Sustainable Fashion And Consumer Rights: Reinterpreting Product Durability Under The Consumer Protection Act, 2019
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Ms. Suranya P Surendran, Research Scholar, CMR School of Legal Studies, CMR University, Bangalore
Anand Vimal, Advocate, High Court of Kerala.
ABSTRACT
Fast fashion has transformed consumer market places over the globe with its insatiable appetite for cheap, on-trend apparel. Although this has improved the alternatives and convenience for consumers, it has also had several detrimental impacts to the environment such as resource exploitation, textile waste and carbon emissions. There's a problem with fast fashion as they are deliberately built to last for a short period of time, compelling the human population to continually purchase and dispose of them. The current Consumer Law of India is inadequate to address the issues of product durability, consumer rights and environmental sustainability.
This study will explore the potential of reading the word ‘quality’ into the Consumer Protection Act 2019 to make durability an important element of consumer protection. This paper will focus on analysing the legal tools to fight against planned obsolescence in fashion. In the study, the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and relevant environmental legislations are analysed. It also looks at legal changes, including consumer protection and the incorporation of sustainability and durability in the Australian, French and EU context.
Product longevity can be used as a measure of the product quality which can aid consumers, prevent unfair business practices and encourage environmentally friendly purchase. It also implies labelling of items and monitoring and verification of the durability of products and of the labelling of the eco-durability. It also calls for more regulation of sustainability statements in the textile industry. In this paper an attempt is made to join this ongoing debate on sustainable consumption and emergence of eco-durable rights in India
Keywords: Sustainable fashion, Consumer Protection Act, 2019, Eco- Consumer rights, Product Durability.
