Consumer Protection
Act, 1986
Features of
Consumer Protection Act are:
·
The Act applies to all goods and services unless
specially exempted by Union Government.
·
It covers all sectors – public, private or
cooperative.
·
Provisions of the Act are compensatory in
nature.
·
It contains 6 consumers’ rights - to choose, to
be heard, to be informed, to safety, education and redressal.
·
It empowers consumers seeking discontinuance of
trader’s malpractices, defective goods, service deficiencies or withdrawal of
hazardous goods from the market.
·
It applies to whole of India except the state of
Jammu and Kashmir
Objectives of
Consumer Protection Act, 1986
The objectives of the Consumer Protection Act are as follows:
·
To assist countries in achieving or maintaining
adequate protection for their population as consumers;
·
To facilitate production and distribution
patterns responsive to the needs and desires of consumers;
·
To encourage high levels of ethical conduct for
those engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services to
consumers;
·
To assist countries in curbing abusive business
practices by all enterprises at the national and international levels which
adversely affect consumers;
·
To facilitate the development of independent
consumer groups;
·
To further international cooperation in the
field of consumer protection;
·
To encourage the development of market
conditions which provide consumers with greater choice at lower prices.
Consumer: Section
2 (1) (d) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 defines the term
"consumer". It says ‘consumer’ means any person:
·
Who buys goods and has paid or promised to pay a
consideration partly or fully under any system of deferred payment.
·
Who hires or avails of services and has paid or
promised to pay a consideration partly or fully under any system of deferred
payment.
·
Who uses the goods with the approval of the
person who has bought the goods for a consideration
·
Who is a beneficiary of the services hired or
availed by an individual with the consent of that individual.
Who is not a consumer?
·
An applicant for a passport has been held to be
not a consumer, because the duties of the passport officer do not fall in the
category of services for consideration.
·
An applicant for ration card is not a consumer.
·
The beneficiaries of municipal services have
been held to be not in the category of consumers.
Rights of
Consumers:
a)
The right to safety.
b)
The right to be informed.
c)
The right of choice.
d)
Right to representation (or right to be
heard.
e)
Right to seek redressal of grievances.
f)
The right to consumer education.
Main responsibility of consumer are given as under
Be aware about their right, Quality conscious, Must obtain
cash memo, Be Assertive, Be Honest, Ready to lodge complaints against dishonest
act of trader, Respect Environment.
Person: A
person includes:
a)
A firm whether registered or not;
b)
A Hindu undivided family;
c)
A co-operative society;
d)
Every other association of persons whether
registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or not;
e)
A person by himself has no standing under the
Consumer Protection Act. A person has to be a consumer within the definition of
the word ‘Consumer’ to get remedy.
Goods: Goods
mean every kind of movable property other than actionable claims and money.
E.g. it includes stocks and shares, attached to or forming part of the land
including growing crops, grass which are agreed to be served before sale or
under the contract of sale.
Manufacturer
a)
Makes or manufactures any goods or parts
thereof; or
b)
Does not make or manufacture any goods but assembles
parts thereof made or manufactured by others and claims the end product to be
goods manufactured by himself; or
c)
Puts or causes to be put his own mark on any
goods made or manufactured by any other manufacturer and claims such goods to
be goods made or manufactured by him.
Trader Is
a person who
a)
Sells goods; or
b)
Distributes any goods for sale;
c)
Manufacturer of goods for sale;
d)
Packer of goods who sells or distributes goods
in package form.
Complainant: Section
2 (1) (b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 defines the term
"complainant" as: Complainant means
a)
a consumer; or
b)
any voluntary consumer association registered
under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), or under any other law for the time
being in force; or
c)
the Central Government or any State Government,
d)
one or more consumers, where there are numerous
consumers having the same interest;
e)
who or which makes a complaint;
Note: However,
a consumer association cannot file a complaint on behalf of unspecified or
unidentified number of consumers.
Complaint: In
Section 2 (1) (c) "complaint" means any allegation in writing made by
a complainant that:
a)
An unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade
practice adopted.
b)
the goods bought by him or agreed to be bought
by him suffer from one or more defect;
c)
the services hired or availed of or agreed to be
hired or availed of suffered from deficiency in any respect;
d)
Price in excess of the price fixed by or under
any law for the time being in force or displayed on the goods or any package
containing such goods;
e)
Goods which will be hazardous to life and safety.
The essential features of a “Complaint” are:
a)
The complaint must be in writing;
b)
The complaint must be made with a view to obtain
any relief under the Act;
c)
The Complaint must make any of the five
allegations stated under section 2 (1) (c), against a trader or manufacturer;
d)
The complaint must be filed in a manner prescribed
under law.
e)
The complaint must be filed before appropriate
consumer commission having jurisdiction to entertain complaint.
Procedure for
Filing Complaint: The complainant or his authorised agent can
present the complaint in person or send it by post to the appropriate forum or
Commission, as the case may be. No fee is charged for filing a complaint before
the District Forum or the State Commission or the National Commission.
The time period
within which a complaint must be filed: Filed within two years from
the date on which the cause of action has arisen. However, where the
complainant satisfies the District Forum/State Commission, that he had
sufficient cause for not filing the complaint within two years, such complaint
may be entertained.
Decision Time: The
District Forum, State Commission and National Commission are required to decide
complaints, as far as possible, within three months from date of notice
received by the opposite parties. For those complaints which require laboratory
analysis or testing of commodities, the period is extended to five months.
REMEDIES UNDER
THE ACT:
a)
To remove the defect pointed out by the
appropriate laboratory from the goods in question or;
b)
Replace the goods with new goods of similar
description, which shall be free from any defect;
c)
Return to the complainant the price of the goods
or the charges for the services rendered and / or;
d)
Pay such amount as compensation for any loss or
injury suffered by the Consumer or;
e)
Remove the deficiency in the service and/ or;
f)
Discontinue the unfair or restrictive trade
practice and not to repeat them and / or;
g)
Not to offer hazardous goods for sale and / or;
h)
Withdraw the hazardous goods for sale and / or;
i)
Provide adequate costs to the parties.
CONSUMER
PROTECTION COUNCILS: The consumer
Protection Act provides for the constitution of consumer protection councils at
Central, State and District levels.
a) The
Central Consumer Protection Council: The Central Government may, by
notification, establish with effect from such date as it may specify in such
notification, a council to be known as the Central Consumer Protection Council
(hereinafter referred to as the Central Council).
b)
The State Consumer Protection Councils: The
State Government may, by notification, establish with effect from such date as
it may specify in such notification, a council to be known as the Consumer
Protection Council (hereinafter referred to as the State Council).
c)
The District Consumer Protection Council: The
State government shall establish for every district, by notification, a council
to be known as the District Consumer Protection Council.
CONSUMER COURTS
AS PER VALUE / AREA OF CLAIM
1.
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums has
jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of goods or services and
the compensation if any, claimed does not exceed Rs.20,00,000 (TWENTY LAKHS).
2.
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has
jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of goods or services and
the compensation if any, claimed exceeds Rs.20,00,000 (TWENTY LAKHS) but does
not exceed Rs.1,00,00,000 (ONE CRORE).
3.
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
has jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or
services and compensation if any claimed exceeds Rs.1,00,00,000 (ONE CRORE)
