Consumer Protection Act 1986

BY
Gautam Kumar Tangudu
Gupta Vatsal Vimalbhai
Harshit Dalmia
Himanshu Mittal
Himanshu Singh
Imad Ahmad Khan

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVES
CONSUMER RIGHTS
CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL AGENCIES
CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL
CONSUMER POINT OF VIEW
BUSINESS POINT OF VIEW
CONSUMER RESPONSIBILITIES
ADVANTAGES OVER OTHER LAWS
A FEW CASELETS

 A customer is the most

important visitor on our
premises. He is not dependent
on us. We are dependent on
him. He is not an interruption
in our work. He is the purpose
of it. He is not an outsider in
our business. He is part of it.
We are not doing him a favor
by serving him. He is doing us
a favor by giving us an
opportunity to do so.
-MAHATMA GANDHI

INTRODUCTION
Consumer An individual who buys products
or services for personal use and
not for manufacture or resale.

Market A place where buyers and sellers

come together to engage in
business.

 The Consumer Protection Act 1986 is a law

which was made to ensure a fair trade
between a consumer and a seller. The main
objective of the law is to provide better
protection to the interests of the consumer
and to make provisions for establishing
various bodies for settlement of disputes
between consumers and sellers. It extends to
the whole of India except the State of Jammu
and Kashmir

 In order to protect the interests of consumers,

the law ensures that judicial bodies are set up at
district, state and central levels and these judicial
bodies are expected to provide justice, give reliefs
and impose penalties for non-compliance of
orders given by the bodies.
The main objective of these bodies is to provide
speedy and simple redressal to the disputes of
consumers

MAIN OBJECTIVES
To promote and protect
the rights of consumers.
To establish Consumer
Protection Council at
the Central and State
level.
To provide speedy and
simple redressal to
consumer disputes by
establishing consumer
courts.

OTHER OBJECTIVES
To assist the country 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

CONSUMERS RIGHTS
The right to be protected
against the marketing of
goods and services which
are hazardous to life and
property.
The right to be informed
about the quality,
quantity, potency, purity,
standard and price of
goods or services

 The right to be assured, wherever possible,

access to a variety of goods and services at
competitive prices.
The right to be heard and to be assured that
consumer's interests will receive due
consideration at appropriate forums.
The right to seek redressal against unfair trade
practices
The right to consumer education

LODGING OF A COMPLAINT
Complaint means any
allegation in writing made
by a complainant
Complaint can be filed by
a consumer against
An unfair trade practice by
any trader
Goods or services bought
by him suffer from one or
more defects
A trader charged an excess
price for the good
Goods which will be
hazardous to life and safety

CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL

AGENCIES
District Forum
State Commission
National Commission

DISTRICT FORUM
Established by the State Government
Consists of the following members,
A person qualified to be a District Judge
Two other members having ability or experience in dealing
with problems relating to law, economics, one of whom
must be a woman.

It is a District level court that deals with cases, where

value of goods or services does not exceeds Rs. 20
lakhs.
If a consumer is not satisfied with the Judgement, an
appeal can be made to the State Commission within a
period of 30 days.

STATE COMMISSION
Established by the State Government
Consists of the following members,
A person who has been a Judge of High Court
Two other members having ability or experience in dealing
with problems relating to law, economics, one of whom
must be a woman.
It is a State level court which deals with cases, where value of
goods or services is over Rs. 20 lakhs and does not exceed Rs.
100 lakhs
If a consumer is not satisfied with the Judgement , an appeal
can be made to the National Commission within a period of 30
days.
No appeal can be filed to national commission in case where
State Commission has passed order in appeal against original
order of District Forum.

NATIONAL COMMISSION
Established by the Central Government
Consists of the following members,
A person who is or has been a Supreme Court Judge
Four other members having ability or experience in
dealing with problems relating to law, economics, Two
of whom must be a woman.

It is a National level court that deals with cases,

where value of goods or services exceeds Rs. 100
lakhs.
If a consumer is not satisfied with the Judgement,
an appeal can be made to the Supreme Court.

COUNCILS
District Council
State Council
Central Council

DISTRICT COUNCIL
It shall consist of the following members
The Collector of the district as its Chairman
A few number of other official and non-official
members as may be prescribed by the State
Government

The District Council shall meet at least twice in

a year
The procedure will be set by state
Government

STATE COUNCIL
It shall consist of following members,

The Minister in charge of consumer affairs in the State

Government as its Chairman
A few number of other official or non-official members as
may be prescribed by the State Government

The State Council shall meet at least twice in a

year
The procedure will be prescribed by the State
Government

CENTRAL COUNCIL
It shall consist of the following members,
The Ministry in charge of Consumer Affairs in the Central
Government as its Chairman.
A few number of other official and non-official members
prescribed.

The Council shall meet at least once a year.

THE ACT FROM CONSUMERS POINT

OF VIEW
This Act has had a very
positive impact on
consumers.
This Act has given the
consumer the power to
challenge any wrong doing
by the organizations.
Because of this, the
businessmen will not
involve himself in any unfair
trading practices and the
quality of the goods will be
better.
.

 This will result in healthy competition in the

market and thus customers get goods at
competitive prices for themselves.
It also creates a sense of security among the
consumers

THE ACT FROM BUSINESS POINT OF

VIEW
Ethics in business play a
very important role.
And providing quality
goods at reasonable
prices is an ethical and
moral thing to do for a
businessmen.
This also adds to the
glory of an organization
and helps in gaining the
trust of the consumers.

 If a consumer is unsatisfied and lodges a

complaint against the company, the brand
name of company gets affected.
In order to avoid such kind of problem, as a
CEO of the company one should be aware of
this act and should make sure that it is being
followed by the company.

CONSUMER RESPONSIBILITIES
They should not only
know their rights but
should also exercise
them whenever
required
The consumers should
also not get carried
away by the
advertisements as they
are often exaggerated

 They should know the correct features of the

products and services and the proper uses of that
product instead of going according to the
advertisements
The consumer should always ask for a cash bill as
it is a proof that he has purchased the goods
The consumers should be aware of black
marketing of goods and should choose only legal
goods & services

ADVANTAGES OVER OTHER LAWS

No Need to Physically Appear in
Court
Complaint can be sent
through Registered Post.
Complaint instead of
appearing himself
authorizes some person to
appear in Court on its
behalf.
Witness can give his
Evidence through Affidavit
without appearing in Court.
Simple Procedure Easily
understandable even by layman

 No Need of Advocate There is no need of

Advocate for proceedings before Consumer
Courts. One can appear himself
Nominal Fee Court Fee is minimum Rs. 100/for matter involving less than Rupees One
Lakh and maximum Rs. 5,000/- for matter
involving more than Rupees One Crore is
payable. This Fees is almost fifty times less in
comparison with Civil Courts.

A FEW CASELETS

Bajaj vs Pepsico Case

Bajaj, resident of
Ahmedabad had
purchased a Lays packet
on 28th june 2010 and
sensed it being
underweight
He wrote twice to the
manufacturer. While the
first letter got no
response, in reply to the
second, he offered Bajaj a
gift hamper, which he
refused.

 Bajaj approached CERS (Consumer Education

and Research Society) who wrote to Pepsico.
Company refused to accept there fault and
gave several unsatisfactory clarifications
CERS took the issue, to Consumer Disputes
Redressal Forum, which also gave a favourable
ruling.
The company asked for the bill of purchase
which bajaj could not produce.

Judgement
The court overruled the argument of his not
having a bill.
CERS requested the court to direct Pepsico to
deposit Rupees 2,00,000 in Consumer Welfare
Fund. And award Rupees 2,75,250 as punitive
damages. And also to give Rupees 75,000 as
cost of litigation.

PEPSICO SCANDLE

A consumer court in Gujarat has

asked Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Ltd
to pay Rs 20,000 to a consumer, who
found a packet of guthka floating
inside the packed soft drink bottle
that he had bought.

Rajesh Rajan purchased a bottle of

Pepsi from a local store in
Ahmedabad in August 2008, but he
found the packet of guthka inside the
bottle. He sent a legal notice to the
company accusing it of bad service
that could cause hazard to health of
consumers and got a reply from the
company a year later.

 Rajan approached a Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum and

demanded Rs 5 lakh from the company as compensation. During
the hearing, the consumer forum sent the sample for analysis. After
hearing the case, the company was asked to return the amount of
Rs 8 back to Rajan by consumer forum, and to pay Rs 4,000 as
compensation for causing mental torture and towards litigation
cost.
The consumer was not happy with the decision and moved to
Gujarat state's Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission and
complained that Rs 4,008 was a very small amount towards
compensation. He also argued that the company should be fined so
as to set an example in the society.

JUDGEMENT
The company was later asked by the commission
to pay Rs 20,000 to Rajan towards compensation
and Rs 2,000 towards litigation cost.

This example shows the consequences that can

take place if the service provided by the company
to the consumers is not up to the mark. Thus
importance of consumer protection act can be
understood from these examples.

VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTCr9wGJ4NQ