Consumer Awareness: False or Misleading Representation of Products

Unfair trade practices can be defined as dishonest and unfair means adopted by tradesmen to endorse and increase the sale of their products. These practices may cause physical injuries or material losses to consumers. Here is an introduction to the concept of consumer rights and awareness.

Consumer Awareness: Misrepresentation of Facts

The clause (1) of section 2(1)(r) The MRTP Act, 1969, deals with the practice of making “false” or “misleading” representation. The terms can be explained as:

• False: The literal meaning of false is untrue. ‘Falsely represents ‘as stated in section 36A (1) of the MRTP Act indicates representation of something that is contrary to the truth. The representation should be materially false to be considered false.
• Misleading: This denotes something which is able to lead to errors. There is a compulsion on the seller that while representing his products, he must speak the truth. This obligation also restricts him from concealing the truth and divulging only half truths. The use of tricky language is also barred.

These terms can be explained better by the following examples:

• Commitment of superior quality of products and delivering inferior ones
• Attracting the attention of consumers by representing an inferior product as a product of established brand.
• Making false claims without proper testing of the product
• Misrepresentation about the features, characteristics and performance of a product
• Representation of goods and services having sponsorship or approval which they do not have
• Falsely representing a re-built product as new

Consumer Awareness: False Claims

In the case of the Director General (I&R) v. Ravi Foundation, Citation, Bombay UTPE 93 of 1986, the accused claimed the diet treatment offered by them can help a women to give birth to a child of her chosen gender. The claim was found false after medical tests. This is viewed as unfair trade practice.