Consumer protection has become the topic of debate at all levels. The reason behind this has been the lack of awareness of consumers and the malpractices of the business world. In order to maximize profits, many businessmen exploit consumers by supplying poor qual-ity goods at higher prices. They adopt unfair trade practices such as adulteration, boarding, black-marketing, etc. As a result, consumers do not get value for their money. Big business houses use their power for private gain and to the detriment of consumers. Consumers are exposed to physical, environmental and other hazards. They need to be protected from spurious, duplicate and adulterated products, pollution of air, water and noise, and misleading advertising. Consumer protection, however, is only possible if two steps are taken. First is to frame rules, legislations and set up machinery like courts to assure that laws are implemented in their true spirits. Second is to make the stakeholders aware of such laws so that they might defend themselves when required. Keeping these two steps in mind, this study has been undertaken. It covers the evaluation of consumer protection machinery and assesses the level of awareness of consumers in Himachal Pradesh. A brief outline of the thesis is as below. Chapter - I deals with the introduction to consumer protection. It discusses the meaning of consumer, consumer protection, and consumerisms. It also discusses the consumer's rights, needs, and consumer's responsibilities. Chapter - II reviews the literature concerning the problem at hand. It also presents a picture of research design formulated for the present research work. It discusses the selection of the problem, importance, scope, objectives, hypotheses and research methodology of the present study. Finally, the limitations and the future scope of study have been shown. Chapter - III discusses consumerism and consumer protection movements at the international and national level. Chapter - IV is an attempt to examine various legislations for consumer protection at the international level as well at the national level in India. Chapter - V reviews the frameworks for consumer dispute resolution and redress in India. Chapter - VI examines the organizational setup for the consumer protection along with its evaluation in Himachal Pradesh. Chapter - VII deals with the analyses of opinion and perception about consumer awareness and consumer alertness with regard to consumer protection. Chapter - VIII highlights the summary and major findings of the study. It also explains suggestions to improve the implementation of consumer protection laws and awareness among people.

In the developing country like India, measures for consumer protection are very much required. The illiteracy and ignorance of the majority of consumers both in the rural and urban areas provide opportunities for business communities to follow unfair trade practices. These have to be curtailed through various measures of the Government and other non-Governmental organisations. Of the various legal remedies available, the principle legal protection is the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Under this Act, the consumer gets opportunities to entrust his grievances through the consumer forums organised at the District, State and National levels and other voluntary consumer organisations. The Consumer awareness, protection and preservation of consumer rights and well analyzed in this book.

For legal practitioners who are non-specialists in consumer protection law. A concise guide to the basic principles of consumer protection law.

This book examines how markets have evolved and provides insights for improved consumer policy making. It explores, for the first time, how what we have learned through the study of behavioural economics is changing the way policy makers are addressing problems.

Mr. B.Vaidyanathan, a Chemical Engineer by profession, and Chief Mentor, Consumer Protection Council, Rourkela, has been associated with the Indian consumer movement, for well over 30 years and has many achievements to his credit, apart from organising a voluntary consumer organisation in the tribal belt of Odisha. His single handed initiative through the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), against the short-filling of cooking gas refills, resulted in the upgradation of 184 LPG bottling plants of the three Public Sector Oil Companies, M/s IOCL, BPCL and HPCL. Towards this upgradation, the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt. of India, had to spend over Rs. 300 crores. The mute point is that this upgradation has brought relief to crores of unsuspecting housewives from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Though the Supreme Court failed to deliver justice, in terms of compensation and punitive damages payable to a voluntary consumer organisation and to the Consumer Welfare Fund, as prescribed in the Consumer Protection Act, his determined zeal to pursue the matter till the filing of the Curative Petition and thereafter, should be an inspiration for all those young people, who have the nerves and the commitment to pursue social goals. Mr. Vaidyanathan has shared his varied experiences in this book, which is a must read not only for the interesting cases narrated therein, but a motivational story, led by an example of ‘Never Say Die’. This narrative has been made all the more interesting by sharing informative experiences relating to important consultative bodies and how the activists need to work to ensure delivery and what the government needs to do to protect the consumers better.

This book uses case studies to discuss consumer awareness of and education on sustainable fashion. It highlights how some textile brands have started using consumer awareness tags to educate consumers on the use of their products (e.g. which machine cycle and temperature they should use to wash their products, as well as the best drying conditions in terms of environmental sustainability). Consumer awareness of and knowledge on sustainable fashion is the crux of customer-centric sustainability, and several NGOs and even brands have started taking essential steps to promote this.