Essay Competition on National Consumer Day, 2023: Submit by February 5

About the Chair on Consumer Law and Practice (CLAP)

The CLAP was established in August 2008, at National Law School of India University, Bangalore by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi, to promote research, teaching and training in Consumer Law and Practice. The CLAP has been acting as a “Think Tank” to the Ministry with respect to policy matters related to consumer welfare legislation since its inception. CLAP is actively involved in drafting Consumer Protection Act 2019 and also involved in drafting rules and regulations framed thereunder the act by means on submitting the draft rules, the view and suggestion on the drafts. CLAP is also imparting training to the President & members of Consumer Commissions PAN India.

About the Essay Competition

The CLAP at NLSIU, Bengaluru proposes to organise an Essay Competition to commemorate the celebration of National Consumer Day, 2023 (24^th December). The Essay Competition endeavours to stimulate interest and foster growth amongst students to explore and engage with contemporary and seminal issues in the field of consumer law and policy.

To ensure wider reach and opportunity, the Essay Competition will be open to all – including students, academics, professionals, government officials, members of consumer fora, Voluntary Consumer Organisations (VCOs)/ NGOs etc.

Themes

• E-commerce & Consumer Protection
• Product Safety
• Data Protection / Privacy
• Use of ADR/ ODR for Redressal of Consumer disputes
• Legal Metrology Law & Consumer Protection
• Food Safety & Standards Law & Consumer Protection
• Dark Patterns
• Misleading Advertisements and Consumer Protection

The above themes are only indicative and the participants are free to choose any other topic under the broad theme of consumer protection.

Eligibility

To ensure wider reach and opportunity, the Competition will be open to all – including students, academics, professionals, government officials, members of consumer fora, Voluntary Consumer Organizations (VCOs)/ NGOs etc.

Submission Guidelines

1. The essay must be written in English and submitted in Microsoft Word document format (.doc/.docx).
2. Co-authorship up to a maximum of one author is permitted.
3. Only one submission is allowed per author/team. Submissions, both as co-author and single, will be treated as multiple submissions and will be disqualified as an entry to the competition.
4. The following formatting specifications need to be strictly adhered to: Main Body: Font – Times New Roman, Font Size – 12, and Line Spacing – 1.5; Footnotes: Font – Times New Roman, Font Size – 10, and Line Spacing – 1.0; Margins should be 1 inch or 2.54 cm on all sides.
5. The word limit is 3000-3500 words excluding footnotes. Footnotes must follow the Bluebook system of citation (Harvard, 20th edition).
6. The essay must contain an abstract, not exceeding 250 words (which would not be counted in the word limit for the essay). It must indicate the theme/topic.
7. The Board reserves the right to summarily reject or return the submission to the author/authors without feedback for non-compliance with these guidelines. In case of any dispute, the decision of the Board shall be final and binding.
8. The opinion/thoughts/ideas or any view of the author expressed and published on the essay are respective views of the authors. The Chair or the Board shall not be held responsible or accountable for the opinion expressed by the author on the essay.
9. The Chair reserves the right to cancel the competition without notice, in case suitable/quality entries are not received in the competition or in case of any other event outside our reasonable control.

How to Submit?

• All submissions should be made through a Google Form by February 5, 2024, 23:59 hours.

• Incomplete or plagiarized submissions shall be summarily rejected. The similarity limit is 15% (excluding footnotes). 

Prizes & Certificates of Merit

1. First Rank: Rs. 4000 & Certificate of Merit
2. Second Rank: Rs. 3000 & Certificate of Merit
3. Third Rank: Rs. 2000 & Certificate of Merit
4. The best entries may be considered for publication in the next issues of the Newsletter of the Chair on Consumer Law.

Important Dates

Submission Deadline: February 5, 2024

Announcement of Results: March 15, 2024 (World Consumer Rights Day)

Contact Information

For inquiries, please email us at consumerlaw@nls.ac.in