Consumer Law

MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE

(Legislative Department) New Delhi, the 9th August, 2019/Shravana 18, 1941 (Saka) The following Act of
Parliament received the assent of the President on the 9th August, 2019, and is hereby published for general
information:—

THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 2019 NO. 35 OF 2019

[9th August, 2019.]
An Act to provide for protection of the interests of consumers and for the said purpose, to
establish authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers' disputes
and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986
(COPRA) - JEEVES 
• The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (COPRA) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to protect
the interests of consumers in India. It is made for the establishment of consumer councils and other
authorities for the settlement of consumer's grievances and for matters connected there with it. The act was
passed in Assembly in October 1986 and came into force on December 24, 1986.
• Although, the working of the consumer dispute redressal agencies has served the purpose to a considerable
extent under the said Act, the disposal of cases has not been fast due to various constraints.
• Consumer markets for goods and services have undergone drastic transformation since the enactment of the
Consumer Protection Act in 1986. The modern marketplace contains a plethora of products and services.
The emergence of global supply chains, rise in international trade and the rapid development of e-commerce
have led to new delivery systems for goods and services and have provided new options and opportunities
for consumers.
Who is a Consumer? - Jeeves         
 A person who buys a good or service for his own personal use and not
for further manufacture is called a consumer. Consumers play an
important role in the market. The market for a good or service
constitutes all the consumers and producers of that good or service. If
there is no consumer, producers will have no one to provide the good.
However, there are regularly reported cases of exploitation of the
consumer. Often less than the actual weight of foodstuff is sold to
consumers, or many retailers sell products that are not certified. Many
cases happen where more than the market price is charged to the
consumer. In the light of this, consumer protection holds an important
role.
History - Sammy
•  Equally, this has rendered the consumer vulnerable to new forms of unfair trade and
unethical business practices. Misleading advertisements, tele-marketing, multi-level
marketing, direct selling and e-commerce pose new challenges to consumer protection and
will require appropriate and swift executive interventions to prevent consumer detriment.
• Therefore, it became inevitable to amend the Act to address the myriad and constantly
emerging vulnerabilities of the consumers. In view of this, the Consumer Protection Bill,
2018, was introduced in Lok Sabha on the 5.01.2018 and was passed by that House on
20.12.2018. While the bill was pending consideration in the Rajya Sabha, the 16th Lok Sabha
was dissolved, and the bill lapsed. Hence, the Consumer Protection Bill 2019 was introduced
in the 17th Lok Sabha.
• With the Lok Sabha passing the Consumer Protection Bill 2019 on 30.07.2019 after due consideration and
discussion, the Rajya Sabha has also passed the same through a voice vote and the present bill will thus
replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
• The bill was piloted by the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram
Vilas Paswan on 8th July 2019 who opined that the said bill aims at protecting the interests of consumers
by establishing authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers' dispute.
• Keeping pace with changing times and new legislations aimed at protecting the interests en masse, the
present bill has successfully broadened the scope of various provisions, including persons who can file a
consumer complaint to also include class action. This would better protect the rights and interests of the
consumers who are not legally equipped to fight for their rights.
• As compared to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the present bill does not lay emphasis on
qualifications for the members of the State and National Commission. Section 55 (1) provides that the
Central government may, by notification make rules to provide for qualification, appointments, term of
office amongst other things.
• The President and every other member appointed immediately before the commencement of section
177 of the Finance Act, 2017 shall continue to be governed by the provisions of the Consumer
Protection Act, 1986 and the rules made thereunder as if this Act had not come into force.
Consumer Forums - Jeeves
• Consumer forums or consumer protection councils are organizations
that help represent consumer interests. They guide consumers in the
process of filing complaints in the court when they are exploited and
also help in spreading consumer protection awareness.
• A consumer court is where the cases are actually presented and
heard. It follows a three-tier quasi-judicial system. District courts deal
with cases up to 20 lakhs. A state-level court deals with cases
between 20 lakhs and 1 crore, while a national consumer court deals
with claims that exceed the value of 1 crore.
 Consumer Right - Jeeves
The definition of Consumer right is ‘the right to have information about the quality, potency, quantity, purity,
price and standard of goods or services’, as it may be the case, but the consumer is to be protected against any
unfair practices of trade.
It is very essential for the consumers to know these rights.
However there are strong and clear laws in India to defend consumer rights, the actual plight of consumers of
India can be declared as completely dismal.
In general, the consumer rights in India are listed below:
• The right to be protected from all kind of hazardous goods and services
• The right to be fully informed about the performance and quality of all goods and services
• The right to free choice of goods and services
• The right to be heard in all decision-making processes related to consumer interests
• The right to seek redressal, whenever consumer rights have been infringed
• The right to complete consumer education

Out of the various laws that have been enforced to protect the consumer rights in India, the most important is
the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Consumer Rights under the Consumer
Protection Act, India!

Although businessman is aware of his

social responsibilities even then we come
across many cases of consumer
exploitation.
That is why government of India provided
following rights to all the consumers
under the Consumer Protection Act:
Right to Safety - Sid:
• The right to safety means the right to be protected against product
production process and services which are hazardous to health or life.
• When purchased a good or availed a service, the consumer has a right
to get himself of her protected against damage to his property and
person.
• It should not cause any physical danger, health hazard or put the
consumer in any difficulty because of failure. If should satisfy the
consumer in terms of its quality and safety
• Sometimes the manufacturing defects in pressure cookers, gas
cylinders and other electrical appliances may cause loss to life, health
and property of customers. This right to safety protects the consumer
from sale of such hazardous goods or services
 Case in Point
Vikas Arvindbhai Shah vs Balvinder Singh Harbanssingh
• When the builder of Anushruti Tower in Ahmedabad – Vikas Shah ignored the
resident’s pleas to provide basic amenities for the building promised in the
contract, he blatantly violated their right to safety and right to be heard.
• The case details say that, after construction of a 10-floor, Viraj Shah did not
provide basic facilities as promised in the contract. The elevators were not
functioning, there were no bore drilled for water, no allotted parking and security.
Also residents reported that some floors did not have any doors at all
• The forum ordered Shah to provide all that was required. He was also asked to pay
Rs 10,000 towards compensation to each complainant
• The residents moved the court again in 2004 citing that the builder had done
nothing since the consumer forum’s order
• The Gujarat State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission then put an one year
imprisonment on Shah
• Case Details - https://indiankanoon.org/doc/193153939/
 Case in Point
Jayshree Pillai court case
• When Jayashree Pillai, a political science professor at the University of
Delhi, bought a geyser, she did so trusting The Bureau of Indian
Standard’s ISI stamp on the product, and the manufacturer.
• The geyser, however, exploded immediately after installation putting
her family and the electrician at risk.
• Where most would have settled for a refund, Jayashree took the
matter to a consumer court, brought those responsible to surface, and
demanded for a penalty and compensation.
• When her right to safety and right to be informed were violated, she
mobilised her consumer rights under the Consumer Protection Act to
gain justice.
 Right to be Informed – PS
• The right to information is defined as ‘the right to be informed about the quality, quantity,
potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case may be so as to protect the
consumer against unfair trade practices’ in the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
• In the market place of India, consumers get information by two ways namely advertising and
word of mouth however these sources are considered to be unreliable but still this word of
mouth is quite common here.
• Because of this, the Indian consumers hardly have precise and complete information for
assessing the true value, safety, suitability, reliability of any product. Usually the hidden costs can
be found, lack of suitability, quality problems and safety hazards only after the purchase of the
product.
• There is another right claimed by Indian government on paper, this right must ideally make sure
that all consumable products have been labeled in a standard manner containing the cost,
quantity, the ingredients and instructions given to use the product safely.
• The consumers, ought to be informed in an exact yet accurate manner for the cost involved
during time of availing a loan. For providing benefit to the society through this right, advertisers
must be held against the standards of products in the advertisements. The pharmaceuticals
require to disclose potential side effects related to their drugs and manufacturers ought to be
required to publish reports from independent product testing laboratories for the purpose of
comparing the quality of their products from competitive products.
 Case in point
Namrata Ramachandran consumer complaint
• Namrata Ramachandran used Nivea’s Energy Fresh which claims to prevent sweat
and body odour for 48 hours.
• She and her team of two other classmates Aditya and Sounak found that this was
not true.
• They wrote to Nivea asking them to show test results to prove their claim. The
company responded asking for redundant details like when and where the
product was purchased.
• The team is waiting till this week after which they are filing a case in the
consumer court. They were bolstered by several Internet reviews criticizing the
product for over-promising as the deodorant needed reapplication in 6-8 hours.
• Namrata’s point is that if there are particular conditions under which the
deodorant will work for two days then they must be mentioned.
• Otherwise it is implied that a user of this product while travelling in May in
Mumbai’s local train, will still smell like fresh lilies.
Right to Choose: - Adwait
• The definition of Right to Choose as per the Consumer Protection Act 1986 is ‘the right to be
assured, wherever possible, to have access to a variety of goods and services at competitive
prices’.
• For regulating the market place, there is just one factor required and that is competition. The
existence of cartels, oligopolies and monopolies prove to be counterproductive to consumerism.
• The natural resources, liquor industry, telecommunications, airlines etc all are being controlled
by a monopoly or an oligopoly to some or the other extent.
• Since the Indian consumers come from a socialistic background, the tolerating of monopolistic
market is found in their blood.
• It is seldom seen that people want to switch the power company, in the times when they have a
blackout at home.
• It is interesting to know that even micro markets like fish vendors in some cities are known to
collude and discourage the consumers’ bargaining power.
• No matter what size or form, or span, but collusion of various companies which sell a similar kind
of product is unethical or say less legal. It can be estimated that India has to stride for about 20
more years for empowering its citizens fully in this regard.
Right to be Heard: - Pulkit
• A consumer has the right that his complaint be heard. Under this right, the
consumer can file a complaint against all those things which are prejudicial
to his interest. First, their rights mentioned above (Right to Safety; Right to
be informed and Right to choose) have relevance only if the consumer has
the right to file his complaint against them. These days, several large
organisations have set up Consumer Service Cells with a view to providing
the consumer the right to be heard.
• The function of the cell is to hear the complaints of the consumers and to
take adequate measures to redress them. Many daily newspapers have
also special columns to entertain the complaints of the consumers.
 Case in Point
STATE BANK OF INDIA VS RAJESH SAKRE
• Rajesh Sakre is a tea vendor, who faced injustice from the State Bank of India (SBI) in December 2011. This case was
regarding a sum of Rs. 9,200/- that was debited from his account without his knowledge. Sakre raised a question against
this to the bank, because he never withdrew this amount from his bank account.
• According to Sakre, he had Rs. 20,000/- in his bank account on 23rd December 2011. He had withdrawn a sum of Rs.
10,800/- on the same day. When he returned to the bank two days later to withdraw more cash, he was shocked to see
that his account showed zero balance. This meant that the remaining balance was missing from his account, due to
negligence or some error committed by the bank. On his complaint, he was only blamed for negligence, and the officers at
Hamidia Road Branch of the SBI took no responsibility for this matter.
• After this, Sakre a resident of Shabri Nagar in Bhopal had sent a written complaint to the SBI, Mumbai Headquarter. It was
when he didn’t receive any answer from the SBI that he moved to the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum
(DCDRF) with his complaint.
• The consumer forum listened to his plea, but the bank kept on saying that Sakre had only withdrawn the cash from the
bank. Though, the bank failed to produce any evidence for the same. In addition, it also failed to present CCTV footage
after the consumer forum asked for it. It was a tough fight for Rajesh Sakre, who has studied only till 5th standard in
school. He had to be present for the court’s hearing over a dozen of times, but he didn’t accept defeat and stood for what
was the truth. He said, it was his right, how could he let it go?
• Although, he didn’t have enough money to get a lawyer to fight his case, he kept on speaking for himself to the magistrate
in the court. He maintained his stand, and it was his win when the DCDRF on June 16, directed the largest bank of India,
the SBI- to return the sum of Rs. 9,200/- with a 6% rate of interest within 2 months. In addition, SBI shall pay him Rs.
10,000/- for mental distress that he faced during that time, with additional Rs. 2,000/- for fighting the legal matters.
Right to Seek Redressal: - Adwait
• This right provides compensation to the consumers against unfair
trade practice of the seller. For instance, if the quantity and quality of
the product do not conform to those promised by the seller, the buyer
has the right to claim compensation.
• Several redressal are available to the consumer by way of
compensation, such as free repair of the product, taking back of the
product with refund of money, changing of the product by the seller.
 Case in point
M/S. Nivea India Pvt. Ltd. vs Dattatray H. Joshi 
• Dattatray Joshi purchased a tube of Nivea shaving cream from Priti Medical Stores, a local chemist. Its cost was Rs 55. When he tried to use it, the cream
would not come out. He went to the store to return it, but the chemist refused to take it, saying the tube had a shelf life of 24 months and was sold well
within the expiry date. Joshi had a legal notice sent to the manufacturer, Nivea India Pvt Ltd, but the company ignored it.
• Joshi then approached the consumer forum for Mumbai Suburban District by filing a joint complaint against the manufacturer and the chemist. Nivea
contested the complaint. The Forum referred the tube to the Drug Control Laboratory, Maharashtra. The test report said the tube had 1.52g of hard thick
mass. After squeezing this out, near white-coloured soft cream of pleasant odour was found. The report clearly mentioned the cream could not be
squeezed out of the tube with normal application of force.
• On the basis of this report and after hearing the parties, the Forum held Nivea guilty of selling defective shaving cream and unfair trade practice. Hence,
the Forum directed Nivea to pay Joshi Rs 10,000 as compensation for mental harassment and another Rs 5,000 as costs. It directed the company to stop
manufacturing and distribution or sale of defective items and asked Nivea to publish an advertisement in one English and one regional newspaper to
inform the public at large that it had been prohibited from manufacturing, distributing and selling defective shaving cream tubes.
• Aggrieved, Nivea appealed to the Maharashtra State Commission. It defended itself claiming this was an isolated case and Joshi ought to have checked
other tubes of the shaving cream of the same batch to see whether there was any problem in these. The company claimed no other consumer had
complained about any defect in its shaving cream tubes. The company contended Joshi ought to have phoned the consumer helpline for redressing his
grievance rather so that the tube could have been replaced. Instead of which, he chose to directly file a consumer complaint.
• The company pointed out that even going by the test report, the tube purchased by Joshi contained merely 1.52g of hard thick mass initially, while the rest
of shaving cream was perfectly in order. It claimed a trifle matter was being blown out of proportion merely because Joshi happened to be an advocate by
profession. Nivea claimed the award of such a high compensation was unwarranted.
• The company also argued there was no unfair trade practice adopted by it, and hence it should not be subjected to publishing an advertisement in the
newspaper which would tantamount to an apology.
• Joshi, on the other hand, argued the consumer ought to be treated like a king and the company ought to have responded to his complaint instead of trying
to term the defect as trivial.
• Delivering the judgment, the bench observed manufacturers owe a duty to consumers at large to supply goods of high quality, free from defects. In this
case, the defect in the tube had been established from the report of Drug Control Laboratory. The Commission also held the failure to maintain the
standard of the tube would automatically imply the company had engaged in an unfair trade practice.
• Accordingly, the directions given by the Forum were upheld and the appeal was dismissed with a further cost of Rs 25,000 payable by Nivea to Joshi.
• The message is clear. A sanguine approach and indifference towards the consumer can prove costly for a company, not only in terms of money, but more in
terms of the adverse publicity it gets when legally indicted for an uncaring attitude.
Right to Consumer Education - Sammy:
• Consumer education refers to educating the consumer constantly with regard to their
rights. In other words, consumers must be aware of the rights they enjoy against the
loss they suffer on account of goods and services purchased by them. Government
has taken several measures to educate the consumers.
• For instance, Ministry of Civil Supplies publishes a quarterly magazine under the title
“Upbhokta Jagran”. Doordarshan telecasts a programme like the “Sanrakshan
Upbhokta Ka” and apart from this, Consumer Day is observed on March 15 every year.
• Note: In addition to the above mentioned six rights of the consumers, the United
Nations Organisation guidelines also contain two more rights. These are the following:
• Consumer NGOs, having little endorsement from the government of India, basically
undertake the task of ensuring the consumer right throughout the country. India is
found to be 20 years away from giving this right that gives power to the common
consumer. It also means the right to acquire the knowledge and skill to be an
informed consumer throughout life. Ignorance of consumers, particularly of rural
consumers, is mainly responsible for their exploitation.
 What can we do as Consumers?
Ask Yourself!
• Have you faced any problems as a consumer?
• Have you ever complained when you have had such a problem?
• Do you know that you could seek the assistance of a consumer group to protect your interests?
Be Critically Aware
• The responsibility to be more alert and to question more – about prices, about quantity and quality of goods bought
and services used.
Be Involved
• The responsibility to be assertive – to ensure that you get a fair deal as a consumer. Remember, if you are passive,
you are likely to be exploited.
Be Organized
• The responsibility to join hands and raise voices as consumers; to fight in a collective and to develop the strength
and influence to promote and protect consumer interest.