The consumer movement arose out of the dissatisfication of the consumers as many unfair practices were being indulged in by sellers. 2. There was no legal system available to consumers to protects themselves from exploitation in the marketplace . 3. It was presumed that it was the responsiblity of the consumer to be careful while buying a commodity or service. 4 It took many years for organisations in india and around the world to create awareness amongst the people. 5. This has also shift the responsibility of ensuring the quality of goods and services into the sellers .

i) in india,the consumer movement as a "social force" originated with the necessity of protecting and promoting the interests of consumers against unethical and unfair trade practices.(ii) food shortage,hoarding,black marketing,adultration of food-products, high prices,etc.gave birth to the consumer movement i an organised form in the 1960s.(iii) at the initial stage, consumer organisation were largely engaged in writing articals and holding ehibited they formed consumer groups to look into the malprctices in ration shops and overcrowing in the road passsenger tranport.(iv) more, recently, india witnwessed an upsurge in the number of consumer groups.this is because of more and more cases of consumer exploitation by the private traders.the activities of various consumer forums forced the goverment to enact the Consumer Protection Act,1986,popularly known as tyhe COPRA.