Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
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Consumer protection consists of laws and organizations designed to ensure the rights of consumers as well as fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional protection for the weak and those unable to take care of themselves. Consumer protection laws are a form of government regulation which aims to protect the rights of consumers. For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about productsparticularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue, such as food. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of "consumer rights" and to the formation of consumer organizations, which help consumers, make better choices in the marketplace and get help with consumer complaints. Other organizations that promote consumer protection include government organizations and self-regulating business organizations such as consumer protection agencies and organizations, the Federal Trade Commission, ombudsmen, Better Business Bureaus, etc. A consumer is defined as someone who acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing.
The consumer protection act 1986 is a step that has been brought into force by the govt of India in order to as the name suggests, protect the consumers. It defines CPA as- An Act to provide for better protection of the interests of consumers and for that purpose to make provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers' disputes and for matters connected therewith.
Now, people are becoming conscious and logical thinking and rational bent of mind. The role of media has also broadened. It has undertaken many ventures, along with entertainment, education and enhancement of social structure. Thus, the new media is a mirror of modern society expressing its needs, aspirations, expectations and failures.
providing right information at right time to consumers. Ignorance regarding prices and price-behavior changes market structure and fluctuations in economy is not understood by ordinary consumers and hence they fall prey to exploitation and malpractices. Exploitation of consumers is done in various forms. Improper advertisements, exaggeration of claims and misstatements are the ways to exploit consumers. Media can raise these issues and resist against the unscrupulous practices of marketers. Public utility services, hospitals, transports and communication are the areas where consumers have their grievances in great magnitude. But the nature of services is that a consumer finds useless to fight against complaints or authorities. Such malpractices can rightly be brought to light by media.
Editorials:
Many newspapers often express views of society in general through their editorial columns. Usually these views indicate a general opinion about how a Government policy, decision or any verdict has been accepted by the society. Sometimes these editorials offer suggestion/recommendations regarding steps to be taken to resolve issues of consumer agonies and to deal with sufferings of consumers.
News stories:
Some newspapers often publish stories on the matters of consumers interests or grievances or some leading incidents related with consumer problems. Such news stories generally are designed after considering the news worthiness of an event.
Letters to Editors:
Consumers, consumer activists and many other conscious citizens prefer to express their views through newspapers. The best Dias for this purpose is Readers column, Opinion of consumers on certain important issues, their grievances and suggestions to the public authorities often appear in the column.
CASE STUDY
This case is related to Automobiles in general and Motor bikes in specific. And this was reported in Times of India. The case pertains to a Bajaj CT 100 motorcycle where Vehicle dealer had promised a mileage of 100 + kms. Since the customer could not get the promised mileage he approached the dealer and during the subsequent checking of the defective vehicle even by company service engineers could not achieve the promised figures. Customer demanded compensation. Since they refused to entertain any claims for compensation the customer had no other option than approaching the consumer forum. The case was finally settled by the national commission in favor of customer by awarding replacement of vehicle and monetary compensation along with court cost. This shows how Times of India plays a great role in protecting the interest of consumers.
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CONCLUSION:
Media in all its form, print or electronic, is a mirror of the times and society we live in. It connects us to the world and the world to us. Media is an integral part of our life. In todays world, where ones social circle is mostly just work related, based on some or the other selfish motive, we tend to believe and depend more on the media for every type of information. Media thus has tremendous impact on the way a society conducts itself in the present, as well as the shape it would take in the future. It influences people of all age group. Media also plays a very useful role in setting up good or amicable relations between traders and buyers. The promotions of fair trade practices, establishing code of conduct for businessmen are the task that media alone can shoulder. The concept of ethics in the economy relates to morality, ethics, professional and organizational ethics (Isaac quoted in Bergadaa 2007). Each industry has its own guidelines for the ethical requirements. But on the four main requirements for marketing communications are legal, decent, honest and truthful. Unfortunately, in a society that is the way the company intended to profit from the use of marketing communication messages targets can be a form of social pollution from potentially harmful and unintended effects of the consumer may have the decision represented (Hackley and Kitchen, 1999). The words of Bernstein (1951), said fifty-six years ago are still very much a question of present interest: It is not true that if we save advertising, we save all, but it seems reasonable to assume that if we do not save advertising, we might lose all.
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