Pre-1950

Prior to 1950, issues of consumer protection (albeit not dealt with as “consumer protection” but
under the relevant legal heads) were dealt with under the technical rules built up in the English
common law.
1950 – 1986
In the years since its creation in 1950 by the Constitution of India, the Union Parliament has passed
several legislations that include consumer protection provisions in their body.
An illustrative list of product specific legislations with consumer protection components is as below:
a. Drugs Control Act, 1950
b. Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
c. Essential Commodities Act, 1955
1986
In 1986, the Union Parliament passed the landmark Consumer Protection Act [“COPRA”] which not
only was the first generic customer protection law enacted in India covering goods and services
falling under all categories (as opposed to the earlier set of individual statutes covering specific
products) but also set up a separate chain of courts specifically for their enforcement.

Recent developments in the historical evolution of India’s consumer protection regime, specifically
the creation of product-specific regimes for regulation of financial products and services, and the
attendant consequences for consumers falling in those categories, as well as on going regulatory
overhauls shall be considered in the second part of this two-part blog entry