May The Power Of Tech Empower You!

• 8 am, the Alarm rings  
• 8.02 am, Check your phone for messages & notifications  
• 8.30 am, Order groceries on the phone app & read news online  
• 9 am, Get ready & book a cab to work or run through busy metro lines checking your card balance through WhatsApp.  
• 9.01 am, Share your location details with your mom or boyfriend or of course, Best Friend!  

• 11 am, a package from a shopping website arrives. 
• 12 pm, order food from a food delivery app  
• 12.05 pm, Rating the food & writing a review. 

Does the above routine seem familiar? Well, that’s the life of most young people living in the metropolitan.  

The young working population of India consumes/purchases more products than they are even aware of because of the magical device – the Mobile Phone. In fact, most of us have at some point joked about it pointing out that we spend as if Google Pay is paying us to spend, which is ironically true because spending via a phone has gotten easy.  

However, tech-enabled consumerism isn’t just about making purchases easy but to cater to consumer needs, protecting them as well as complying with responsible terms that have been set by Government bodies.  

While apps, companies, and service providers comply with the norms set by the Government, they also play a crucial role in supporting Government regulations by enabling features that suit the rights and responsibilities of the citizens.  

Tech innovations Ensure the Successful Working of the Consumer Rights Act 

As seen from the instance above, we all are tech-knit. Almost all of us are customers in a tech-dependent world. With online shopping, online real estate, tech-driven commutes,s and more; there isn’t one sector that is purely offline.   

If you’re secretly scanning businesses around you that prove otherwise, let’s just say even a small petty shop near you accepts payments through G-pay or Paytm. Thus, making even a small tea shop tech-enabled business. In such a scenario, isn’t it important to know how technology implements functions in apps, that ensure Customer Rights Act is successfully implemented:

• Right to safety 

The first and foremost right of a consumer is the Right to Safety. As a customer, you need to be rest assured that the product you are purchasing delivers the results it promises. To ensure that app/websites & e-commerce facilitates your Right to Safety, here are some of the steps taken. 

1. Transportation – Features of live location, tracking, and sharing are included.  
2. Food Delivery apps include review/refund/quality control facilities, online payment along with tracking of food delivery options. 
3. E-commerce sites too present refund or return policies for damaged products.   

• Right to Choose 

Offering the option to choose from products is a consumer’s right too. To comply to the same e-commerce sites, apps and more provide a list of vendors and products to choose from. Be it the restaurants listed on Swiggy or the stores on Amazon, each of them presents an opportunity for the customer to choose.  

• Right to be informed 

Apart from the Right to safety and the Right to choose, as a customer you also have the right to be informed, be it of the best deals in the market, new products, the authenticity or ingredients of any particular product, and so on. Catering to the same tech services and products enables this by providing you descriptions, details, and disclaimers of the same. 

• Right to Consumer Education 

In addition, with your right to be informed, and to re-instate awareness, the Right to Consumer Education has been put to effect to ensure that digital service and product providers to are responsible for educating their customers. For instance, it is important for a Customer to be fully educated about the service, terms & conditions, products, privacy policies, etc while making any purchase. 

• Right to be Heard 

Even with e-commerce stores and websites complying with the laid-out rules, there are times a consumer might fall prey to scams and falsity of Businesses. To fix a situation like this, there are online platforms a customer can report fraud or misdoing to. While digital service providers are useful, the government too has used technology to make it easy for customers to file, track and report a crime online. Thus, making it yet another important example of how technology has become a backbone of countries to facilitate change and development.  

• Right to Seek Redressal 

In addition to the rights listed above consumers also have the right to seek redressal for goods that don’t deliver to the promised quality. This means that if you receive a product or get a service that doesn’t meet its standards, you can rightfully report for a redressal. However, it has become popular in today’s time as a review or feedback, online. From rating, car rides to reviewing food, clothing, and services, we’ve come a long way in finding a fix to customers’ problems in a jiffy with the use of technology.  

Tying it together it is safe to say that the government has ensured that Customers attain their Consumer rights. But, technological innovations are playing a crucial role in upholding the rights of a citizen in today’s day.  

So, as a customer, be safe, be cautious, be smart, and most importantly be tech-friendly!