ost of us make numerous consumer contracts and transactions in everyday life. These can range from buying groceries to buying an expensive vehicle. Sometimes, many of us feel that have been “had” by things we have purchased or by the merchants who sold them. Perhaps we can recall that early childhood memory when that toy we always wanted, stopped working abruptly after two minutes of use. As adults, we may have bought products with impurities such as stones in rice or meat “weighed up” with water. Perhaps you might have heard rumours about insects in soft drinks or locally-brewed poisonous alcohol killing people. Consumer protection laws exists in order to protect us from these sorts of debacles. However, the fact that consumers continue too be mistreated perhaps means that the law is not as effective as it should be.
As we will see in the this edition, consumer laws in the South Asian states can trace their roots to the the British colonial government. In the pre-British colonial South Asia, being a merchant was dependent very much on the state patronage and sanctions. There was direct or indirect State control in being able to set up and run a business. In a pre-industrialised world, a consumer contract was a relatively simple transaction. You knew the person who you were contracting with, and were also acutely aware of the quality of the product you were purchasing. Contracts with strangers were rare, and when they happened, both parties were always on their guard.
Britain too had similar rules, and in order to do any trade you needed permission from the Monarch. However, while Britain grew as an imperial power, they began to see sense in encouraging freer trade. In fact, a lot of what Adam Smith writes about “free trade” is in response to protectionism of merchantalism. The latter argued for total state control on trade to ensure gold remained within the estate. On the other hand, Smith argued for allowing trade to on freer terms within the commonwealth, as well outside[1]. As the industrial revolution “picked up steam” [2] and manufacturing was done on unprecedented scale and as the British Empire spread across the globe, it became almost impossible to continue with old practice of protectionism. For example, now there came lesser regulations for incorporating a company to do business, which was once only possible for those connected in the highest levels of the Crown, now became common place for everyone.
During 18th and 19th century, when much of South Asia was under British control, the “industrial revolution” took place[3]. The British were quick to bring this to their colonies, and use it to their advantage[4]. It wasn’t long before industrialisation came to urban centres of commerce like Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai). People became specialised in their own fields, and less aware about things they needed but didn’t themselves make. Contracts with strangers quickly became a norm. With this, came the risk of unknown: buyers being unaware of what they purchased. Many charlatans took advantage of this situation and began to sell items with impurities and defect.
Victorian Britain with its industry is remembered as an explosion of free commerce, at the same it is recalled as time when fraud remained rife. Miracle cures began to emerge for all sorts of ailments[5]. But even everyday goods that were staples of people’s diets could be dangerous for consumers[6]. It was not till the Edwardian era that state began to consider looking at the consumer protection law as a means to combat this practice. In the subsequent century or so, there have been many consumer protection laws introduced in Britain. These laws were also introduced in colonies[7], including South Asia. We shall later see effective of these in detail.
Lack of Protection beyond borders
Consumer law in South Asia
M
History
By Sindhyar Talpur
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