Consumer and Their Rights — MCQs

All questions with answers and explanations

Read the full set here, or use the practice card above to test yourself one question at a time.

1. Under Section 2(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, a 'consumer' is a person who buys goods or avails a service for consideration, but excludes a person acting for a

   • Personal use
   • Commercial purpose (correct answer)
   • Educational purpose
   • Charitable purpose

   Explanation. A person who buys goods or avails a service for a 'commercial purpose' is excluded from the definition of 'consumer' under Section 2(7).

2. Which of the following buyers is NOT excluded from being a 'consumer', despite the commercial-purpose exclusion?

   • A large factory buying industrial machinery for mass production
   • A person buying goods exclusively to earn their livelihood through self-employment (correct answer)
   • A trading company buying goods for resale
   • A wholesaler buying goods in bulk for distribution to retailers

   Explanation. The Act expressly carves out goods bought and used exclusively for earning one's livelihood through self-employment from the commercial-purpose exclusion.

3. Besides the person who actually pays for goods or a service, who else does the definition of 'consumer' include?

   • Only the seller's employees
   • A user of the goods (with the buyer's approval) or a beneficiary of the service (with the hirer's approval) (correct answer)
   • Only government officials
   • Only the manufacturer's shareholders

   Explanation. The definition extends to a user of goods with the buyer's approval and a beneficiary of a service with the hirer's approval, even if they did not personally pay.

4. How many consumer rights does the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 expressly recognise?

   • Four
   • Six (correct answer)
   • Ten
   • Two

   Explanation. The Act expressly recognises six consumer rights: safety, information, choice, to be heard, redressal, and consumer awareness/education.

5. The right to safety is most directly connected to which of the following?

   • Mediation procedure
   • Product liability and the CCPA's power to order recalls of dangerous goods (correct answer)
   • E-filing of complaints
   • Civil and criminal liability for penalties

   Explanation. The right to safety underlies the product-liability chapter and gives the CCPA its power to order recall of hazardous goods.

6. The right to be informed is the statutory basis for treating which of the following as an actionable wrong?

   • Late payment of an electricity bill
   • Misleading advertisements and concealment of material facts (correct answer)
   • A consumer changing their mind after purchase
   • A seller offering a discount

   Explanation. The right to be informed underlies treating misleading advertisements, false labelling, and concealment of material facts as actionable wrongs.

7. The right to choose is primarily directed against which kind of market conduct?

   • Restrictive trade practices that artificially narrow options or distort prices, such as cartelisation (correct answer)
   • A consumer's own indecisiveness while shopping
   • Government price controls
   • Voluntary discounts offered by sellers

   Explanation. The right to choose targets practices like cartelisation and tie-in arrangements that artificially narrow the range of options or distort competitive pricing.

8. Which institution gives the right to be heard its institutional shape at the Central, State, and District levels?

   • The Central Consumer Protection Authority alone
   • Consumer Protection Councils (correct answer)
   • The Ministry of Finance
   • The Reserve Bank of India

   Explanation. Consumer Protection Councils at the Central, State, and District levels give institutional shape to the right to be heard.

9. A tailor buys a sewing machine, which they operate personally without employing others, to earn their sole livelihood. The seller argues the tailor is not a 'consumer' because the purchase was for a commercial purpose. Is this argument correct?

   • Yes, any purchase used to run a livelihood is automatically commercial and excluded
   • No, goods bought and used exclusively for earning a livelihood through self-employment are expressly carved out of the commercial-purpose exclusion (correct answer)
   • Yes, but only if the tailor earns above a certain income
   • No, because sewing machines are never treated as goods under the Act

   Explanation. The Act expressly excludes goods bought and used exclusively for earning one's livelihood through self-employment from the commercial-purpose exclusion, so the tailor remains a consumer.

10. Which right recognises that a consumer who does not know their own rights cannot meaningfully exercise them?

    • Right to choose
    • Right to consumer awareness/education (correct answer)
    • Right to safety
    • Right to redressal

    Explanation. The right to consumer awareness/education places an obligation on the State and consumer organisations to educate the public about their rights and available remedies.