National Consumer Day

Consumer Protection Act 2019
Consumer Protection Act 1986
Celebrations

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.

This 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.

Consumer Protection Act 2019

The Consumer Protection Act 2019 is in to force from 20th July 2020.

The Act will empower consumers and help them in protecting their rights through its various notified Rules and provisions like Consumer Protection Councils, Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions, Mediation, Product Liability and punishment for manufacture or sale of products containing adulterant / spurious goods.

The Act includes establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers. The CCPA will be empowered to conduct investigations into violations of consumer rights and institute complaints / prosecution, order recall of unsafe goods and services, order discontinuance of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements, impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of misleading advertisements.

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, etc. including country of origin which 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.

An Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanism of Mediation has been provided in the new 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.

To access the complete Act, click here.

The Consumer Protection Rules Under The Consumer Protection Act, 2019

Consumer Protection Act 1986

The Consumer Protection Act aims to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation such as defective goods, deficiency in services and unfair trade practices.

Major Objectives

To promote and protect the rights of Consumer such as Right to

be protected against the marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property.
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.
be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices.
be heard and to be assured that consumer’s interest will receive due consideration at appropriate forums.
seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers.
to consumer education.

To provide speedy and simple redressal to consumer, a quasi - judicial machinery is sought to be set up at the district, State & Central level.

To access the complete Act, click here.

Celebrations

This year the National Consumer Day is celebrated with the theme “Consumer Protection in the era of E-Commerce and Digital Trade'.

Key initiatives taken by the Department of Consumer Affairs to reduce costs and ensure timely redressal of consumer grievances are as follows.

National Consumer Helpline - Call 1800-11-1915 or 1915. Timing: All Days Except National Holidays (09:30 AM To 05:30 PM).
Consumer Fora at District, State and National levels called District Forums, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

To access the services, click here

Source : Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Last Modified : 12/22/2023

0 ratings and 0 comments

Your Rating

Roll over stars then click to rate.

© C–DAC.All content appearing on the vikaspedia portal is through collaborative effort of vikaspedia and its partners.We encourage you to use and share the content in a respectful and fair manner. Please leave all source links intact and adhere to applicable copyright and intellectual property guidelines and laws.