Consumer protection
Encyclopedia
Consumer protection laws designed to ensure 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 aim to protect the rights of consumer
s. For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue, such as food. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of "consumer rights" (that consumers have various rights as consumers), and to the formation of consumer organization
s which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace.
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 be protected by promoting competition in the markets which directly and indirectly 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
.
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.
Such maa deal with credit repair, debt repair, product safety, service and sales contracts, bill collector regulation, pricing, utility turnoffs, consolidation, personal loans that may lead to bankruptcy
and much more.
, this is Ilse Aigner
.
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 (article 12 Basic Law, see Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court)Case 3 C 34.84, 71 BVerwGE 183).
, as member state of the European Union
, is bound by the consumer protection directives of the EU. Domestic (UK) law
s 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 judicially treated as tort
, contract
, restitution
or even criminal law
.
Consumer Protection issues are dealt with when complaints are made to the Director-General of Fair Trade. The Office of Fair Trading
http://www.oft.gsi.gov.uk will then investigate, impose an injunction or take the matter to litigation. However, consumers cannot directly complain to the OFT. Complaints need to be made to Consumer Direct who will provide legal advice to complainants, or re-direct the individual complaint to Trading Standards for investigation. Due to restrictions within the Enterprise Act 2002, individual complainants are unable to be told whether their case is being investigated or not. In very rare cases, Consumer Direct may direct a very large number of complaints to the OFT to be considered as a systemic complaint. The OFT can also be engaged by consumer groups e.g. The Consumers Association or the statutory consumer protection body - Consumer Focus - via a super complaint. The OFT rarely prosecute companies, however, preferring a light touch regulation approach. Consumer complaints against companies are not published, but investigation work, undertakings and enforcements are located at. Many of the consumer protection laws e.g. Distance Selling Regulations 2000 or Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (12 years ago) are actually UK implementations of EU directives. The OFT is one of the bodies responsible for enforcing these rules. This leads to a problem in that these examples of legislation are clearly designed to deal with individual complaints but the OFT will only deal with systemic complaints and will ignore individual complainants redirecting them back to Consumer Direct.
The Office of Fair Trading also acts as the UK's official consumer and competition watchdog, with a remit to make markets work well for consumers, and at a local, municipal level by Trading Standards
departments. General consumer advice can be obtained from Consumer Direct
or via a local branch of the Citizen's Advice Bureau.
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.
In New Zealand
, the corresponding agency is the Ministry of Consumer Affairs http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz and the New Zealand Commerce Commission
.
In India
, the relevant agency is the National Consumer Disputes Commission http://ncdrc.nic.in/ and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs http://fcamin.nic.in/. Also organisations like Akosha.com and Mouthshut.com play a vital role in helping consumers articulate their concerns and resolves their problems as well. In India the major law governing the consumer protection is Consumer Protection Act, 1986 -- Under this law Separate Consumer tribunals have been set up throughout India in each and every district in which a consumer [complaint can be filed by both the consumer of a goods as well as of the services] can file his complaint on a simple paper without paying any court-fees and his complaint will be decided by the Presiding Officer of the District Level. Appeal could be filed to the State Consumer Forum and after that to the national Consumer Forum. The procedures in these tribunals are relatively less formal and more people friendly and they also take less time to decide upon a legal [consumer] dispute when compared to the years long time taken by the traditional Indian judicial courts. IN recent years many effective judgement have been passed by some state and National Consumer Forums.
a variety of laws at both the federal and state levels regulate consumer affairs. Among them are the federal 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
and the U.S. Department of Justice.
At the state level, many 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 the U.S. state
of 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, Cal. Civil Code § 1750 et seq.
California has the strongest consumer protection laws of any US state, partly because of rigorous advocacy and lobbying by groups such as Utility Consumers' Action Network http://www.ucan.org, Consumer Federation of California
and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
.
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.
Privacy Laws
Food & Drug
Communications
Banking
Real Estate
Health Insurance
Digital Media
National Association of Consumer Advocates http://www.naca.net/
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
which aim to protect the rights of consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
s. For example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue, such as food. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of "consumer rights" (that consumers have various rights as consumers), and to the formation of consumer organization
Consumer organization
Consumer organizations are advocacy groups that seek to protect people from corporate abuse like unsafe products, predatory lending, false advertising, astroturfing and pollution.Consumer organizations may operate via protests, campaigning or lobbying...
s which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace.
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 be protected by promoting competition in the markets which directly and indirectly serve consumers, consistent with economic efficiency, but this topic is treated in Competition law
Competition law
Competition law, known in the United States as antitrust law, is law that promotes or maintains market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies....
.
Consumer protection can also be asserted via non-government organizations and individuals as consumer activism
Consumer activism
Consumer activism is activism undertaken on behalf of consumers, to assert consumer rights.-Objectives and tactics:Goals include making goods and services available to consumers safer, better quality, environmentally friendly, and more readily available....
.
Consumer law
"MODU" or "consumer law" is considered an area of law that regulates private lawPrivate law
Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...
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
Product liability
Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause...
, privacy rights, unfair business practices
Unfair business practices
Unfair business practices encompass fraud, misrepresentation, and oppressive or unconscionable acts or practices by business, often against consumers and are prohibited by law in many countries. For instance, in the European Union, each member state must regulate unfair business practices in...
, fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, misrepresentation
Misrepresentation
Misrepresentation is a contract law concept. It means a false statement of fact made by one party to another party, which has the effect of inducing that party into the contract. For example, under certain circumstances, false statements or promises made by a seller of goods regarding the quality...
, and other consumer/business interactions.
Such maa deal with credit repair, debt repair, product safety, service and sales contracts, bill collector regulation, pricing, utility turnoffs, consolidation, personal loans that may lead to bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and much more.
Germany
A minister of the federal cabinet is responsible for consumer rights and protection (Verbraucherschutzminister). In the current cabinet of Angela MerkelAngela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
, this is Ilse Aigner
Ilse Aigner
Ilse Aigner is a German politician and member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria .Aigner was born in Feldkirchen-Westerham, Rosenheim, Bavaria and entered Angela Merkel's grand coalition cabinet as Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection on 31 October 2008...
.
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 (article 12 Basic Law, see Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court)Case 3 C 34.84, 71 BVerwGE 183).
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Consumer Protection Law in the Republic of China (Taiwan) is the national special law which specifically protects the interests and safety of end-user using the products or services provided by business operators. Consumer Protection Commission of Executive Yuan serves as an ombudsman supervising, coordinating, reporting any unsafe products/services and periodically reviewing the legislation.United Kingdom
The United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as member state of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, is bound by the consumer protection directives of the EU. Domestic (UK) law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
s originated within the ambit of contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
and tort
Tort
A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. It is differentiated from a crime, which involves a breach of a duty owed to society in general...
but, with the influence of EU law, it is emerging as an independent area of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. In many circumstances, where domestic law is in question, the matter judicially treated as tort
Tort
A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. It is differentiated from a crime, which involves a breach of a duty owed to society in general...
, contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
, restitution
Restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court...
or even criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
.
Consumer Protection issues are dealt with when complaints are made to the Director-General of Fair Trade. The Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
http://www.oft.gsi.gov.uk will then investigate, impose an injunction or take the matter to litigation. However, consumers cannot directly complain to the OFT. Complaints need to be made to Consumer Direct who will provide legal advice to complainants, or re-direct the individual complaint to Trading Standards for investigation. Due to restrictions within the Enterprise Act 2002, individual complainants are unable to be told whether their case is being investigated or not. In very rare cases, Consumer Direct may direct a very large number of complaints to the OFT to be considered as a systemic complaint. The OFT can also be engaged by consumer groups e.g. The Consumers Association or the statutory consumer protection body - Consumer Focus - via a super complaint. The OFT rarely prosecute companies, however, preferring a light touch regulation approach. Consumer complaints against companies are not published, but investigation work, undertakings and enforcements are located at. Many of the consumer protection laws e.g. Distance Selling Regulations 2000 or Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (12 years ago) are actually UK implementations of EU directives. The OFT is one of the bodies responsible for enforcing these rules. This leads to a problem in that these examples of legislation are clearly designed to deal with individual complaints but the OFT will only deal with systemic complaints and will ignore individual complainants redirecting them back to Consumer Direct.
The Office of Fair Trading also acts as the UK's official consumer and competition watchdog, with a remit to make markets work well for consumers, and at a local, municipal level by Trading Standards
Trading Standards
Trading Standards is the name given to local authority departments in the UK formerly known as Weights and Measures. These departments investigate commercial organisations that carry out trade in unethical ways or outside the scope of the law.-History:...
departments. General consumer advice can be obtained from Consumer Direct
Consumer Direct
Consumer Direct is a Government-funded call centre providing basic consumer advice in the United Kingdom. Information is also provided on their website ....
or via a local branch of the Citizen's Advice Bureau.
Other Commonwealth countries
In AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
the corresponding agency is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is an independent authority of the Australia government. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trade Practices Commission and the Prices Surveillance Authority to administer the Trade Practices Act 1974...
or the individual State Consumer Affairs agencies. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is an independent Australian government body that acts as Australia's corporate regulator...
has responsibility for consumer protection regulation of financial services and products.
In New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the corresponding agency is the Ministry of Consumer Affairs http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz and the New Zealand Commerce Commission
Commerce Commission
The Commerce Commission is a New Zealand government agency charged with enforcing legislation that promotes competition in the country's markets and prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct by traders...
.
In India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the relevant agency is the National Consumer Disputes Commission http://ncdrc.nic.in/ and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs http://fcamin.nic.in/. Also organisations like Akosha.com and Mouthshut.com play a vital role in helping consumers articulate their concerns and resolves their problems as well. In India the major law governing the consumer protection is Consumer Protection Act, 1986 -- Under this law Separate Consumer tribunals have been set up throughout India in each and every district in which a consumer [complaint can be filed by both the consumer of a goods as well as of the services] can file his complaint on a simple paper without paying any court-fees and his complaint will be decided by the Presiding Officer of the District Level. Appeal could be filed to the State Consumer Forum and after that to the national Consumer Forum. The procedures in these tribunals are relatively less formal and more people friendly and they also take less time to decide upon a legal [consumer] dispute when compared to the years long time taken by the traditional Indian judicial courts. IN recent years many effective judgement have been passed by some state and National Consumer Forums.
United States
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
a variety of laws at both the federal and state levels regulate consumer affairs. Among them are the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act , et seq., is a United States statute added in 1978 as Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act...
, the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a United States federal law that regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer information, including consumer credit information. Along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act , it forms the base of consumer credit rights in the United States...
, Truth in Lending Act
Truth in Lending Act
The Truth in Lending Act of 1968 is United States federal law designed to promote the informed use of consumer credit, by requiring disclosures about its terms and cost to standardize the manner in which costs associated with borrowing are calculated and disclosed...
, Fair Credit Billing Act
Fair Credit Billing Act
The Fair Credit Billing Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1975 as an amendment to the Truth in Lending Act...
, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act , also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, is an act of the 106th United States Congress...
. Federal consumer protection laws are mainly enforced by the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
and the U.S. Department of Justice.
At the state level, many 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 the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, the California Department of Consumer Affairs
California Department of Consumer Affairs
The California Department of Consumer Affairs is a department under the California State and Consumer Services Agency. DCA's stated mission is to serve the interests of California's consumers by ensuring a standard of professionalism in key industries and promoting informed consumer practices...
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
Private attorney general
Private attorney general is an informal term usually used today in the United States to refer to a private party who brings a lawsuit considered to be in the public interest, i.e., benefiting the general public and not just the plaintiff. The person considered "private attorney general" is entitled...
through the liberal provisions of its Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Cal. Civil Code § 1750 et seq.
California has the strongest consumer protection laws of any US state, partly because of rigorous advocacy and lobbying by groups such as Utility Consumers' Action Network http://www.ucan.org, Consumer Federation of California
Consumer Federation of California
The Consumer Federation of California was founded in 1960 as a non-profit consumer advocacy organization. CFC campaigns for state and federal laws and appears at the California State Legislature in support of consumer focused regulations...
and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is a project of the , an American 501 non-profit consumer advocacy organization. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is devoted to upholding the right to privacy and protecting consumers against identity theft and other privacy crimes.It was established in 1992 by Beth...
.
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.
United Kingdom
- Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates contracts by restricting the operation and legality of some contract terms. It extends to nearly all forms of contract and one of its most important functions is limiting the applicability of...
- Sale of Goods Act 1979Sale of Goods Act 1979The Sale of Goods Act 1979 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates English contract law and UK commercial law in respect of goods that are sold and bought. The Act consolidates the original Sale of Goods Act 1893 and subsequent legislation, which in turn had codified and...
- Consumer Protection Act 1987Consumer Protection Act 1987The Consumer Protection Act 1987 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made important changes to the consumer law of the United Kingdom. Part 1 implemented European Community Directive 85/374/EEC, the product liability directive, by introducing a regime of strict liability for...
- Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 is a UK statutory instrument, which implements the EU Unfair Consumer Contract Terms Directive into domestic law.Implemented under the European Communities Act 1972. See also, L95 OJ 29...
- Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000The Consumer Protection Regulations 2000, SI 2000/2334, incorporates Directive into law of the United Kingdom. They apply to contracts "concluded between a supplier and a consumer under an organised distance sales or services provision scheme run by the supplier who, for the purposes of the...
- Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002The Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002, SI 2002/2013, incorporates the EU Electronic Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC into the law of the United Kingdom. They apply to contracts concluded by electronic means over distance whereby the buyer is a consumer...
- Enterprise Act 2002Enterprise Act 2002The Enterprise Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made major changes to UK competition law with respect to mergers and also changed the law governing insolvency bankruptcy.-Structure:*Part 1 The Office of Fair Trading...
- General Product Safety Regulations 2005General Product Safety Regulations 2005The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 is a 2005 Statutory Instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that demands that "No producer shall [supply or] place a [consumer] product on the market unless the product is a safe product" and provides broad enforcement powers...
- Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 is a statutory instrument in the United Kingdom, made under the European Communities Act 1972. It came into force on 26 May 2008....
United States
- Consumer Product Safety ActConsumer Product Safety ActThe Consumer Product Safety Act was enacted in 1972 by the United States Congress. It established the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission as an independent agency of the United States federal government and defined its basic authority...
- gives the Consumer Product Safety CommissionConsumer Product Safety CommissionThe United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is an independent agency of the United States government created in 1972 through the Consumer Product Safety Act to protect "against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products." The CPSC is an independent agency that does...
the power to develop safety standards and pursue recalls for products - Federal Trade Commission ActFederal Trade Commission ActThe Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 started the Federal Trade Commission , a bipartisan body of five members appointed by the president of the United States for seven-year terms. This commission was authorized to issue “cease and desist” orders to large corporations to curb unfair trade...
- created the Federal Trade CommissionFederal Trade CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
(FTC) to prevent unfair competition, deceptive acts, regulate trade, etc.
Privacy Laws
- United States National Do Not Call RegistryUnited States National Do Not Call RegistryThe National Do Not Call Registry is intended to give U.S. consumers an opportunity to limit the telemarketing calls they receive. To register by telephone , consumers may call 1-888-382-1222. The registry was set to begin in 2003, but a court challenge delayed its implementation until 2004. The...
- allows US consumers to limit telemarketing calls they receive.
Food & Drug
- Pure Food and Drug ActPure Food and Drug ActThe Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30, 1906, is a United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines...
- led to the creation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate foods, drugs, and more.
Communications
- Communications Act of 1934Communications Act of 1934The Communications Act of 1934 is a United States federal law, enacted as Public Law Number 416, Act of June 19, 1934, ch. 652, 48 Stat. 1064, by the 73rd Congress, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, et seq. The Act replaced the...
- created the Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) to regulate all radio and interstate cable, phone, and satellite communications.
Banking
Bank regulation
Bank regulations are a form of government regulation which subject banks to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines. This regulatory structure creates transparency between banking institutions and the individuals and corporations with whom they conduct business, among other things...
- Fair Credit Reporting ActFair Credit Reporting ActThe Fair Credit Reporting Act is a United States federal law that regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer information, including consumer credit information. Along with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act , it forms the base of consumer credit rights in the United States...
(FRCA) - regulates the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer credit information - Fair Debt Collection Practices ActFair Debt Collection Practices ActThe Fair Debt Collection Practices Act , et seq., is a United States statute added in 1978 as Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act...
(FDCPA) - eliminate abusive consumer practices, ensure fairness, etc. - Truth in Lending ActTruth in Lending ActThe Truth in Lending Act of 1968 is United States federal law designed to promote the informed use of consumer credit, by requiring disclosures about its terms and cost to standardize the manner in which costs associated with borrowing are calculated and disclosed...
(TILA) - requires clear disclosure of key terms of the lending arrangement and all costs.
Real Estate
- Real Estate Settlement Procedures ActReal Estate Settlement Procedures ActThe Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act , was an act passed by the United States Congress in 1974. It is codified at Title 12, Chapter 27 of the United States Code, .- Purpose :...
(RESPA) - prohibits kickbacks and requires lenders to provide a good faith estimate of costs
Health Insurance
Health insurance in the United States
The term health insurance is commonly used in the United States to describe any program that helps pay for medical expenses, whether through privately purchased insurance, social insurance or a non-insurance social welfare program funded by the government...
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability ActHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability ActThe Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It was originally sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy and Sen. Nancy Kassebaum . Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their...
(HIPAA) - provides consumer protection for Health Information
Digital Media
- Digital Millennium Copyright ActDigital Millennium Copyright ActThe Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to...
- 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 ActDigital Millennium Copyright ActThe Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization . It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to...
Australia
- The Australian Consumer LawAustralian Consumer LawThe Australian Consumer Law is uniform legislation for consumer protection, applying as a law of the Commonwealth of Australia and of each of Australia's states and territories. The law commenced on 1 January 2011, replacing 20 different consumer laws across the Commonwealth and the states and...
- Division 2 of Part 2 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/asaica2001529/ in relation to financial services and products
People
- Florence KelleyFlorence KelleyFlorence Kelley was an American social and political reformer. Her work against sweatshops and for the minimum wage, eight-hour workdays, and children's rights is widely regarded today.-Family:...
- Ralph NaderRalph NaderRalph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
- Michael VernonMichael VernonMichael 'Mike' Vernon A.M. was a prominent Australian consumer activist. Vernon was born in Portsmouth, United Kingdom in 1932 to John Ernest Vernon and Caroline Vernon . He emigrated to Australia in 1955 and settled in Canberra, Australia...
- Curtis ArnoldCurtis ArnoldCurtis Arnold is a nationally recognized consumer educator and advocate. Curtis was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon and was raised in DeValls Bluff, Arkansas. He currently resides in Little Rock, Arkansas with his wife and six children.- Biography :...
- Reiss Browne
Consumer issues
- AntitrustAntitrustThe United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
- Class actionClass actionIn law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
- Competition policy
- Competition regulatorCompetition regulatorA competition regulator is a government agency, typically a statutory authority, sometimes called an economic regulator, which regulates and enforces competition laws, and may sometimes also enforce consumer protection laws...
- CreditCredit (finance)Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
and debtDebtA debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a... - Extended warrantyExtended warrantyAn extended warranty, sometimes called a service agreement, a service contract, or a maintenance agreement, is a prolonged warranty offered to consumers. The extended warranty may be offered by the warranty administrator, the retailer or the manufacturer. Extended warranties cost extra and for a...
- Fairtrade labellingFairtrade labellingFairtrade certification is a product certification system designed to allow people to identify products that meet agreed environmental, labour and developmental standards. Overseen by a standard-setting body, Fairtrade International , and a certification body, FLO-CERT, the system involves...
- Food safetyFood safetyFood safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....
- Mandatory labellingMandatory labellingMandatory labelling or labeling is the requirement of consumer products to state their ingredients or components....
- Planned obsolescencePlanned obsolescencePlanned obsolescence or built-in obsolescence in industrial design is a policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period of time...
- Product recallProduct recallA product recall is a request to return to the maker a batch or an entire production run of a product, usually due to the discovery of safety issues. The recall is an effort to limit liability for corporate negligence and to improve or avoid damage to publicity...
- Transparency (market)Transparency (market)In economics, a market is transparent if much is known by many about:* What products, services or capital assets are available.* What price.* Where....
- Unfair competitionUnfair competitionUnfair competition in a sense means that the competitors compete on unequal terms, because favourable or disadvantageous conditions are applied to some competitors but not to others; or that the actions of some competitors actively harm the position of others with respect to their ability to...
External links
- Consumer Protection in Ontario (Canada)
- Consumer Protection law in India
- Consumer Complaint Assistant, Federal Trade Commission
- Consumer Rights Council (Pakistan)
- Consumer Forum and Complaint Management (India)
- Consumer protection information (U.S.)
- New Zealand Consumer Rights
- Consumers International, the global voice for consumers
- National Consumer Agency (Ireland)
- Consumer Rights and Protection (Indonesia)
- Health-EU Portal Consumer Safety in the EU
- Penn Program on Regulation's Import Safety Page
- OECD Consumer Policy Toolkit Report
- About Econsumer.gov, a portal for consumers to report complaints concerning online and related transactions with foreign companies
- International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN)
National Association of Consumer Advocates http://www.naca.net/