Consumer Protection Under The Existing Laws

Consumer right is the right to have information or the right to know about the potency, quality, quantity, price, purity and standard of goods and services. The consumers should be protected from unfair trade practices. It is very important and mandatory for the consumers to know their rights. If they know their rights properly then they can be saved from exploitation from the shop keepers. To safeguard the consumers and their rights the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 has been introduced. It ensures correct information to the consumers and fair competition in the market. But on the other side consumers are also exploited. Many people are cheated by low quality or duplicate products but people do not claim for it. Nowadays we are not able to find the duplicate and original products. There are many consumer rights but there are some facts and myths too. Most of the people are not aware of their consumer rights and who to complain once any of the rights are infringed. Though consumer rights are provided with each and every consumer should be aware of the products which they buy. On the one side consumers are protected by their rights on the other side consumers are being cheated by attractive advertisements, guarantees, warranty etc.

First is the Consumer Act, their first right is to apply and know the consumer rights, because misleading trade practices is prohibited by the Act which is against the unfair or a fraudulent business

Consumer protection also imposes additional costs onto a business since it is mandatory that they comply with these laws. If they do not comply they risk fines and ultimately being put out of business by a court of law. The Consumer Rights Act is now operating in place of the Sales of Goods, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations and the Supply of Goods and Services Act. The Consumer Rights Act was introduced in October 2015 to simplify, strengthen and make clearer an individual’s rights when acting as a consumer. Similarly to the Sale of Goods Act, under the Consumer Rights Act all products must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. Under the Consumer Rights Act individuals have a legal right to discard goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described, and get a full refund. This right is limited to 30 days from the date the product is bought. After 30 days the consumer will not be legally entitled to a full refund if the item develops a fault. With digital products such as apps or games consumers can ask for the product to be repaired or replaced if it develops a fault. And if this isn't possible, individuals have the right to receive a price

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is an administer of the competition and Consumer Act (CCA) which is to prevent collusion among the firms and to prevent the individual firm which break the market equilibrium with their market power. Well competitive market would deliver efficiency costs, faster innovation, prevention of unduly concentrated markets, business freedom, wealth distribution, and enhancement of international competitiveness. Therefore, the ACCC is playing a crucial role in Australia, and their activities can be divided into four categories; (1) the policies for anti-competitive conduct and anti-competitive practices, (2) the mergers policy, (3) the consumer protection policy, and (4) four pillars policy.

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) was established to protect consumers in any legal trading activities in Australia. A set of guarantees has also been introduced for those consumers who are acquiring goods and services from Australian suppliers, importers or manufacturers. The guarantees are intended to ensure that consumers will receive the goods or services they have paid for. If they have problems with the products and services they bought, they are entitled for remedies, such as repair, replacement, and refund.

Other causes of actions in the personal injury complaint - which is the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstance. Another cause of action is strict product liability, which is that strict product liability is a legal rule where the distributor or manufacturer of a defective product is liable to a person injured by that product regardless of whether the defendant did everything possible to make sure the defect never happened. Another cause of action is design defect which is when the foreseeable risks of harm posed by the product could have been reduced or avoided by the adoption of a reasonable alternative design by the seller and the omission of the alternative design renders the product not reasonably safe. Another cause of action is failure to warn which is when the foreseeable risks of harm posed by the product could have been reduced or avoided by the provision of reasonable instructions or warnings by the seller or distributor.

Sales of goods act requires traders to sell goods that are as they are described and of satisfactory quality. It also

This Act protects consumers from misleading descriptions which the business has said about their products and services. It would be a criminal offence if the business trader was to:

Using the phone contract selected in P1 and focusing on the customers this briefing sheet will provide an explanation of how a contract protects the customers and what happens if that contract is breached.

The consumer is never wrong. For billions of dollars is paid annually from consumers to sellers in the United States. That's because America practices a vibrant culture of consumerism. Hence, consumers take advantage of many purchase options available with competitive value and price range. However, frequently a product does not live up to expectation causing consumers to lose millions of dollars in investment. You don't have to take that lost. It is the rights of consumers to experience a viable product upon purchase from sellers. As stated by Findlaw refers to product liability as "manufacturer or seller being held for placing defective product into the hands of a consumer. It is your right to get what you paid for.

Another issue is that despite the coverage relating to unconscionable conduct, it is difficult for consumers to be aware of the scope of the concept, and its legalistic nature tends to alienate the vulnerable consumers that are in need of protection.

Studmaster Pty Ltd was a landlord that owned a shopping complex in Bourke Street, Melbourne. Mrs Tran operated the “Vietnamese Lunch Box” outlet in the food court. She had little ability to speak or read English, which the representatives for Studmaster knew about. Studmaster proposed a three year renewal of her lease at $48,000 per annum plus GST for the first year and CPI increments in the second and third years.

The law of unfair terms in consumer contracts have experienced changes over the years, the most significant of which was the Consumer Rights Act which came into effect on October 1st 2015. However, before the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015), unfair terms in consumer contracts were covered under two pieces of legislation; the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977(UCTA 1977) and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCR 1999) . The UCTA 1977 and UTCCR 1999 provided liability for transactions occurring in the course of a business as well as business and consumer contracts. Both UCTA 1977 and UTCCR 1999 provided protection for consumers from terms in a contract so as to prevent them from being at a disadvantage for not read contractual terms and conditions. The UCTA 1977 defined a consumer under s.12 (1) (a); as a party dealing not in the course of a business and not holding himself to do so; while in s12 (1) (b) the other party is acting in the course of a business. The UTCCR’s definition was very narrow, Regulation 3 stated that a consumer must be a natural person that is not a legal person e.g. a company who contracts outside his business.

Debt settlement consumer protection act helps you to reap benefits. But how? This is a simple question but needs a serious explanation. This article tries to give that explanation to you. After the Federal economy was hit by recession, thousands of people were thrown out of their jobs by the employers. This created a serious financial crisis for the consumers. They failed to repay their debts and became defaulters. They eventually filed for bankruptcy and pulled down their credit score. They lost their credibility and failed to get any further credit from any creditor for the next 7-10 years that followed.

The definition of goods is given as any tangible moveable items. Shoppers are now guaranteed a full refund up to 30 days after the purchase of the defective product. This demand for a full refund with a fixed time limit provides better protection for consumers as the duration was previously unclear and legitimate claims could be rejected by businesses due to prior legislation only providing refunds if within a reasonable time. This time limit is provided for under Section 22(3) which gives the consumer the right to reject the goods. After 30 days, retailers will be given one opportunity to repair or replace the defective product and this is dependent on the customer.