We have completed the NCERT/CBSE Solutions chapter-wise for Class 12 Business Studies Chapter 12 Consumer Protection with Answers by expert subject teacher for latest syllabus and examination. Prepare effectively for the exam taking the help of the Class 12 Business Studies NCERT Solutions PDF free of cost from here. Students also can take a free NCERT Solutions of Consumer Protection. Each question has right answer Solved by Expert Teacher. Download the Business Studies NCERT Solutions with Answers for Class 12 Business Studies Pdf and prepare to help students understand the concept very well.
NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Business Studies Chapter wise
EXERCISES
Very Short Answer Type:
Q1. Under which consumer right does a business firm set up a consumer grievance cell?
Answer: The consumer right that makes a business firm set up a consumer grievance cell is known as “Right to be heard”. Under this right consumer can file a complaint in case of dissatisfaction that arise from availing a service.
Q2. Which quality certification mark is used for agricultural products?
Answer: The AGMARK sign, issued and certified by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection of the Government of India is the quality certification mark used for agricultural products.
Q3. What is the jurisdiction of cases that can be filed in a State Commission?
Answer: State commission will accept cases where the value of goods and services that are being disputed along with the compensation that is demanded must fall between 20 lakhs till 1 crore.
Q4. State any two reliefs available to consumers under CPA.
Answer: Consumers can obtain the following reliefs under the CPA, or Consumer Protection Act:
- Removal of the deficiencies in the services.
- Replacement of damaged goods with new ones that are free of flaws.
Q5. Name the component of the product mix that helps the consumer to exercise the right to information.
Answer: The component of product mix that helps the consumer to exercise the right to information is called as the quality certification of the product.
Short Answer Type:
Q1. Enumerate the various Acts passed by the Government of India which help in protection of consumers’ interests.
Answer: The following are some of the Acts passed by the Government of India to protect the interests of consumers.
The 1986 Consumer Protection Act: This Act protects consumer interests against various forms of exploitation, such as defective goods, deficiencies in services, unfair trade practices, and so on. For the redressal of consumer grievances, the Act established a three-tier machinery consisting of District Forums, State Commissions, and the National Commission.
- The Contract Act of 1982: This Act defines the conditions under which a contract’s promises are binding. Furthermore, the Act specifies the remedies available in the event of a breach of contract.
- The Sale of Goods Act, 1930: The Act provides consumers with protection and relief if the goods they purchase do not conform to the express or implied conditions and warranties.
- The Agriculture Produce (Grading and Marking) Act of 1937: This Act establishes grade specifications for agricultural and livestock commodities. It specifies the process for grading, packing, and labeling agricultural products. AGMARK is the quality certification mark provided by the Act.
- The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954: This Act was enacted to prevent food adulteration and to ensure the purity of food items.
- The Standards of Weights and Measures Act of 1976: This Act protects consumers from exploitative practices involving under-weight and under measurement of goods.
- The Essential Commodities Act of 1955: This Act establishes control over the production, supply, and distribution of essential goods. It also regulates inflationary trends and ensures that goods are distributed equally. It also keeps an eye out for anti-social activities like hoarding and black marketing.
- Trade Marks Act of 1999: This Act was enacted to prevent the use of false marks on goods and, as a result, to protect consumers from such goods.
- The Competition Act of 2002: This Act was enacted to prevent business firms from engaging in practices that impede market competition.
Q2. What are the responsibilities of a consumer?
Answer: A consumer should keep in mind certain responsibilities while purchasing, using and consuming goods and service.
The responsibilities that consumer needs to exercise while purchasing the ornaments are:
1) Should buy only standardized goods as they provide quality assurance.
2) Should read labels carefully so as to have information about prices, weight, manufacturing etc.
3) Should ask for cash memo on purchase of goods and services as it serves as a proof of the product.
4) Should learn about the risk associated with products and services and follow manufacturer’s instructions and use the products safely.
Q3. Who can file a complaint in a consumer court?
Answer: A complaint can be made by
(i) Any consumer.
(ii) Any registered consumer’s association.
(iii) The Central Government or any State Government.
(iv) One or more consumers, on behalf of numerous consumers having the same interest.
(v) A legal heir or representative of a deceased consumer.
Q4. 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.
Answer: The “right to be informed” is a consumer right that is reinforced by this proposal. In this right, the consumer has the right to complete information about the product that he or she wishes to purchase, which can include details such as the date of manufacture, quantity, expiry date, and directions for use. As a result of this legal obligation, manufacturers are required to publish all such information on the product’s packaging.
Q5. Who is a consumer as per CPA?
Answer: A Consumer is a person who purchases a product or avails a service for a consideration, either for his personal use or to earn his livelihood by means of self-employment. The consideration may be: Paid, Promised Partly paid, and partly promised. It also includes a beneficiary of such goods/services when such use is made with the approval of such person.
Long Answer Type:
Q1. Explain the importance of consumer protection from the point of view of a business.
Answer: Businesses cannot survive or profit without consumers protection and satisfaction because of the following reasons:-
- Long-term interest: long term profit maximisation should be the aim of the business by retaining the consumer’s interest by satisfying them with the products.
- Business uses society’s resources: Business uses resources from the society therefore it’s their responsibility to supply such products and render such services which are of consumers interest.
- Social responsibility: consumers are the major stockholders in the business firm and this holds the 4. responsibility of the business to supply good quality products and reasonable prices to consumers.
- Moral Justification: It is the moral duty of any business firm to take care of their consumers by avoiding them from getting exploited, insecure losses, and unfair trade.
- Government Intervention: A business engaging in exploitative trade practice would attract government intervention, where punishable laws will be followed in case of exploitation of the consumer which can spoil the image of the business. Hence, such practices of fraud need to be avoided.
Q2. Explain the rights and responsibilities of consumer?
Answer: The following are the rights of the consumer as per the Consumer Protection Act:
- Right to Safety: Each and every consumer has the right for safeguarding themselves against any goods or service that are hazardous to the health, property and life.
- Right to be informed: This right makes a consumer to become aware about the quality, quantity, weight, ingredients and price of the goods and services. The government makes it mandatory to print all such information on the product packaging.
- Right to Choose: The consumer has the right to choose any goods or services without force as per the wish of customer. Also, consumer has the right to access different products at prices which are competitive and fair.
- Right to be heard: The customer in case of any instances of dissatisfaction about any product has the right to file a complaint. The customer can file a complaint and seek compensation from the manufacturers in form of product replacement, cash or free repair (if possible).
- Right to seek redressal: The customer can ask for redressal in case the customer is exploited. The Company act has rules which makes it necessary for the companies to pay for the damage caused by the product manufactured by the company.
Apart from rights, a customer can have some responsibilities for safeguarding against exploitation. These are:
- A consumer should be aware of the goods and services availability. It will make the customer informed and accordingly customer can make the choice.
- A consumer must check all the appropriate quality marks on the items before purchasing the items. For example, checking hallmark symbol before purchasing jewellery.
- A consumer must always ask for cash memo for the product or service that is purchased. It acts as a proof that purchase happened and can be used as a reference in case of any dispute that may arise in future.
- Consumer must read the labels about price, expiry date etc before making a purchase.
- A consumer must always deal with honesty and do not involve in illegal business deals for benefit.
Q3. What are various ways in which the objective of consumer protection can be achieved?
Answer: Consumer protection is the process of making consumers aware of and educated about their rights and responsibilities, as well as assisting them in seeking redressal for their grievances and complaints. Consumer protection is critical for both consumers and businesses.
The following are some of the methods for achieving the goal of consumer protection.
- Self-Administration by Business: Businesses should recognize that protecting their customers’ interests is in their best interests in the long run. They must put in more effort to achieve their goals. They must understand that satisfied customers not only lead to high sales but also spread the word about the company, attracting new customers. They must adhere to business ethics, and avoid activities such as unfair trade practices, adulteration, and so on that hampers the consumer interests. To address customer complaints, many businesses have established grievance cells and customer care centers.
- Formation of Business Associations: Many business and commerce associations, such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), have been established in India to protect consumers. They establish guidelines for their members to follow when dealing with customers.
- Consumer Education and Awareness: One of the most important steps toward consumer protection is consumer education and awareness. A consumer’s rights, as defined by the Consumer Protection Act, must be well understood and communicated to him. He must also be aware of the reliefs available to him under the Act in the event of any form of exploitation. Furthermore, he must be educated on his responsibilities in order to protect himself from deception and exploitation. A well-educated and informed consumer can make sound decisions.
- Formation of Consumer Associations and Organisations: A growing number of consumer organizations and associations, such as the Consumer Unity and Trust Society, the Consumer Guidance Society of India, the Consumer Protection Council, and so on, must be established. These organizations make an active effort to educate customers and make them aware of their rights and responsibilities. Furthermore, they encourage consumers to protest any form of exploitation or deception, and they also assist them in taking legal action and seeking redress.
- Role of Government: The government plays an important role in consumer protection by enacting various consumer protection rules and legislation. The Government of India has enacted numerous regulations and laws to protect consumers, including the Consumer Protection Act, the Contract Act, the Trade Marks Act, the Competition Act, etc. The Consumer Protection Act is the most important of these. The Act establishes a three-tiered machinery consisting of a District Forum, a State Commission, and a National Commission to address consumer grievances and complaints.
Q4. Explain the redressal mechanism available to consumers under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Answer: Under the consumer protection act, three redressal forums have been set up to deal with consumer protection:-
- District forum:-
- It is available in every district, it consists of one president and a minimum of 2 members and one of them should be a woman, who is appointed by the state government.
- All cases where the value of goods and services is less than 20 lakh Rs, need to be addressed by the district forum.
- If the consumer is not satisfied with the decision of the district forum, he can appeal to the state commission.
- State commission:-
- It consists of one president and a minimum of 2 members who are appointed by the state government.
- It is for the goods and services where the value of the item concerned is more than 20 lakhs but less than 1 cr, also for the cases where one of the parties is not satisfied with the decision of district forum and has approached the state commission.
- If any of the parties is not satisfied with the decision of the state commission, he can appeal to the national commission within 30 days.
- National commission:-
- The national commission is established by the central government and it has one president and a minimum of four other members, one of them should be a woman.
- It is for the goods and services where the value of the matter concerned is more than 1 crore, also for the cases where any of the party is not satisfied with the decision of state commission.
- If any of the parties is not satisfied with the decision of the central government, they can move to the supreme court, only those cases where the value of material concerned is more than a crore will go to the supreme court.
Q5. Explain the role of consumer organisations and NGOs in protecting and promoting consumers’ interests.
Answer: Consumer organisations and NGO’s perform the following functions in order to protect and promote consumer interests:
- By educating the general public about the different consumer rights through workshops, training programs and seminars.
- By publishing periodicals and other type of publications that provide knowledge about the various consumer problems, rights and other matters that can be of use to the public.
- By carrying out tests of the different consumer products in laboratories to determine the quality of the products and letting customer know the same by publishing the findings.
- By encouraging customers to take legal action whenever is required against unfair trade practices adopted by business organisations.
- By providing assistance to the consumers who are looking for legal counselling.
- By filing complaints in consumer courts for the customer.
- By filing of cases in consumer forums which are of public interest.
Q6. 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 discolouration 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 a 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.
Answer: (a) The right exercised by Mrs. Mathur is the “Right to seek Redressal”.
(b) The right that helped Mrs. Mathur in availing the compensation is the “right to seek redressal”. Under this right the consumer has a right to get relief or compensation in case the service or the product falls short of the customer expectations.
(c) Mrs. Mathur fulfilled the consumer responsibility of filing a complaint in an appropriate consumer forum in case a shortcoming is found in the quality of goods and services that are purchased.
(d) The other two responsibilities that can be assumed by customers include:
i. Buying only goods that are of good quality and are standardised. This include checking for the required quality assurance marks on the items purchased. It can include hallmark for jewellery, ISI mark for electrical goods.
ii. Check the labels correctly so that there is proper information on the manufacturing and expiry dates, actual weight, ingredients and maximum retail price etc.
Concepts covered in this chapter –
Meaning of consumer
Meaning of consumer protection
Who can file a complaint?
Consumer Rights
Consumer Responsibilities
We Think the given NCERT Solutions for class 12 Business Studies book Chapter 12 Consumer Protection with Answers Pdf free download will assist you. If you’ve got any queries regarding CBSE Class 12 Business Studies Consumer Protection NCERT Solutions with Answers, drop a comment below and that we will come back to you soons.