THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K. V. THOMAS)
(a) & (b) : Yes Madam. The Department has conducted two evaluation studies for
consumer
awareness and the redresal and enforcement of consumer Protection Act,1986:
The Department through Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow conducted a study
in the year 2012 to ascertain awareness level of consumers in the country. A sample of
2400
people in 6 states was selected for the study. Level of awareness in the country is
under:-
Sl.No. State Awareness Index Score (Scale of 10)
1 Maharashtra 6.583
2 Delhi 5.950
3 Kerala 5.902
4 Bihar 5.53
5 Uttar Pradesh 5.465
6 North East(Assam) 4.865
The Deparment has also sponsored an Evaluation Study on “Impact and Effectiveness of
Consumer Protection Act, 1986†which was conducted by Indian Institute of Public
Administration (IIPA), New Delhi.?
The major findings include, among other things, the following points:
(i) Only 26.0% of the respondents always insist on the cash memo/bill after making a
purchase. 41.9% ask for it sometimes and 32.1% never asked for purchase
memo/bill.
(ii) 70.6% of the respondent are aware about the MRP and 48% know that one can
bargain on MRP and get the product for a lesser value.
(iii) 70.5% of the consumer respondents know about ISI Mark, 41.3% are aware about
AGMARK and 47.2% know Hallmark.
(iv) 84.9% of the respondents know that only a consumer can file a complaint in the
District Forum, 51.7% says only VCOs can file and 31.3% says only government
can file.
(v) Among those who had filed a complaint in the District Fora, 77.6% said that the
orders were implemented effectively.
(vi) Given a choice 60% of the respondents said that they would prefer mediation
rather than filling a complaint.
(vii) 86.62% of the respondents find “Jago Grahak Jago†campaign very informative
(c) : The objectives and functions for setting up Consumer Clubs are to educate
children about
the rights of the consumers as provided in the Consumer Protection Act,1986; to mobilise
youngsters by
instilling in them the spirit of protection of consumer rights; to impart knowledge
about the role of the
consumers in protection of their rights and to strengthen the consumer movement in the
country.
(d) & (e) : Yes Madam. So far 7749 Consumer Clubs have been set up in Schools/
Colleges in 23
States/UTs. The remaining States/UTs are vigorously pursued to set up consumer clubs
in their respective
States/UTs.
