Read the following case study and answer the following question.

Ms. C bought an electric Iron from the market and paid money through cash to the vendor. Mr. X. But she forgets to collect the bill for the deal as a written evidence. The Iron was a ISI certified product. Once, she was using the Iron, she realised that it is not working properly. Then she immediately contacted the Vendor Mr. X and asked him to remove the defect in the product or replace it with a new one. The vendor did not listen to her and refused to accept that this product is sold by him to her. She discussed the matter with her father and he advised her to seek legal help in this case and finally she decided to file a case against the vendor in the consumer court. But while filing the case she got stuck in between due to non-availability of material evidences to produce before the court such as cash memo or bill of the transaction.

Identify the right of the consumer which must be exercised in the current situation of buying the electrical goods.

Right to be Heard

The correct answer is option (4)- Right to be Heard

In this case, Ms. C bought an ISI-marked electric iron that turned out to be defective. When the vendor refused to acknowledge the sale, she decided to approach the consumer court. The Right to be Heard ensures that a consumer’s complaint will be acknowledged and considered in a proper forum or authority (like a consumer court), even if the seller initially refuses to listen.

*****Note:The NTA answer sheet marks Option 3 (Right to Safety) as the correct answer. However, this does not fully align with the situation described in the case study. The Right to Safety applies when a consumer needs protection from hazardous or unsafe products that may cause harm. In this case, there is no mention of any danger or harm caused by the product—only that it was defective and the vendor refused to take responsibility. The core issue here is the vendor’s refusal to acknowledge the sale and the consumer’s attempt to seek redressal, which directly relates to Option 4 (Right to be Heard). This right ensures that consumers can voice their complaints and be heard in an appropriate forum. Hence, in our opinion the answer should be Option 4 and marked as such herein.

"Right to be heard: The consumer has a right to file a complaint and to be heard in case of dissatisfaction with a good or a service. It is because of this reason that many enlightened business firms have set up their own consumer service and grievance cells. Many consumer organisations are also working towards this direction and helping consumers in redressal of their grievances.

Right to be informed: The consumer has a right to have complete information about the product he intends to buy including its ingredients, date of manufacture, price, quantity, directions for use, etc. It is because of this reason that the legal framework in India requires the manufactures to provide such information on the package and label of the product.

Right to Safety: The consumer has a right to be protected against goods and services which are hazardous to life, health and property. For example, electrical appliances which are manufactured with substandard products or do not conform to the safety norms might cause serious injury.

Right to be assured/Choose: The consumer has the freedom to access variety of products at competitive prices. This implies that the marketers should offer a wide variety of products in terms of quality, brand, prices, size, etc. and allow the consumer to make a choice from amongst these."