3. Consumer
As per Sec 2(1)(d) “consumer” means any person who
buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly
paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes
any user of such goods other than the person who buys such goods for
consideration paid or promised or partly paid or partly promised, or under any
system of deferred payment, when such use is made with the approval of such
person, but does not include a person who obtains such goods for resale or for any
commercial purpose; or
[hires or avails of] any services for a consideration which has been paid or
promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred
payment and includes any beneficiary of such services other than the person
who 12 [hires or avails of] the services for consideration paid or promised, or
partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment, when
such services are availed of with the approval of the first mentioned person 13 [but
does not include a person who avails of such services for any commercial
purpose];
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4. Consumer protection Act, 1986
“an act to provide for the protection of the interests of consumer and for that
purpose to make provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other
authorities for the settlement of consumer disputes and for matters connected
therewith.”
THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT HAS DIVIDED INTO THREE
PARTS:
(A). THE CENTRAL CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL
(B). THE STATE CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL
(C). THE DISTRICT CONSUMER PROTECTION COUNCIL
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5. The Central Consumer Protection Council
Section 4 provides that the Central Government may, by notification, establish with
effect from such date as it may specify in such notification, a Council to be known as
the Central Consumer Protection Council (hereinafter referred to as the Central
Council).
The Central Council shall consist of the following members, namely :-
(a) the Minister in charge of the consumer affairs in the Central Government,
who shall be its Chairman, and
(b) such number of other official or non-official members representing such
interests as may be prescribed.
Procedure for meetings of the Central Council.
(1) The Central Council shall meet as and when necessary, but at least one meeting
of the Council shall be held every year.
(2) The Central Council shall meet at such time and place as the Chairman may think fit
and shall observe such procedure regard to the transaction of its business as may be prescribed
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6. Objects of the Central Council
The objects of the Central Council shall be to promote and protect the rights of the consumers
such as,—
(a) the right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services which are hazardous
to life and property;
(b) 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;
(c) the right to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of goods and services at
competitive prices;
(d) the right to be heard and to be assured that consumer's interests will receive due consideration
at appropriate forums;
(e) the right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or
unscrupulous exploitation of consumers; and
(f) the right to consumer education.
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7. The State Consumer Protection Councils
Section 7 of the act provides the State Government shall, by notification, establish with
effect from such date as it may specify in such notification, a Council to be known as the
Consumer Protection Council for state. (hereinafter referred to as the State Council).
The State Council shall consist of the following members, namely:—
The Minister in charge of consumer affairs in the State Government who shall be its
Chairman
Such number of other official or non-official members representing such interests as
may be prescribed by the State Government.
such number of other official or non-official members, not exceeding ten, as may be
nominated by the Central Government.
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8. Objects of the State Council
The objects of every State Council shall be to promote and protect within the State the
rights of the consumers laid down in clauses (a) to (f) of section 6.
The right to safety.
The right to be informed.
The right to choose.
The right to be heard.
The right to satisfaction of basic needs.
The right to redress.
The right to consumer education.
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9. District council
The State Government shall establish for every district, by notification, a council to
be known as the District Consumer Protection Council with effect from such date as
it may specify in such notification.
The District Consumer Protection Council (hereinafter referred to as the District
Council) shall consist of the following members, namely:—
(a) the Collector of the district (by whatever name called), who shall be its
Chairman; and
(b) such number of other official and non-official members representing such
interests as may be prescribed by the State Government.
The District Council shall meet as and when necessary but not less than two
meetings shall be held every year.
The District Council shall meet at such time and place within the district as the
Chairman may think fit and shall observe such procedure in regard to the
transaction of its business as may be prescribed by the State Government.
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12. Consumer and their rights
The right to safety.
The right to be informed.
The right to choose.
The right to be heard.
The right to satisfaction of basic needs.
The right to redress.
The right to consumer education.
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13. 1. Right to Choose
Within reason, consumers have the right to be assured that a selection of quality
products and services are available for them to purchase at competitive prices. It
means that a consumer should have the opportunity to select the goods or services
that he or she wants to purchase.
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14. example
In the image given below, you can look there are different brands of the soft
drinks, so, you have the choice to choose one out the different brands.
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15. What most of us don't know is that a consumer can
even bargain on the MRP.
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16. 2. Right to Safety
• To be protected against products, production processes and services that
are hazardous to health or life.
• The main application of this right is in the healthcare, pharmaceuticals and
food processing sector as these have direct impact on health. It
aims to protect consumers against immoral practices by doctors, hospitals,
pharmacies and the automobile industry. But in the absence of world-class
product testing facilities in our country the right can, well, be termed as
toothless.
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17. example
Most of the Indian consumer have the habit to buy the product without watching
the expiry date of the product. In this case what happened they play with their life.
It’s the right of the consumer to be fit and please buy the products after watching
the expiry date, whether the product are still under the expiration date or it has
been expired.
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18. 3. Right to Information
This right is meant to protect consumers against unfair trade practices. But
there are many consumer goods in India that do not follow the standardized
labelling convention.
Take medicines for example. The pharmaceuticals are required to disclose
potential side effects of their drugs and manufacturers should publish reports
from independent product testing laboratories in order to facilitate a
comparative analysis with the competitive product. But there is no such thing
in practice.
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20. 4. Right to be Heard
• Although consumer courts are there to hear and resolve the complaints of a consumer,
we still lack a substantial outlet where consumers can voice out their opinion. Having
said that, there are many websites which aim to make sure that the voice of customers
reach the corporate world. These websites let customers upload their
grievances and file complaints. Every grievance filed gradually lessens the overall
score of the product being criticized.
• If the new bill seeking to amend the present law is passed, a Central Consumer
Protection Authority with investigative powers will be set up. 4/6/2017
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21. 5. Right to Redressal
There are consumer courts at district, state and national level for redressal of
disputes. But these courts have immense scope of improvement. Apart from the
infrastructure constraint, the number of officials required are way less than
deployed.
There are around 20-30 million open cases in India which remain unsolved
and would take around 320 years to wind up.
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22. example
In the given picture, the customer who buy the machine previously, now returning
to the seller, in this case the seller sells the duplicate product with the same name
posted on it. It’s a unfair trade practice done by the seller , so for this customer has
given their complaint in consumer protection council under redressal.
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24. 6. Right to Consumer Education
This right ensures that proper informational programs are in place that are
easily accessible and help consumers make purchasing decisions. However,
since most of the initiatives are taken by NGOs in India, there's a need for the
government to step up its participation.
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25. The right to satisfaction of basic needs
This entails a consumer having products and services as per his/her requirements.
For instance:-
(a) when consumers purchase smart phones, there are certain features that they
expect to get, thus with standards this right is fulfilled since the smart phones will be
standardized and they will satisfy the consumers’ needs.
(b) As we looking in the image, the only motive to
buy this phone to talk or basic needs for this phone is
communication whether in the form of talking or in
the sending SMS.
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26. Consumer’s Rights and their example
Type examples
Right to safety Urja Jhaveri, My Samsung S7 edge broke into
smoke, a burning hot to-be bomb emitting white
fumes while I was traveling for work on the way to
Blind People's Association in Ahmedabad today,
22nd March,2017. I'm a college student currently
studying at National Institute of Design(NID),
Ahmedabad, and I could never have imagined that
a mobile which was a gift from my father for a
celebration, could be the very reason my life and
safety was threatened
Right to choose Smart phones
Right to information Insurance , magggie
Right to heard pharmaceuticals
Right to redressal Owega instead of Omega
Right to consumer
education
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27. Data collected from the:-
1.indiakanoon.org
2.scoopwhoop.com
3. Business law (L.M. Porwal, Sanjeev Kumar)
Google images has been used, while making the presentation
Video taken from the YouTube
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