Consumer Protection Act -

1986
 A customer is the most important
visitor of our premises.
He is not dependent on us -
we are dependent on him.
He is not an interruption on our work -
he is the purpose of it.
He is not an outsider on our business -
he is a part of it.
We are not doing him a favour
by serving him -
He is doing us a favour by giving us
an opportunity to do so."
CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 1986

For better protection of the interest of the consumers

and for that purpose to make provision for the
establishment of consumers councils and other
authorities for the settlement of consumers disputes.
 CONSUMER PROTECTION

In day to day lives we experience:

Adulteration
Spurious Goods
Incorrect rates
Variation in Contents
Defective Goods
After Sales Services
Non fulfillment of guarantee
Non fulfillment of warranty
Misleading advertisement
Hidden price Components
Price discrimination
CONSUMER PROTECTION
How to protect & safeguard our interest:

The Government enacted the

Consumer Protection Act,
1986;
Law was enacted to protect
the interest of Consumers.
To recognize and enforce the
rights of consumers;
To seek speedy and
inexpensive justice
Laws that protects consumer in India:

Consumer Protection Act.

Indian Contract Act.
Sale of Goods Act
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act
Drugs and Magic remedies (objectionable
Adv) Act.
Foods & Drugs Administration
Trademarks Act.
Important Terms:

Consumer:

Buys Goods.
Hires Services
Consideration Fully or Partly paid
(Installments)
Includes the buyer and other users;
Excludes persons who obtains for
commercial purpose
(purpose of earning i.e. self employment)
 Important Terms:

Complainant:

A Consumer or group of Consumer

Registered Voluntary Consumer Association

Central or State Government

In case of death legal heirs or representative

 Important Terms:

Trader:

Sells or distributes goods

Manufactures;
Where goods are sold in packed form - the
Packer

Manufacturer:
Manufacturers goods or part thereof
Who assembles parts manufactured by others;
Puts trademark on goods manufactured by
others;
 Important Terms:

Goods:

Movable property
Stock & shares;
Growing crops; things
attached / forming part of
Land

Services:
Inclusive definition
All kind of registered
services;
Excludes services free of cost
and contract of personal
service
 Important Terms:

Defect/ deficiency of Services:

Fault, imperfection, shortcoming in quality;

quantity; standards as required
False claims by the trader

Spurious goods and Services: Claimed to be

genuine but actually not.
 Goods and Defect

Movable property other than

actionable claims and money

Goods Shares, stocks, crops etc

Fault
Imperfection

Defects Shortcoming in the quality,

quantity, potency, purity or
standard required to be
maintained
 Important Terms:

Unfair Trade Practice:

Adopts unfair or deceptive practices like

false representation of goods/ services;

Mislead the public concerning price;

Withholding from the participants of any

scheme offering gifts prizes, its closure
and information about the final results of
the scheme;

Spurious goods / services.

 Important Terms:

Complaint:

Allegation in writing

Unfair Trade practices/ restrictive trade

practices;

Excess price charged.

 Rights of a Consumer:

The right to be protected - Hazardous to life

and property. E.g.. Fire crackers.

The right to be informed about the quality,

quantity, standard, price.

The right to access to a variety of goods and

services at competitive prices, wherever
possible.
 The right as a consumer to be charged fairly.

The right to receive due consideration at

appropriate forum i.e. NGOs;

The right to seek redressal from the

Government.
 The right to environment conducive to human
life;

The right to acquire knowledge and

information about consumers & their rights.
 Redressal Mechanism

Who can file a complaint?

The consumer;
One or more consumers;
In case of death of a consumer, his/her legal
heirs/representative;
One or more consumers having same
interest;
Consumers Organization;
The state government;
Union territory administration;
Central Government.
Consumer Protection Councils

Right to
Safety

Right to Right to Re-

Represent Dressal

Object
of
Council
Right to Right to
Chose Education

Right to
Information
 Grounds to file:

Unfair or restrictive practices;

Defects;
Deficiency;
Excess pricing;
Hazardous goods.

Time limit for filing compliant: Within 2

years from the date of cause of action;
Consumer Need Protection Against

Defective Goods

Hazardous Goods Incorrect Rates

Unfair Trade
Trader And Practice and
Manufacture Restrictive Trade
Practice

Service and
Deficiency
Three tier approach in resolving
consumer disputes

1) District Consumer protection council

(District forum)
Each District shall have a district Forum;
A President with members
Claims less than Rs. 20 lakhs.

2) State Commission
Each state shall have a State Commission:
A President with members;
A woman member is must
Claims more than Rs. 20 lakhs, but not
exceeding Rupees 1 Crore;
3) National Commission:
A President with members;
A woman member is must
Claims more than Rupees 100 lakhs;

National Consumer Day

24th December

World Consumer Day

15th March
 Restrictive trade practices
A gas distributor insist his customers to buy gas stove
as a condition to give gas connection.
It was held that it was a restrictive trade practice
( Re. Anand Gas RTPE 43/1983 (MRTPC))

A furniture dealer.
He sells Sofa at Rs. 20,000 and Bed at Rs.15,000. He
has an offer that whoever will buy Sofa and Bed both,
he will charge Rs. 30,000 only. Here the choice is
open to the customer to buy the products single or
composite.
This is not a restrictive trade practice.
Charging Excessive Price
 HSBC Bank fined Rs. 25,000 for
credit card surcharge
Case in Point
Spare part purchase by Naina Booch at the Petrol pump
attracted a surcharge of Rs 858.70
Consumerss Argument
Only Petrol purchased from the Petrol Pump should attract a
surcharge
Defendant Argument
All purchases made at the Petrol pump attract a surcharge
system generated, hence bank not liable
Court Verdict
Bank guilty for unfair trade practice of failure to provide
necessary & complete information to the consumer
HSBC directed to pay Booch Rs25,000 towards
compensation and cost of the litigation and refund the
surcharge with interest of 12% per annum from February
19, 2009
 Providing basic amenities
duty of local authorities
Case in Point
Anish Kumar Garg filed a complaint against the municipal
committee, alleging that the MC had failed to provide & maintain
necessary services in spite of charging development fee of Rs.
24,309
Consumers' Argument
Despite charging development fees and residing in approved colony,
the basic amenities were not being provided
Defendants Argument
Complainant is not a consumer in its appeal & that complaint was
an abuse of the process of law. Basic facilities provided to the
residential colony.
Court Verdict
Appeal rejected declared Anish Garg as consumer
MC directed to remove the garbage and the slush and construct
already sanctioned roads for ingress and outgress of the people of
the locality. Rs. 1,000 was also awarded as compensation to the
complainant.
 'Rlys must pay for platform
mishap'
Case in Point
Holding that a passenger was a "consumer" within the
meaning of the Consumer Protection Act, the apex
consumer court has ruled that the Railways will have to
compensate a ticket holder for any injury caused to him
due to poor upkeep and negligence of platforms.
A railway passenger, who purchases a ticket for travelling,
would undoubtedly be a consumer because he pays for
availing the services to be rendered by Railways and would
have a right to ingress to the train and egress from it
It said the Railways would be held guilty of "deficiency in
service" if a passenger is injured due to lapses in
maintaining its facilities. "The services, which are required
to be rendered by Railways would include maintenance of
railway stations, platforms as well as over bridges
.
 58% cases in consumer forum
against builders
Case in Point
Recently,the Pune District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum ordered
a city-based developer to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 and the suit
cost of Rs 5,000 to a complainant for delayed possession of his flat.
In another instance, the forum ordered a city-based builder to pay a
compensation of Rs 25,000 and Rs 1,000 for expenses incurred on court
proceedings to a complainant also for delayed possession of his flat.
Every year, cases against builders/developers witness a 15 to 20% rise,
say officials of the Pune District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum
In almost 95% of the cases, the verdict was in the complainant's favour
These cases have been on a steady rise since the past ten years, even
more so during the last two to three years.
 Consumer is not king at the
consumer court
In Maharashtra, cases drag on for years and procedures becoming
complicated due to lack of infrastructure and funds. Sorry state of affairs
Members of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions
Aurangabad bench handle work at the Nagpur bench since its members
retired in April 2009. Work of the Aurangabad bench is also affected as
its members spend 15 days a month in Nagpur.
At the principal bench of the state commission in Mumbai too, theres
hardly enough room to accommodate 10-12 people in courtroom 2 and
its door lets one person in at a time.
Consumers are asked to pay for postage. For over 18 months, the
machines each costing Rs. 85,000 have been dysfunctional
A new rule requires consumers to present three sets of their complaint,
appeal or revision with a certain coloured file folder
 Consumer is not king at the
consumer court
Pendency
Statistics of state commission (September 2011) show there were
18,682 pending cases
Insufficient funds
The state consumer courts were provided with Rs. 40 lakh and odd in
December against their requirement of Rs. 1.72 crore, in September
end..
 Hazardous Goods

The term Hazardous goods has not been defined in the Act.

The term is used in context of goods only, i.e., a person can

make a complaint if he is not informed about the hazardous
nature of the goods but the same is not true in case of hazardous
services.

The rationale behind this provision is to ensure physical safety of

the consumers.

The law seeks to ensure that those responsible for bringing

goods to the market, in particular, suppliers, exporters,
importers, retailers and the like should ensure that while in their
care these goods are not rendered unsafe through improper
handling or storage.
Biraj Insecticide Case

Ajay bought an insecticide

from Biraj.

Biraj did not inform Ajay that

touching this insecticide with
bare hands can create skin
problem.

Ajay while using the

insecticide came in contact
with it and suffered from skin
problem consequently.

Here Biraj was held liable

under the Act.
 Amendments required in the CPA

On line filing of consumer complaints and online

payment of fees
Enforcement of orders as a Decree of Civil Court
Payment to be made for non-compliance of the
order
Powers to District Forum
Powers to State Government in selection process
Increase of age in the appointment
Experience for members
The future depends on what we do

in the PRESENT.