‘Consumer is king’ as the famous tag line goes. But is he really the king or is he a subject or rather a victim of unfair trade practices, spurious goods and services, expired goods packaged as fresh stock, misleading/intentional misrepresentation of uses and benefits of goods, etc., all in all packaged as profits of the companies/organizations supplying such misleading/intentional misrepresented goods and services. Companies/Organizations’ fail to understand that consumers play a crucial role in the overall economic and financial growth of a particular country. Hence, the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, to protect consumers and simultaneously acts as a check and balance on companies/organizations to be aware of the repercussions of misleading/intentional misrepresented goods and services. Earlier, yes it was always the ‘caveatemptor’ rule as in, ‘let the buyer beware’, but now rather in modern times, with the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and in consonance with the US Consumer Protection Laws in place, a principle of ‘caveat venditor’ rule which means ‘let the seller beware’ is also in place and a responsibility is also laid upon the seller in case of misleading/intentional misrepresented goods and services.
