Savings Schemes for Consumers

Most of the private sector and public sector employees are paying a huge amount of money as income tax. This is because they don’t know much about the ways of acquiring tax exemptions. It is a common comment from most of the employees that they are fed up of paying income tax and are not able to save much. This is happening because of the poor knowledge about the taxation structure of government of India. There are a number of plans offered by various financial institutions and banks with guaranteed return, better interest rate and tax saving under Indian Income Tax Act. These plans offer better growth rate for money with assured financial security.
Banks offer fixed deposit scheme in which a certain amount of money can be deposited for a specific period with a fixed interest rate. This is an ideal scheme for a consumer who looks for a regular income. Loans and over draft facilities are available for fixed deposit and deposits of 5 years or plus are having tax exemption under section 80C. Reserve Bank Of India offer RBI relief bond with a maturity period of 5 years and the interest received at the end is free from TDS. Also in this scheme interest is compounded at every six months. These types of relief bonds also can get tax exemption.
The most easiest way to save tax is to choose one from the various savings schemes offered by Indian Postal Department. There are various plans with different interest rates like post office time deposit, post office monthly income scheme, national saving certificate, kissan vikas patra etc. All these can help to save the tax. LIC and other insurance companies like Bajaj Allianz, ICICI prudential etc also offers various saving schemes and policies with tax exemption under sec 80C.There are other types of savings called infra structure bonds which are available through ICICI and IDBI banks which provides a tax benefit for Rs. 20000/= per annum under sec 80 C. The various expenditure like LIC premium payments, contribution to employees provident fund, national saving certificate, ULIP policies, repayment of housing loans, fixed deposits with banks and post offices, infra structure bonds, tuition fees for children etc are having rebates under Income Tax Act. Under section 80CCC(1) an amount up to 10000 rupees is exempted from tax payment for the pension contribution through LIC or other insurance companies. LIC is offering Jeevan Suraksha plan for pension schemes. Under sec 80C, 80CCC and 80CCD the deduction on income tax is limited to one lakh rupees. Under section 80 D, there is an eligibility of deduction up to Rs.10000 ( in case of senior citizen up to Rs.15000) can be obtained for the premium paid by cheque towards health insurance policy like Mediclaim. Such health insurance premium can include spouse and dependents (parents or children) under sec 80D. There is also conditional exemption for interest paid to bank loans for the purchase or construction of house up to an amount of Rs. 150000. So always it is advisable to get a good idea about how you can save your money.

A Consumer’s Right

As a consumer, we all expect to get the correct measure of whatever we are buying by paying money. If there were no control over this, there are chances that a lot of consumers will be cheated. Many years ago people used to check the weighing balance thoroughly to ensure that the shopkeepers are not cheating them by using false balances. There are many ways followed by the shopkeepers to cheat the consumers in the measurements of the products they buy. One of the tricks is to stick some magnets to the balance so that the actual quantity of the product will be less by few grams. Similarly extra metal pieces are welded to the measuring cups which are used to sell liquids like oil. They even add small pieces of stones, especially in cereals to increase their weight while measuring. But now a days, these practices have reduced a lot after the government started implementing the laws regarding this. Even then these malpractices still exists but not as much as it used to be.
The right of a consumer to get the correct weights and measures is protected through the Weights and Measures Act, 1976. It defines different units to measure different products. No other units should be used for measuring the consumer products. For example, the standard measure for length is metre. This ensures that one shop should not sell a cloth by specifying its measurement in feet. The price of the cloth should also be specified according to this measurement. This allows the consumers to compare prices of different materials and also from different shops. A Weights and Measures License should be with every shop. This is issued after testing and validating the measuring instruments used in that shop.
This act is also applicable to the sales of packaged commodities. According to this act, every packet of item should have information like product name, manufacturing date, expiry date, address of the manufacturer and MRP. The packet should also contain the contact details in case there is any consumer complaint regarding that product. And it is also the responsibility of the manufacturer to respond to these complaints. If it does not happen, the consumers can take legal action.
As a smart consumer, one should ensure that he gets the right quality of the item as mentioned in the packet or as promised by the retailer. A consumer has the right to check a measuring instrument in case he is not satisfied with the measurement or he suspects that he is cheated. He can confirm the measurement by checking it using authorized measuring instruments. The consumers should definitely check the label on the package as this information is given for their benefit only. They should check the manufacturing and expiry dates thoroughly. If they find any flaws with any product or retailer, it is their responsibility to give a complaint to the consumer forum. By doing this there is a big chance that such malpractices are reduced and you can save a lot of other consumers from being cheated.