of financing, advertising, labeling, and packaging,

the right to be informed is protected by several pieces of legislation passed between 1960 and 80.

Third right is The right to choose

The right to free choice among product offerings states that consumers should have a variety of options provided by different companies from which to choose.

The federal government has taken many steps to ensure the availability of a healthy environment open to competition through legislation

including limits on concept ownership through patent law, prevention of monopolistic business practices through anti-trust legislation,

and the outlaw of price cutting and gouging.

The fourth is The right to be heard

This right has the ability of consumers to voice complaints and concerns about a product in order to have the issue handled efficiently and responsively.

While no federal agency is tasked with the specific duty of providing a forum for this interaction between consumer and producer,

certain outlets exist to aid consumers if difficulty occurs in communication with an aggrieving party.

State and federal attorneys general are equipped to aid their constituents in dealing with parties

who have provided a product or service in a manner unsatisfactory to the consumer in violation of an applicable law.