All of us are consumers in some way or the other. In today’s day and age, safeguarding consumer’s rights has become an important aspect. Every year, 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day with a specific theme in India. On this day, the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the President. The enactment of this Act is considered as a historic milestone in the consumer movement in the country.
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 aimed to provide few rights to the consumers in order to save them from the damages caused to them due to different unfair trade practices. Consumer Protection Act, 1986 ensured speedy and inexpensive settlements of consumer disputes. The rights recognized under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 included six rights of the consumers provided in the UN charter. The rights given to consumers under Consumer Protection Act, 1986 were Right to Protection, Right of Information, Right of Choice, Right of Hearing, Right of Redressal, and Right of Education.
National Consumer Day provides an opportunity for individuals to highlight the importance of the consumer movement and the need to make every consumer more aware of their rights and responsibilities.
Last year, the Parliament gave its nod to the landmark Consumer Protection Bill, 2019. The Act aims to protect the rights of consumers by establishing authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers dispute. Upon receiving the assent of President, it has become an act which entails setting up of a Central Consumer Protection Authority, CCPA to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers as a class.
The 2019 Act has replaced the more than three decades old Consumer Protection Act, 1986. An Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanism of Mediation has been provided in the latest Act. This will simplify the adjudication process. A complaint will be referred by a Consumer Commission for mediation, wherever scope for early settlement exists and parties agree for it. Mediation will be held in the Mediation Cells to be established under the aegis of the Consumer Commissions. There will be no appeal against settlement through mediation.
As per the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Rules, there will be no fee for filing cases upto Rs. 5 lakh. The CCPA may impose a penalty on a manufacturer or an endorser of up to Rs 10 lakh and imprisonment for up to two years for a false or misleading advertisement. In case of a subsequent offence, the fine may extend to Rs 50 lakh and imprisonment of up to five years.
Under this Act, every e-commerce entity is required to provide information relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal mechanism, payment methods, security of payment methods, charge-back options and country of origin as they are necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage on its platform. Also, the e-commerce platforms have to acknowledge the receipt of any consumer complaint within forty-eight hours and redress the complaint within one month from the date of receipt under this Act.
The Act introduces the concept of product liability and brings within its scope, the product manufacturer, product service provider and product seller, for any claim for compensation.
The Act provides for simplifying the consumer dispute adjudication process in the consumer commissions, which include, among others, empowerment of the State and District Commissions to review their own orders, enabling a consumer to file complaints electronically and file complaints in consumer Commissions that have jurisdiction over the place of his residence, videoconferencing for hearing and deemed admissibility of complaints if the question of admissibility is not decided within the specified period of 21 days.
The theme for 2020’s National Consumer Day is ‘Sustainable Consumer,’ which focuses on the global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The theme talks about the consumer movement and how the consumers can make lifestyle changes to play their part, and what governments and businesses must do to form sustainability the easy choice for consumers.
