Consumer protection

Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public,
against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established
by law. Such laws are intended to prevent businesses from engaging in fraud or specified unfair
practices to gain an advantage over competitors or to mislead consumers. They may also provide
additional protection for the general public which may be impacted by a product (or its production)
even when they are not the direct purchaser or consumer of that product. For example, government
regulations may require businesses to disclose detailed information about their products—
particularly in areas where public health or safety is an issue, such as with food or automobiles.

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 pursue
complaints against businesses. Entities that promote consumer protection include government
organizations (such as the Federal Trade Commission in the United States), self-regulating business
organizations (such as the Better Business Bureaus in the US, Canada, England, etc.), and non-
governmental organizations that advocate for consumer protection laws and help to ensure their
enforcement (such as consumer protection agencies and watchdog groups).

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. Consumer interests can also serve
consumers, consistent with economic efficiency, but this topic is treated in competition law.
Consumer protection can also be asserted via non-government organizations and individuals as
consumer activism.

Efforts made for the protection of consumer's rights and interests are:

The right to satisfaction of basic needs

The right to safety

The right to be informed

The right to choose

The right to be heard

The right to redress

The right to consumer education

The right to a healthy environment

Consumer law

Consumer protection law or consumer law is considered as an area of law that regulates private law
relationships between individual consumers and the businesses that sell those goods and services.
Consumer protection covers a wide range of topics, including but not necessarily limited to product
liability, privacy rights, unfair business practices, fraud, misrepresentation, and other
consumer/business interactions. It is a way of preventing frauds and scams from service and sales
contracts, eligible fraud, bill collector regulation, pricing, utility turnoffs, consolidation, personal
loans that may lead to bankruptcy. There have been some arguments that consumer law is also a
better way to engage in large-scale redistribution than tax law because it does not necessitate
legislation and can be more efficient, given the complexities of tax law.[1]

Australia

In Australia, the corresponding agency is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or
the individual State Consumer Affairs agencies. The Australian Securities and Investments
Commission has responsibility for consumer protection regulation of financial services and
products. However, in practice, it does so through privately run EDR schemes such as the Australian
Financial Complaints Authority.

Brazil

In Brazil, consumer protection is regulated by the Consumer's Defense Code (Código de Defesa do
Consumidor),[2] as mandated by the 1988 Constitution of Brazil. Brazilian law mandates "The offer
and presentation of products or services must ensure correct, clear, accurate and conspicuous
information in the Portuguese language about their characteristics, qualities, quantity, composition,
price, guarantee, validity and origin, among other data, as well as the risks they pose to the health
and safety of consumers."[3] In Brazil, the consumer does not have to bring forward evidence that
the defender is guilty. Instead, the defense has to bring forward evidence that they are innocent.[2] In
the case of Brazil, they narrowly define what a consumer, supplier, product, and services are, so that
they can protect consumers from international channels trade laws and protect them from
negligence and misconduct from international suppliers.
Germany

Germany, as a member state of the European Union, is bound by the consumer protection directives
of the European Union; residents may be directly bound by EU regulations. A minister of the federal
cabinet is responsible for consumer rights and protection (Verbraucherschutzminister). In the
current cabinet of Olaf Scholz, this is Steffi Lemke.

When issuing public warnings about products and services, the issuing authority has to take into
account that this affects the supplier's constitutionally protected economic liberty, see
Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court) Case 3 C 34.84, 71 BVerwGE 183.[4]

India

Sign showing Code of Buyers. Fuel

outlet, Jaipur
 Code of Seller. Fuel outlet, Jaipur

In India, consumer protection is specified in The Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Under this law,
Separate Consumer Dispute Redress Forums have been set up throughout India in every district in
which a consumer can file their complaint on a simple paper with nominal court fees and their
complaint will be decided by the Presiding Officer of the District Level. The complaint can be filed by
both the consumer of a goods as well as of the services. An appeal could be filed to the State
Consumer Disputes Redress Commissions and after that to the National Consumer Disputes
RedresaRedressalsion (NCDRC).[5] The procedures in these tribunals are relatively less formal and
more people-friendly and they also take less time to decide upon a consumer dispute[6] when
compared to the years-long time taken by the traditional Indian judiciary. In recent years, many
effective judgments have been passed by some state and National Consumer Forums.

Indian Contract Act, 1872 lays down the conditions in which promises made by parties to a contract
will be legally binding on each other. It also lays down the remedies available to the aggregate party
if the other party fails to honor their promise.

The Sale of Goods Act of 1930 provides some safeguards to buyers of goods if goods purchased do
not fulfill the express or implied conditions and warranties.

The Agriculture Produce Act of 1937 act provides grade standards for agricultural commodities and
livestock products. It specifies the conditions which govern the use of standards and lays down the
procedure for grading, marking, and packaging of agricultural produce. The quality mark provided
under the act is known as AGMARK-Agriculture Marketing.
Nigeria

The Nigerian government must protect its people from any form of harm to human health through
the use and purchase of items to meet daily needs. In light of this, the Federal Competition and
Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), whose aim is to protect and enhance consumers'
interest through information, education, and enforcement of the rights of consumers was
established by an Act of Parliament o promote and protect the interest of consumers over all
products and services. In a nutshell, it is empowered to eliminate hazardous & substandard goods
from the market. Provide speedy redress to consumer complaints and petition arisen from fraud,
unfair practice, and exploitation of the consumer.

On 5 February 2019, the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, assented to the new Federal
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Bill, 2018. Thus, the bill became a law of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria and binding on entities and organizations so specified in the Act.

The long title of the Act reads: "This Act establishes the Federal Competition and Consumer
Protection Commission and the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal for the promotion
of competition in the Nigerian market at all levels by eliminating monopolies, prohibiting abuse of
dominant market position and penalizing other restrictive trade and business practices." The Act
further repealed the hitherto Nigerian Consumer Protection Council Act and transferred its core
mandate to the new Commission.

Taiwan

Modern Taiwanese law has been heavily influenced by the European civil law systems, particularly
German and Swiss law. The Civil Code in Taiwan contains five books: General Principles,
Obligations, Rights over Things, Family, and Succession. The second book of the Code, the Book of
Obligations, provided the basis from which consumers could bring product liability actions prior to
the enactment of the CPL.[7][8]

The Consumer Protection Law (CPL) in Taiwan, as promulgated on 11 January 1994, and effective
on 13 January 1993, specifically protects the interests and safety of customers using the products
or services provided by business operators. The Consumer Protection Commission of Executive
Yuan serves as an ombudsman supervising, coordinating, reporting any unsafe products/services,
and periodically reviewing the legislation.

According to the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Association and the American Chamber of Commerce, in
a 1997 critical study, the law has been criticized by stating that "although many agree that the intent
of the CPL is fair, the CPL's various problems, such as ambiguous terminology, favoritism towards
consumer protection groups, and the compensation liability defense, must be addressed before the
CPL becomes a truly effective piece of legislation that will protect consumers"[9]

United Kingdom

The main consumer protection laws in the UK are the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the
Consumer Rights Act 2015.

The United Kingdom has left the European Union, but during the transition period (until end of 2020)
the UK was still bound by directives of the European Union. Specifics of the division of roles
between the EU and the UK are detailed here.[10] Domestic (UK) laws originated within the ambit of
contract and tort but, with the influence of EU law, it is emerging as an independent area of law. In
many circumstances, where domestic law is in question, the matter is judicially treated as tort,
contract, restitution or even criminal law.

Consumer protection issues were dealt with by the Office of Fair Trading before 2014. Since then,
the Competition and Markets Authority has taken on this role.[11]

United States

Consumer protection laws often

mandate the posting of notices, such
as this one which appears in all
automotive repair shops in California.

In the United States a variety of laws at both the federal and state levels regulate consumer affairs.
Among them are the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the
Fair Credit Reporting Act, Truth in Lending Act, Fair Credit Billing Act, and the Gramm–Leach–Bliley
Act. Federal consumer protection laws are mainly enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department
of Justice.

At the state level, many states have adopted the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act[12] including,
but not limited to, Delaware,[13] Illinois,[14] Maine,[15] and Nebraska.[16] The deceptive trade practices
prohibited by the Uniform Act can be roughly subdivided into conduct involving either a) unfair or
fraudulent business practices and b) untrue or misleading advertising. The Uniform Act contains a
private remedy with attorneys fees for prevailing parties where the losing party "willfully engaged in
the trade practice knowing it to be deceptive". Uniform Act §3(b). Missouri has a similar statute
called the Merchandising Practices Act.[17] This statute allows local prosecutors or the Attorney
General to press charges against people who knowingly use deceptive business practices in a
consumer transaction and authorizes consumers to hire a private attorney to bring an action
seeking their actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees.

Also, the majority of states have a Department of Consumer Affairs devoted to regulating certain
industries and protecting consumers who use goods and services from those industries. For
example, in California, the California Department of Consumer Affairs regulates about 2.3 million
professionals in over 230 different professions, through its forty regulatory entities. In addition,
California encourages its consumers to act as private attorneys general through the liberal
provisions of its Consumers Legal Remedies Act.

State and federal laws provide for "cooling off" periods giving consumers the right to cancel
contracts within a certain time period for several specified types of transactions, potentially
including transactions entered into at home, and warranty and repair services contracts.[18][19]

Other states have been the leaders in specific aspects of consumer protection. For example, Florida,
Delaware, and Minnesota have legislated requirements that contracts be written at reasonable
readability levels as a large proportion of contracts cannot be understood by most consumers who
sign them.[20]

Considering the state of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law, MGL 93A,
clearly highlights the rights and violations of consumer protection law in the state. The chapter
explains what actions are considered illegal under the law for which a party can seek monetary
damages from the other party at fault.[21] Some examples of practices that constitute a Chapter 93A
violation would be when:

1. A Business charges a consumer higher rates than the marked price

2. The refund policy is not clearly posted where it can be readily noticed and understood
 3. A business fails to tell you relevant information regarding your product or service misleads you
in any way.[22]

The laws under MGL 93A prohibit activities that relate to overpricing to a consumer and the use of
"Bait and Switch" techniques. A court will award the plaintiff the damages if they can prove the (1)
defendant knowingly and intentionally violated the MGL 93A agreement or (2) the defendant would
not "grant relief in bad faith" knowing that the actions violated the MGL 93A agreement.[22]
Additionally, failure to disclose refund/ return policy, warranties, and critical information about the
product/service are all in violation of the legislation, and can result in triple damages and lawyer
fees.[23]

Laws

Competition law

United Kingdom
Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000

Consumer Rights Act 2015

Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002

Enterprise Act 2002

General Product Safety Regulations 2005

Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002/3045

Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973

Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982

Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977

Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

United States

Consumer Product Safety Act – gives the Consumer Product Safety Commission the power to
develop safety standards and pursue recalls for products

Federal Trade Commission Act – created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prevent unfair
competition, deceptive acts, regulate trade, etc.

Privacy laws
 United States National Do Not Call Registry – allows US consumers to limit telemarketing calls
they receive.

Food and drug

Pure Food and Drug Act – led to the creation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to
regulate foods, drugs, and more.

Communications

Communications Act of 1934 – created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to

regulate all radio and interstate cable, phone, and satellite communications.

Banking

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FRCA) – regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer
credit information

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) – eliminates abusive consumer practices, ensures
fairness, etc.

Truth in Lending Act (TILA) – requires clear disclosure of key terms of the lending arrangement
and all costs.

Real estate

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) – prohibits kickbacks and requires lenders to
provide a good faith estimate of costs

Health insurance

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) – provides consumer protection for
health information

Digital media

Digital Millennium Copyright Act – prohibits production or sale of devices or services intended to
circumvent copyright measures.

Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (proposed) – would repeal the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act

Australia

The Australian Consumer Law

Division 2 of Part 2 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001[24] about
financial services and products.
See also

Consumer issues

Airline complaints

Antitrust

Better Business Bureau

Cannabis rights

Class action

Competition policy

Competition regulator

Consumer complaint

Consumer organization

Consumers International

Cooling-off period

Credit and debt

Extended warranty

Fairtrade labelling

Federal Trade Commission

Food safety

List of food labeling regulations

Mandatory labelling

Ombudsman

Planned obsolescence

Product recall

Telephone Consumer Protection Act

Transparency (market)
 Unfair competition

People

Florence Kelley

Ralph Nader

Phil Radford

Michael Vernon

References

1. Van Loo, Rory (1 November 2019). "Broadening Consumer Law: Competition, Protection, and
Distribution" (https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/679) . Notre Dame Law
Review. 95 (1): 211.

2. "L8078" (http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/L8078.htm) . www.planalto.gov.br.

Retrieved 3 July 2019.

3. "L8078" (http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/Leis/L8078.htm) . www.planalto.gov.br.

Retrieved 12 April 2020.

4. "DFR - BVerwGE 71, 183 - Transparenzliste" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070219032816/htt

p://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/dfr/vw071183.html) . Archived from the original (http://www.oefr
e.unibe.ch/law/dfr/vw071183.html) on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2006.

5. "National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission" (http://ncdrc.nic.in/) . ncdrc.nic.in.

6. V. Balakrishna Eradi, "Consumer Protection and National Consumer Disputes Redress

Commission" (http://ncdrc.nic.in/%7Cpublisher=NCDRC) Archived (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20110721172525/http://ncdrc.nic.in/) 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. New Delhi:
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. Accessed 25 June 2013.

7. "(TAIWAN) CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW" (http://luatcanhtranhvabaovenguoitieudung.wordp

ress.com/2011/06/01/taiwan-consumer-protection-law/) . 1 June 2011.

8. "Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China" (http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/news/new

s_detail.aspx?id=189) . law.moj.gov.tw.

9. Carol T. Juang, "The Taiwan Consumer Protection Law: Attempt to Protect Consumers Proves
Ineffective" (http://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/885/6Pac
RimLPolyJ219.pdf?sequence=1) Pacific Rim Law & Policy Association, 1997.
10. "EU law and the balance of competences: A short guide and glossary, 2012" (https://www.gov.u
k/guidance/eu-law-and-the-balance-of-competences-a-short-guide-and-glossary) . Foreign &
Commonwealth Office. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2016.

11. "New competition authority comes into existence" (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new

-competition-authority-comes-into-existence) . gov.uk. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 15 January
2020.

12. "Revised Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act" (https://web.archive.org/web/201008212323

55/http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/archives/ulc/fnact99/1920_69/rudtpa66.pdf) (PDF).
Archived from the original (http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/archives/ulc/fnact99/1920_69/rudtp
a66.pdf) (PDF) on 21 August 2010 – via Penn Law.

13. "Title 6 - Chapter 25. Prohibited Trade Practices - Subchapter III. Deceptive Trade Practices" (htt
p://delcode.delaware.gov/title6/c025/sc03/index.shtml) . Delaware Code Online. Archived (ht
tps://web.archive.org/web/20210126000707/http://delcode.delaware.gov/title6/c025/sc03/in
dex.shtml) from the original on 26 January 2021.

14. "815 ILCS 510/ Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act" (http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilc
s3.asp?ActID=2357&ChapterID=67) . www.ilga.gov.

15. "Title 10, §1212: Deceptive trade practices" (http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/1

0/title10sec1212.html) . www.mainelegislature.org.

16. "Nebraska State Statutes - Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act" (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20120117152328/http://www.nebraskaautobody.com/filedownloads/deceptivetrade.htm
l) . www.nebraskaautobody.com. Archived from the original (http://www.nebraskaautobody.co
m/filedownloads/deceptivetrade.html) on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2011.

17. "Missouri Revisor of Statutes - Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo, Missouri Law, MO Law" (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20150213234218/http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/4
0700000201.html) . www.moga.mo.gov. Archived from the original (http://www.moga.mo.go
v/mostatutes/stathtml/40700000201.html) on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February
2015.

18. "Buyer's Remorse: The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule May Help" (https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/buy
ers-remorse-ftcs-cooling-rule-may-help) . Consumer Advice. 16 May 2021. Retrieved
26 August 2022.

19. "Consumer's Rights to Cancel Home Solicitation Contracts K-9 - California Department of
Consumer Affairs" (https://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/k_9.shtml) .
www.dca.ca.gov. California Department of Consumer Affairs. September 2010.
 20. Lewis D. Eigen, "A Solution to the Problem of Consumer Contracts That Cannot be Understood
by Consumers Who Sign Them" (http://scriptamus.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/a-solution-to-t
he-problem-of-consumer-contracts-that-cannot-be-understood-by-consumers/) , Scriptamus,
2009.

21. "Section 9" (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXV/Chapter93A/Section

9) . The 191st general court of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 11 April
2020.

22. "The Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law" (https://www.mass.gov/service-details/the-m

assachusetts-consumer-protection-law) . Mass.gov. Retrieved 12 April 2020.

23. "The Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law" (https://www.mass.gov/service-details/the-m

assachusetts-consumer-protection-law) . Mass.gov. Retrieved 11 April 2020.

24. Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bi

n/viewdb/au/legis/cth/consol_act/asaica2001529/) , retrieved 3 July 2019

Further reading

Mańko, Rafał. "The notion of 'consumer' in EU law" (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/bibli

otheque/briefing/2013/130477/LDM_BRI(2013)130477_REV1_EN.pdf) (PDF). Library Briefing.
Library of the European Parliament. Retrieved 6 May 2013.

External links

- Media related to Consumer protection at Wikimedia Commons

Consumers International (http://www.consumersinternational.org)

Role of Regulators in Consumer Protection: Discussion (https://web.archive.org/web/201504180

44201/http://www.policy.manchester.ac.uk/resources/regulation/non-economic/consumer_prote
ction/)

Health-EU Portal (https://ec.europa.eu/health/) Consumer Safety in the EU

OECD Consumer Policy Toolkit Report (https://www.oecd.org/sti/consumer/consumer-policy-tool

kit-9789264079663-en.htm)

About Econsumer.gov (https://web.archive.org/web/20110902051853/http://www.econsumer.go

v/english/about/overview.shtm) , a portal for consumers to report complaints concerning online
and related transactions with foreign companies
International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) (https://icpen.org/) study
consumer