Enumerate the various Acts passed by the Government of India which help in protection of consumers’ interests.
The various Acts passed by the Government of India which help in protection of consumers’ interest are:
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986: The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 seeks to protect and promote the interests of consumers. The Act provides safeguards to consumers against defective goods, deficient services, unfair trade practices, and other forms of their exploitation.
The Indian Contract Act. 1872: The Act lays down the conditions in which the promises made by parties to a contract will be binding on each other. The Act also specifies the remedies available to parties in case of breach of contract.
The Sale of Goods Act, 1930: The Act provides some safeguards and reliefs to the buyers of the goods in case the goods purchased do not comply with express or implied conditions or warranties.
The essential Commodities Act, 1955: The Act aims at controlling production, supply and distribution of essential commodities. This Act also provides for action against anti-social activities of profiteers, hoarders and black-marketers.
The Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act, 1937: The Act prescribes grade standards for agricultural commodities and live-stock products. The Act stipulates the conditions which govern the use of standards and lays down the procedure for grading, marking and packing of agricultural produce.
The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954: The Act aims to check adulteration of food articles and ensure their purity so as to maintain public health.
The Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976: The provisions of this Act are applicable in case of those goods which are sold or distributed by weight, measure or number. It provides protection to consumers against the malpractice of under-weight or under-measure.
The Trade Marks Act, 1999: This Act has repealed and replaced the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958. The Act prevents the use of fraudulent marks on products and thus, provides protection to the consumers against such products.
The Competition Act, 2002: This Act has repealed and replaced the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969. The Act provides protection to the consumers in case of practices adopted by business firms which hamper competition in the market.
The Bureau on Indian Standards Act, 1986: The major activity of the Bureau is formulation of quality standards for goods and their certification through the BIS certification scheme. The Bureau has also setup a grievance cell where consumers can make a complaint about the quality of products carrying the ISI mark.
Mrs. Mathur sent a jacket to a laundry shop in January 2018. The jacket was purchased at a price of ₹4,500. She had previously sent the jacket for dry cleaning with Shine Dry Cleaners and the jacket was cleaned well. However, she noticed that her jacket had white discoloration marks when she collected the jacket this time. On informing the dry cleaner, Mrs. Mathur received a letter confirming that discolouration indeed appeared after the jacket was dry cleaned. She contacted the dry cleaner multiple times and requested for compensation for discoloured jacket but to no avail.
Upon Consumer court’s intervention, Shine Dry Cleaners agreed to compensate ₹2,500 to Mrs. Mathur for the discoloured jacket.
a. Which right was exercised by Mrs. Mathur at the first instance.
b. Name and explain the right which helped Mrs. Mathur to avail the compensation.
c. State which consumer responsibility has been fulfilled by Mrs. Mathur in the above case.
d. State any other two responsibilities to be assumed by the consumers.
Under which consumer right does a business firm set up consumer grievance cell?
Explain the redressal mechanism available to consumers under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has made a proposal for hotels and other food outlets to declare the kind of oil/fat used in cooking each of the food items on their menus. Name and explain the Consumer Right being reinforced by this proposal.
Name the component of product mix that helps the consumer to exercise the right to information.
Which quality certification mark is used for agricultural products?
Who can file a complaint in a consumer court?
State any two relief available to consumers under CPA.
What are various ways in which the objective of consumer protection can be achieved?
Explain the importance of consumer protection from the point of view of a business.
How does planning provide direction?
What is meant by staffing?
Identify the network of social relationships which arises spontaneously due to interaction at work.
What is informal communication?
State the meaning of controlling.
What is meant by capital structure?v
What is meant by management?
What is a Treasury Bill?
State any two advantages of branding to marketers of goods and services?
What makes principles of management flexible?
Enlist the advantages of packaging of consumer products.
What is meant by management?
Define market segmentation.
What is the meaning of directing in management?
Discuss the impact of globalization on the business environment.
What are the factors affecting determination of the price of a product or service? Explain.
A company ‘M’ limited is manufacturing mobile phones both for domestic Indian market as well as for export. It had enjoyed a substantial market share and also had a loyal customer following. But lately it has been experiencing problems because its targets have not been met with regard to sales and customer satisfaction. Also mobile market in India has grown tremendously and new players have come with better technology and pricing. This is causing problems for the company. It is planning to revamp its controlling system and take other steps necessary to rectify the problems it is facing.
a. Identify the benefits the company will derive from a good control system.
b. How can the company relate its planning with control in this line of business to ensure that its plans are actually implemented and targets attained.
c. Give the steps in the control process that the company should follow to remove the problems it is facing.
What is the importance of setting objectives in the planning process?
State any one situation in which an organisation’s control system loses is effectiveness.
Give any two standards that can be used by a company to evaluate the performance of its Finance & Accounting department.