Kolkata: The National Consumer Day was observed by the Consumer Affairs department on Friday. The district offices of the department will observe the day from Friday till December 24.
The first Consumer Protection Act was enacted in the country on December 24, 1986, to protect the interests of consumers, their rights and provide direction for settling consumer disputes. To commemorate the day, the department observes the day as National Consumer Day. The theme for this year was ‘consumer protection in the era of e-commerce and digital trade.’
Srikant Mahato, the Minister of State for the state Consumer Affairs department, said that through leaflet distribution and miking, people will be made aware of the consumer safety and rights. According to him, awareness among people has increased. New offices have been built at Bankura, Jhargram and Medinipur, among other districts, Mahato said.
The new Consumer Protection Act, 2019, provides detailed provisions related to e-commerce to ensure the safety and quality. With growing trends of shopping through online platforms particularly after Covid pandemic, new ways of deceiving customers have arisen. In such a situation, creating awareness among the public on matters such as online transactions among others have become essential, an official said.
People need to be aware of their rights and take interest in the legality of the matter in order to get remedies. Hence, the MoS stressed on the department’s active role in generating awareness among the people across the state. The department claims to have received an increasing number of complaints by consumers in the past few years which according to them is an example of growing awareness among the citizens.