Consumer Rights and Responsibilities

Welcome to Class !!

We are eager to have you join us !!

In today’s Civic Education class, We will be discussing Consumer Rights & Responsibilities. We hope you enjoy the class!

A consumer is a person who buys and uses commodity produced by another person.

Consumer Rights

The eight Universal Rights of a consumer are the right to

Satisfaction of Basic Needs: The consumer must be able to derive the satisfaction the product is expected to give. The product should not be packaged with anything that will deprive the user of getting maximum satisfaction from it.

Safety: The consumer has the right to safety while enjoying the product. The product must not create health problems for the consumer in the course of using the product. For instance, a normal toilet soap should not bleach the user’s body or create any skin problems for them.

Information: The consumer has the right to get adequate information necessary for deriving maximum satisfaction from the product. This information also prevents the user from accidents that are inherent in the wrong handling or usage of the product. Such information should be available in the form of manuals or leaflets.

Choose: The consumer has the right to choose whichever brand of any product he wants to use. He should not be compelled or deceived from thinking only that brand is available in the market.

Redress: The consumer has the right to seek redress where he feels cheated by the producer. This may be necessary where the consumer has been deceived.

Consumer Education: Consumers have the right to be educated about their rights and responsibilities. They should know the process of taking legal actions against any product that falls below the standard written on the leaflet or product package.

Representation to be Heard: Consumers have the right to be represented. For instance, a group of consumers can be represented by the chairman of their association to lodge a complaint or make their observations know

Healthy Environment: All consumers have the right to a good and clean environment.

Consumer responsibilities include:

Beware: He should be careful about the type of products he wants to buy. He must check and thoroughly examine the products he wants to buy to ensure that he is buying an original product and at the right place.
Demand and Keep Proofs of Transactions: lt is the responsibility of the consumer to ask for documents like invoice, receipts and warranty which are the proofs that transaction actually takes place. He must ensure that documents are properly kept for references or uses.
Think independently: He has the responsibility of determining what to buy, at what price, the quantity and from whom or where he is buying. He must not be carried away by advertisement, marketers or touts to influence his decision in the course of buying the products.
Speak Out: He has the responsibility of explaining to the seller exactly what he wants to buy. Besides, he should express himself where he has doubt about the genuineness of the product before purchase.
Respect the Environment: The consumer has the responsibility of keeping the environment clean. He must not litre the environment with the wrappers or carton of the product consumed.

We have come to the end of this class. We do hope you enjoyed the class?

Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.

In our next class, we will be talking about Democracy. We are very much eager to meet you there.