'Consumer' a confused definition

Historical Perspective

The industrial revolution and the development in the international trade and commerce had led to
the vast expansion of business and trade, because of which a diverse form of consumer goods
had appeared in the market to cater to the needs of the consumers and a host of services had
been made available to the consumers. Like- insurance, transport, electricity, housing,
entertainment, finance and banking were few such new industries. Consumers particularly, in
India were neglected a lot but, tolerance had its limit. The 'Consumer' realised that though on
paper he was a ‘KING’, he remained to be a slave of business class. Therefore, the consumer
protection act 1986 was enacted. The main objectives of the Act are to provide best and all round
protection to the consumer and safeguarding them against unfair trade practices and to make
provision for the establishment of Consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of
consumer disputes.

Definition of 'Consumer' under Consumer Protection Act

"Consumer" is defined as 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 '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.

· But does not include a person who avails of such services for any commercial purposes.
 · Definition of consumer according to the new CP Act, 2019-‘Consumer’ is defined as a
person who buys any good or avails a service for a consideration. It does not include a
person who obtains a good for resale or a good or service for commercial purpose. It
covers transactions through all modes including offline, and online through electronic
means, teleshopping, multi-level marketing or direct selling.

Various dimensions of the term 'Consumer'

1. User of promotional scheme is consumer

Case - Baby Anmol Mahajan v. Videocon International, CAJ 2013,Pt 2,p.584, NC.

Let’s assume that the retailer was offering a scratch card to promote his sale and he gave one to a
girl, asking her to try her luck. In other words, when he gave her the scratch card, he promised to
give her whatever was printed on the card. He cannot now refuse to give her the gold coin,
claiming it was a printing mistake. Doing so would constitute an unfair trade practice under the
Consumer Protection Act.

If there is a goof-up at the printer’s level as he claims, it is for him to resolve it with the printer
by holding him responsible and recovering the cost of the gold coin from him. As far as she is
concerned, he has to give her what was promised on the card.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, offering of gifts, prizes or other items with the intention of
not giving them, or withholding the prize or gift from the participants of any such promotional
scheme, clearly constitutes an unfair trade practice and consumers can seek redress against such
practices before the consumer courts constituted under the Consumer Protection Act.

2. A person registering for gas connection is also a consumer

Case - Mohindra Gas Enterprises v. Jagadish Poswal,1993

The national commission in this case held that registering for gas connection amounts to hiring
of services. Reference was made to the Manual of Indian Oil Corporation which states that an
LPG customer gets continuing or recurring services like loan of the corporation’s equipment,
delivery of refill cylinders, technical services for appliance or leakage of equipment and so on.
But, can a person be upheld as a consumer at the stage of registration or only when he signs the
subscription voucher and makes deposit for LPG connection. To this, National Commission
observed as follow:

The present case is one in which payment of part consideration was deferred till the gas
connection was released. Hence, a person becomes a consumer of LPG right at the time of
registration for an LPG connection.

Passenger travelling by trains

Case - General Manager, Southern railways v. Anand Prasad Sinha, 1989

In this case, it was held that passengers travelling by trains on payment of the stipulated fare
charged for the ticket are ‘consumers’ and the facility of transportation by rail provided by the
railway administration is a ‘service’ rendered for consideration as defined in the Act.

User of electricity is a consumer

Case - Y. N Gupta v. DESU, 1992.

User of electricity is a consumer. The National Commission in this case, considered a complaint
regarding the inflated electricity bills served by DESU on the complainant. In this case, DESU
did not raise the bills in keeping with the cycle normally adopted. It also did not replace the
defective meter. However, it issued a bill for Rs.1.06 lakhs for a period of 1 and quarter years.
The power connection was also disconnected but restored after a complaint with the General
Manager.

Subscribers of Telephone is also a consumer

Case - District Manager, Telephone, Patna v. Lalit Kumar Bajla, 1989.

Subscribers of telephones would be ‘consumers’ under the Act and accordingly are entitled to
seek relief from Forums wherever necessary.

Educational Institute, student is a consumer

Case - Vishal Gaonkar v. Engineers Learning Institute, 2016

In this case, the North Goa Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum had held that when an institute
receives the required fee from the student but does not conduct the examination, then such act
amounts to deficiency of services. The student has every right to get a refund of the amount paid
by him to the institute. Based on this consideration, the Forum ordered the institute to refund the
amount so paid by the Complainant along with some damages for harassment faced by the
individual.

Winner of a lottery is not a Consumer

Case - Byford v. S. S Srivastava, 1992

Here, Byford Motors inserted an advertisement in newspaper stating that a person booking a
Premier Padmini Car could enter into a contest in a lottery conducted by them. If a person is
successful in the draw he would be entitled to, two free tickets from New Delhi to New York and
back. Shri S.S. Srivastava was one of the persons who was successful in that draw. He asked the
dealers of Byford Motors, to give him the value of two tickets which they refused and asked to
produce two passports to enable them to book the tickets. The complainant, however, produced
one passport immediately but the second after the end of the financial year. Byford Motors
dealers refused to give the tickets on the ground that accounts of the financial year had been
closed and that they could not carry forward the liability of that year to the next financial year
under the provisions of the Income Tax Act and Rules and they held, that the complainant was
not a consumer within the meaning of Section 2(1) of the Act.

Conclusion

We can clearly understand that a person who buys goods just doesn’t come under the category of
consumers, but also all the above mentioned categories of people too. It is a matter of great
satisfaction that we can legitimately boast that we now have in our country a statue, which
provides protection to consumers of all type.

References

1. Lal Rathan and Lal Dhiraj, The Law of Torts, 28th edition; Lexis Nexis.
2. Bangia R.K, Law of Torts with Consumer Protection Act.
3. G.K . Kapoor, Defective Goods and Deficiency of Services vis-a-vis Consumer, ND.
4. ncdrc.nic.in.bare_acts.com-14.07.2021
5. Girima Pushpa, The Sunday Tribune, "Consumer Beware!-The right to a free gift".
6. Chapra Rupin and Batra Priyanka., www.lexology.com, 14.07.2021
7. Baby Anmol Mahajan v. Videocon International, CAJ 2013,Pt 2,p.584, NC
8. Mohindra Gas Enterprises v. Jagadish Poswal,1993,CPJ 199(NC)
9. Manager, Southern railways v. Anand Prasad Sinha, 1989.
10. Byford v. S. S Srivastava, 1992.
11. General Manager, Southern railways v. Anand Prasad Sinha, 1989
12. Vishal Gaonkar v. Engineers Learning Institute, 2016
13. District Manager, Telephone, Patna v. Lalit Kumar Bajla, 1989.