CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1986

INTRODUCTION

The consumer protection Act, 1986 is one of the benevolent social legislation intended to protect the large body of consumers from exploitation. The Act has assumed the shape of practically the most important legislation enacted in the country during the last few years. It has become the vehicle for enabling people to secure speedy and inexpensive Redressal of their grievances with the enactment of this law. Consumers now feel that they are in a position to declare "Sellers be Aware" whereas previously the consumers were at the receiving end and generally told "Buyers be Aware".

CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS IN INDIA

Every civilized nation of the world has its own legislation, which protects the consumers. Many laws are enacted to the consumers for their protection prior to consumer protection act.

The following statutes may also be mentioned which play vital role in protection the various interest of the consumers.

The Indian Contract Act, 1827

The Indian Penal Code Act, 1860

The Sale of Goods Act, 1927

The Dangerous Drugs Act, 1940

The Essential Commodities Act, 1950

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954

The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969

The Hire-Purchase Act, 1972

The Standards of Weight and Measures Act, 1979

However, these laws require the consumer to initiate action by way of a civil suit involving lengthy legal process, which is very expensive and time consuming.

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

In India, consumer protection movement was at the end of twentieth century the consumer protection was enacted. The consumer protection Act, 1986 is a milestone in the history of socio-economic legislation in the country. It is one of the most progressive and comprehensive pieces of legislations enacted for the protection of consumers. It was enacted after in-depth study of consumer protection laws in a number of countries and in consultation with representatives of consumers, trade and industry and extensive discussions within the Government.

The consumer Protection Act was enacted to provide a simple and quicker access to Redressal of consumer grievances. The main objective of the act is to provide for the better protection of consumers. Unlike existing laws, which are punitive or preventive in nature, the provisions of this Act are compensatory in nature. The act is intended to provide simple, speedy and inexpensive redressal to the consumers' grievances, and relief of a specific nature and award of compensation wherever appropriate to the consumer.

BASIC RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS UNDER CONSUMERS PROTECTION ACT

The Section 6 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 has defined six basic rights of the consumers. They are:

e The right to be protected against marketing of goods, which are hazardous to life and property.

e The right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standards and price of goods to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.

e The right to be assured whatever possible, access to Varity of goods at competitive prices.

e The right to be heard and to be assured that consumer's interest will receive due consideration at appropriate forums.

e The right to seek Redressal against unfair trade practice or exploitation of consumers, and

e The right to consumer education.

The Amendment Act has added the following rights, 1993 and 2002 respectively,

e The right to be protected from unfair trade practices as defined under section 36A of M.R.T.P. Act, 1969, and

e Protection from spurious goods or offering such goods for sole or adopting deceptive practice in the provision of services.

CONSUMER RESPONSIBILITIES

Rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin. Along with consumer rights, there are consumer responsibilities also. The responsibilities of consumers as follows:

To provide adequate information about his needs and expectations to the seller.

The consumer must try to get full information on quality, quantity, price etc.

To insist on cash memo or receipt.

To file complaint against genuine grievances

While purchasing, the consumers must look for standard quality certifications marks such as ISI, Agmark etc.

To exercise his legal rights.

To be cautions against false and misleading advertisement.

COMMON PROBLEMS FACED BY CONSUMERS

Many problems are face by consumers. Some of the significant problems are listed below:

Adulteration

Spurious goods

Use of deceptive/incorrect rates

Supply related problems

Variation in the contents of the packet

Defective goods

Poor after sales services

Deficiency of services

Not-honoring the term and conditions of sales and services

Non-fulfillment of guarantee/warrantee

Misleading advertisement

Hidden prices components

Price discrimination.

LOCATING OF JURISDICTION

Every complaint has to mention the name of the forum before which the complaint is presented. This is the location of jurisdiction and it has to be seen on two points, firstly, whether it comes within the jurisdiction of the District Forum or State Commission or National Commission. So the pecuniary jurisdiction has to be seen first, secondly, come territorial jurisdiction in case of District or State Commission.

Questions of territorial jurisdiction do arise in case to the jurisdiction of the District Forum and the State Commission. It depends on following:

Place where cause of action arises, or

Where opposite party resides, or

Where opposite party carries on business, or personally works for gain, or

Where opposite party has a branch office.

GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM UNDER CPA

This Act makes provision for the establishment of remedial agencies, i.e. consumer courts for settlement of consumer's disputes and for matters connected therewith.

There are three-tier systems in the Act. They are:

District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, [DCDRC],

State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, [SCDRC], and

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, [NCDRC].

To provide cheap, speedy and simple Redressal to consumer disputes, quasi-judicial machinery is setup at each District, State and National Redressal forums. At present, there are 569 District forums, 33 State commissions.

District Forum

District forums established by the state government in each district. Each district forum consists of a chairman, who is qualified as a district judge and two members appointed by the state government. In that two members, one of whom shall be a woman.

For complaint that involve payment of compensation upto Rs.20 lakh, the consumer can approach district consumer court state government may establish more than one forum in a single district.

State commission

The Act postulates establishment of state consumer protection councils for the purpose of spreading consumer awareness.

The state commissions are headed by the person who is or has been judge of high court and two members appointed by the state government, one of them has to be a woman. For complaints that involve payment of compensation above Rs. 20 lakh but less than Rs. One crore, consumers can approach state commission.

National commission

A national consumer disputes redressal commission established by the central government. A person who has been a judge of the Supreme Court to be appointed by the central government and members not less than four and maximum number of member has yet been prescribed and one of whom shall be a woman.

For complaints above Rs. One crore, the aggrieved person will need to approach the national commission for redressal of this grievance.

Appeal

Aggrieved by the orders issued by the District Consumer Redressal Forum appeal petition may be filed before State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission within 30 days from the date of receipt of orders
Aggrieved by the orders issued by the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission appeal petition may be filed before National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission within 30 days from the date of receipt of orders.
Aggrieved by the orders issued by the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission appeal petition may be filed before Supreme Court of India within 30 days from the date of receipt of orders
No fee is charged for registering an appeal petition before State/National Consumer Dispute Redressal commissions.

Deposit Money

District Forum: No appeal shall be entertained by the State Commission unless fifty percent of the required amount which has been ordered by the district forum for payment or twenty five thousand rupees, whichever is less, has been deposited in the prescribed manner by the appellant.

State Commission: No appeal shall be entertained by the National Commission unless fifty percent of the required amount which has been ordered by the district forum for payment or thirty five thousand rupees, whichever is less, has been deposited in the prescribed manner by the appellant.

National Commission: No appeal shall be entertained by the Supreme Court unless fifty percent of the required amount which has been ordered by the district forum for payment or fifty thousand rupees, whichever is less, has been deposited in the prescribed manner by the appellant.

Who Can File a Complaint?

A complaint can be filed by

A Consumer

A voluntary Consumer Organisation (VCO)

A Central Government

A State Government

One or more Consumers where they are of same interest,

Incase of death of consumers, his/her legal representatives.

Grounds to File a Complaint

Any allegation in writing made by the complaint against the trader or service provider should enlist:

Adoption of any unfair trade practice or restrictive trade practice.

The goods bought or agreed to be bought after from one or more defects

Services hired/availed suffer from any deficiency

The trader had charged for the goods or services a price in excess of the stipulated price i.e. MRP or displayed on goods or on the package.

The goods or services being offered to the public are hazardous to file and safety.

Drafting of complaint

Drafting of complaint under the Consumer Act is the same as that of a drafting of complaint in civil matters for Civil Courts. But no specific form or norm has been provided in the Act. It must be a narrative in a simple form. Try to be specific and exact what you want.

The complaint should contain the following particulars:

The name of the consumer FORA in which the suit is brought,

The name, description and place of residence of the complainant and opposite party,

The facts showing that the court has jurisdiction,

A statement of the value of the subject matter of the complaint for the purpose of jurisdiction,

The documents in support of the allegation,

The relief claimed.

Complaint shall be drafted in duplicate. It shall be presented in a Consumer Court by post or by an agent or in person. No need of an advocate. Stamp paper is not required for declaration. Complaint shall always be real and genuine.

Document Required for Complaint

In order to substantiate complaints the consumers should have following documents:

Cash memo/receipt.

Warranty card duly signed and stamped by the vendor/company,

Catalogue/brochure of the concerned product /service

Insurance policy, if applicable

Job card, if applicable

Invoice.

Format of Complaint

A complaint filed in the district forum should contain the following information:

The name, description and the address of the complaint,

The name, description and the address of the opposite party/parties,

The facts relating to the complaint and when and where it arises,

Documents, if any, if support of the allegations contained in the complaint,

The relief which the complaint is seeking

Limitation period

A complaint can be filed within two years from the date on which the cause of action has arisen.

REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO THE CONSUMER

Under Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against unfair trade practices, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Fora / State Commission / National Commission may, as the case may be. Order for following remedies against the consumer complaint made to it:

To remove the defect pointed out by the appropriate laboratory from the goods in question;

To replace the goods with new goods of similar description which shall be free from any defect;

To return to the complainant the price, or, as the case may be, the charges paid by the complainant;

To pay such amount as may be awarded by it as compensation to the consumer for any loss or injury suffered by the consumer due to the negligence of the opposite party.

To remove the defects in goods or deficiencies in the services in question;

To discontinue the unfair trade practice or the restrictive trade practice or not to repeat it; not to offer the hazardous goods for sale;

To withdraw the hazardous goods from being offered for sale;

To cease manufacture of hazardous goods and to desist from offering services which are hazardous in nature;

To pay such sum as may be determined by it if it is of the opinion that loss or injury has been suffered by a large number of consumers who are not identifiable conveniently:

To issue corrective advertisement to neutralize the effect of misleading advertisement at the cost of the opposite party responsible for issuing such misleading advertisement;

To provide for adequate costs to parties.

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1986

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