Introduction

Jeff Bezos, an American investor, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, believes in the value of
customer services. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our
job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better. The
digital age has ushered and immensely grown in a fresh new era of e-commerce and
brought new customer expectations. The digital age has brought easy access,
increased choices and time saving modes of shopping for the consumers. The Indian
consumer market has gone through a drastic change over the last two decades with the advent of digital
technologies intemet, rapid penetration of e-commerce, smart phones, and cloud technologies. The
Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 1986 being the foremost legislature for protecting the rights of the
consumers had become archaic and does not cover rapid changes in the consumer marketplaces,
especially those dealing with online shopping, teleshopping, product recall, unsafe contracts, and
misleading advertisements Therefore, it was felt to replace it with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

• CP Act 1986

➢ provided for a three-tier consumer dispute redressal machinery at the National (NCDRC), State ( State
Commissions) and District levels ( District Fora) SALIENT FEATURES OF CP ACT 2019

• Consumer Protection Councils

• Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)

• Simplified Dispute Resolution Process

• Mediation

• Product Liability

• Rules on e-commerce and direct selling

• Penalty for adulteration of products/spurious goods

Class Action Law Suits

The class-action suit is one form of consumer protection that has recently
gained momentum in India. Class action suits are a distinct and necessary
component of the civil dispute resolution system. When a group of litigants raise
a complaint or other actions before a court/tribunal/forum on behalf of a
wider group of people, a class action proceeding is launched. Class action suits
consider the commonality of evidence and remedies obtained in proceedings
where all members of the class have a common cause and some of the
members of the said class initiate proceedings in courts as representatives for
other members of the class. Class action suits allow courts/forums to adjudicate
grievances by similarly situated people; a class action proceeding is favourable
as it prevents the initiation and adjudication of multiple proceedings in courts,
but it also allows the adjudicating court to assess and grant claims for all
members of the class, which assists in limiting litigation, avoiding multiplicity,
and reducing costs.

In 2019, India passed a new consumer protection legislation. Class actions are
specifically permitted under Section 35(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act,
2019 (CPA). One or more consumers registered voluntary consumer
associations, the Central or State Government, legal heirs, guardians or legal
representatives of the consumer may file a suit under the CPA. Under the CPA,
a customer may be an entity, a business, a Hindu undivided family, a
cooperative society, a group of people, an organisation, a company, or some
other artificial juridical individual.

Class actions must be brought in the appropriate court with the required
territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction. Manufacturers, service providers, retailers,
and e-commerce firms, for example, maybe the targets of class actions. The
CPA, therefore, establishes a consistent procedure structure. The National
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission previously indicated that it would not
accept class actions that did not have a sufficient proportion of the class
involved in the suit. Furthermore, the CPA provides for the establishment of the
Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to investigate certain class action
cases for violations of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, or deceptive or
misleading advertisements before they are addressed by the consumer forum.
This differs from the former process, in which consumers could unite together
and file their complaints with the consumer court.

Section 39 of the CPA specifies various forms of relief, including repairing or

replacing the product, refunding the customer for damaged products and
services, withdrawing dangerous goods, compensating the consumer for
damage or damage caused by neglect, and covering the costs of prosecuting
and pursuing the suit. Furthermore, the CPA allows for punitive damages and, in
some cases, incarceration.
The CPA specifies a two-year expiration time for filing a class action. It is also
worth noting that Indian courts have the authority to allow delays and, in
certain cases, a class action can be heard after the limitation period has expired
if the adequate ground is shown. Litigation in India can be time-consuming and
tedious, with numerous appeals, often spanning multiple levels, all the way to
the Supreme Court. Class actions usually take four to seven years from the time
they are filed to the time they are resolved.

Mediation
In a mediation procedure, a neutral intermediary, the mediator, helps the parties to
reach a mutually satisfactory settlement of their dispute. Any settlement is recorded in
an enforceable contract.

Experience shows that intellectual property litigation often ends in settlement. Mediation
is an efficient and cost-effective way of achieving that result while preserving, and at
times even enhancing, the relationship of the parties.

 The A.D.R mechanism in the 2019 act provided for mediation as solution to disputes and quick
provision of justice. Chapter V of the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 provides for a mediation
process for consumers to avail. The Act provides for the the establishment of mediation cells at three
levels - National, State and District with all three being attached to the respective commissions.
The mediation cells are mandated to create a panel of mediators and this panel is updated on a
regular basis. The Act lays down the duties and responsibilities of the mediator in the process of
mediation in Section 77 particularly with regards to the duty to disclose necessary information to
either parties. The Act further lays down the procedure for mediation and how the settlement for the
same would be possible. It also requires the recording of the said settlements by the respective
commissions.
The entire process itself is new to the consumer protection realm in India and is step up from the
1986 Act in terms of quicker provision of justice. The inclusion of mediation as an alternative
mechanism follows the recent shift in the legal system to ensure faster addressing of cases and
faster provision of justice.

Conclusion

The introduction of a strict regime combined with the CCPA clearly assist in safeguarding consumer
interests. The CPA 2019 expands the tentacles of the consumer protection regime down to the
grassroots level with the establishment of various organs functioning at different levels. As before, a
consumer can approach the various disputes redressal fora envisaged under the CPA 2019. In addition, a
complaint relating to violation of consumer rights or unfair trade practices or misleading
advertisements, which are prejudicial to the interests of the consumers as a class, may be investigated
by the CCPA. The new Act touches on may aspects such as Mediation and E-commerce
which the world was unaware in 1986. So, it was important to amend the act when
digitalization has changed the way a consumer conduct online transactions and mode
of shopping has shifted from offline to online. Certainly 2019 Act is a positive step
towards reformation, development and enhancing consumer rights. Socio-economic
developments are taking place every year and e can aspect new amendments to 2019
act as well. But the real implementation of 2019 Act will be seen in coming times by
analyzing how much relief it offers to the consumers.