CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 1986 ( “CPA”)

IN INDIA
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted for better protection of the
interests of consumers. The provisions of the Act came into force with effect from
15-4-87. Consumer Protection Act imposes strict liability on a manufacturer, in
case of supply of defective goods by him, and a service provider, in case of
deficiency in rendering of its services. The term “defect” and “deficiency”, as held
in a catena of cases, are to be couched in the widest horizon of there being any kind
of fault, imperfection or shortcoming. Furthermore, the standard, which is required
to be maintained, in services or goods is not to be restricted to the statutory
mandate but shall extend to that claimed by the trader, expressly or impliedly, in
any manner whatsoever.

The Consumer Protection Act 1986 is a social welfare legislation which was
enacted as a result of widespread consumer protection movement. The main
object of the legislature in the enactment of this act is to provide for the better
protection of the interests of the consumer and to make provisions for
establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for settlement of
consumer disputes and matter therewith connected.

In order to promote and protect the rights and interests of consumers quasi
judicial machinery is sought to be set up at district , state and central levels. The
quasi judicial bodies have to observe the principles of natural justice and have
been empowered to give reliefs of specific nature and also to impose penalties
for the non compliance of the order given by such bodies.

The act was passed in Lok Sabha on 9th December 1986 and Rajya Sabha on
10th December 1986 and assented by the President of India on 24th December
1986 and was published in the gazette of India on 26th December 1986.

OBJECTIVE OF THE CPA :-

An act to provide better protection of the interests of consumers and for the
purpose to make provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other
authorities for the betterment of consumer disputes and for the matters
connected with them.

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SALIENT FEATURES OF THE CPA :-

The salient features of the Act are:

(I) It covers all the sectors whether private, public, and cooperative or any person.
The provisions of the Act are compensatory as well as preventive and punitive in
nature and the Act applies to all goods covered by sale of goods Act and services
unless specifically exempted by the Central Government;

(II) It enshrines the following rights of consumers:

(a) right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services which are
hazardous to life and property.

(b) right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and
price of goods or services so as to protect the consumers against unfair trade
practices.

(c) right to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of goods and services
at competitive prices.

(d) right to be heard and to be assured that consumers’ interests will receive due
consideration at the appropriate for a.

(e) right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous

exploitation of consumers.

(f) right to consumer education;

(III) The Act also envisages establishment of Consumer Protection Councils at the
central, state and district levels, whose main objectives are to promote and protect
the rights of consumers; (v) To provide a simple, speedy and inexpensive redressal
of consumer grievances, the Act envisages a three-tier quasi-judicial machinery at
the national, state and district levels. These are: National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission known as National Commission, State Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commissions known as State Commissions and District Consumer
Disputes Redressal Forum known as District Forum; and

(IV) The provisions of this Act are in addition to and not in derogation of the
provisions of any other law for the time being in force.

Product liability

Section 2 imposes civil liability in tort for damage caused wholly or partly by a
defect in a product. Liability falls on:

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  Producers;
 Persons holding themselves out as producers, for example by selling
private label products under their own brand ("own-branders"); and
 Importers into the European Union (EU) for commercial sale.

Liability is strict and there is no need to demonstrate fault or negligence on

behalf of the producer. Liability cannot be "written out" by an exclusion clause
(s.7)

Damage includes (s.5):

 Death;
 Personal injury;
 Damage to property, including land, provided that:
o The property is of a type usually intended for private use;
o It is intended for private use by a person making a claim; and
o The value of the damage is more than £275;

— but damage to the product itself is excluded, as are other forms of pure
economic loss.

Product

A product is any goods or electricity and includes products aggregated into

other products, whether as component parts, raw materials or otherwise (s.1(2)
(c)) though a supplier of the aggregate product is not liable simply on the basis
of that fact (s.1(3)). Buildings and land are not included though construction
materials such as bricks and girders are. Information and software are not
included though printed instructions and embedded software are relevant to the
overall safety of a product.

Defect

Section 3 defines a defect as being present when "the safety of the product is
not such as persons generally are entitled to expect". Safety is further defined as
to apply to products that are component parts or raw materials in other products,
and to risks to property as well as risks of death and personal injury (s.3(1)).

The standard of safety that "persons generally are entitled to expect" is to be

assessed in relation to all the circumstances, including (s.3(2)):

 The manner in which, and purposes for which, the product has been
marketed;

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  Its "get-up";
 The use of any mark in relation to the product;
 Any instructions for, or warnings with respect to, doing or refraining
from doing anything with or in relation to the product;
 What might reasonably be expected to be done with or in relation to the
product; and
 The time when the product was supplied by its producer to another;

— but the fact that older products were less safe than newer ones does not, of
itself, render the older products defective.

Limitation

Schedule 1 amends the Limitation Act 1980. Claims under the Act are barred
three years after the date when damage occurred or when it came to the
knowledge of the claimant. However, no claim can be brought more than 10
years after the date the product was put into circulation.

Purview of a ‘complaint’

According to the CPA, ‘Complaint’ means any of the following allegations made
in writing by a complainant-

i. Any unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade practice has been adopted by a
trader,

ii. The goods hired or bought suffer from one or more defects

iii. The goods hired or availed of are deficient in any respect

iv. A trader has charged price in excess of price fixed by law or displayed on the
goods or any package containing goods

v. Goods which will be hazardous to life and safety when used, are being offered
for sale to the public in contravention of the provisions of any law requiring traders
to display information in regard to the contents, manner and effect or use of such
goods.

Grant of Reliefs under CPA

On arriving at a finding of defect in the goods according to Section 14 CPA, the

jurisdictional Consumer Forum may direct one or more of the following:

(i) To remove the defect.

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 (ii) To replace the goods with new goods of similar description which shall
be free from any defect.

(iii) To return to the complainant the price

(iv) To pay such amount as may be awarded as compensation to the

consumer for the loss or injury suffered by the consumer due to the
negligence of the opposite party.

(v) To discontinue the unfair trade practice or the restrictive trade practice or
not to repeat them.

(vi) To cease and desist manufacture of hazardous goods.

(vii) To pay such sums as orders if injury/loss is suffered by a large number of

consumers not identifiable conveniently.

(viii) To issue corrective advertisement for neutralizing effect of misleading

advertisement.

(ix) Not to offer the hazardous goods for sale.

(x) To withdraw the hazardous goods from being offered for sale.

(xi) To provide for adequate costs to parties (the Complainant).

There exists no clear pronouncement of the Supreme Court (the apex court in
India) till date on whether the liability under the CPA is strict or fault based.
However, failure to conform to the standards required under any law, contract or
representations of the trader are sufficient to constitute a defect. Furthermore,
under Section 14 of the CPA as explained hereinabove, it is only the remedy of
compensation that requires the claimant to necessarily prove negligence. In the
case of Abhaya Kumar Panda v. Bajaj Auto [(1991) 2 CPJ 644], the Orissa State
Commission directed repair of the goods, even though there was no intentional
defect. Thus, the defence of no negligence may not be accepted by Consumer
forums.

Validity of Limitation of liability clauses

Contractual liability has a role to play in product liability claims under the CPA.
Courts in India have upheld limitation of liability clauses, which parties have
specifically agreed to in the contract as recognized by the Supreme Court in
Bharathi Knitting Company v DHL Worldwide Express Courier (1996) 4 SCC
704. However, such clauses may be struck down if found to be unconscionable in
nature. In Maruti Udyog v. Susheel Kumar Gabgotra, [(2006) 4 SCC 644], the
manufacturer of the vehicle had stipulated a warranty clause limiting its liability to
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merely repair the defects found if any. In view of this clause, the Supreme Court
reversed the findings of the National Commission to replace the defective goods
and held that the liability of the manufacture was confined to repairing the defect.
Compensation was, however, awarded for travel charges to the complainant, which
was incurred due to the fault of the car manufacturer.

Applicability of other laws

Section 3 of the CPA provides that the Act is in addition to and not in derogation
of any other law. The Supreme Court in Secretary, Thirumurugan Co-operative
Agricultural Credit Society v. M. Lalitha, [(2004) 1 SCC 305] has interpreted the
above provision to mean that the remedies provided under the CP Act are in
addition to the remedies provided under other statutes. Hence, the fact that a
remedy is specifically provided for under another statute would not necessarily
oust the jurisdiction of the appropriate authority under the CP Act. It has been
further held that if forums under one statute and the CP Act are approached, then it
is for the appropriate authority to permit the parties to opt between the consumer
forum and the other forum, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case.

Establishment of Consumer forums

At present, there are 34 State Commissions, one in each State/UT and 571 district
fora besides the National Commission. The state governments are responsible to
set up the district fora and the State Commissions. States have been empowered to
establish additional District Forum and also additional members in the State
Commission to facilitate constituting benches and also for holding circuit benches.
The Central Government is empowered to establish the National Commission. It
has been empowered to appoint additional members to facilitate creation of more
benches and holding of circuit benches. The second bench of the National
Commission started functioning from 24 September 2003. The government is
monitoring the disposal of cases by the consumer courts through National
Commission. As per the current statistics, since its inception and up to 5.9.2008 ,
2559451 cases were filed out of which 2327035 cases were disposed of by the
District forums in various states of India .

Jurisdiction under Consumer Protection Act 1986

The District Forum has the jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of
the goods or services and the compensation , if any, claimed, is less than INR
50,000. A State Commission has the jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the
value of the goods or services and the compensation , if any, claimed exceeds
500,000 rupees but does not exceed 2 million rupees. It is also appellate forum for
orders of the District forum. The National Commisssion has the jurisdiction to
entertain complaints where the value of goods and services and the compensation

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exceeds two million rupees and also hears the appeals against the orders of the
State Commission.

Period of limitation

A complaint is only admitted by any of the competent forums under CPA if it is

filed within two years from the date on which the cause of action has arisen but it
may be entertained after the said period after recording its reasons for condoning
such delay , if the complainant satisfies that he had a sufficient cause for not filing
the complaint within period of two years .

Procedure to file a complaint

A complaint can be filed in a District Forum or as per pecuniary jurisdiction in

another forum within local limits of whose jurisdiction the opposite party or any of
the opposite parties resides or carries on business, or has a branch office or
personally works for gain.

Misleading price indications

The Act creates a crime of giving a misleading price indication where a

person, in the course of business gives, by any means whatever, to a consumer
an indication that is misleading as to the price at which any of the following is
available (s.20):

 Goods;
 Services or facilities, including (s.22):
o Credit or banking or insurance services, and incidental facilities;
o Purchase or sale of foreign currency;
o Supply of electricity;
o Provision of parking for motor vehicles or caravans, not including
permanent residential caravan sites; or
 Accommodation, but not an interest in land unless (s.23):
o It was created or will be disposed of in the course of business; or
o It involves the sale of a new dwelling to a resident.

An offender can be sentenced, on summary conviction to a fine of up to the

statutory maximum for Magistrates' Courts or, on conviction on indictment in
the Crown Court to an unlimited fine (s.20(4)).

Misleading

A price indication is misleading if it conveys, or if consumers might reasonably

be expected to infer, that (s.21):

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  The price is less than in fact it is;
 The applicability of the price does not depend on facts or circumstances
on which its applicability does in fact depend;
 The price covers matters in respect of which an additional charge is in
fact made;
 Some person, who in fact has no such expectation, expects the price to
be:
o Increased or reduced, whether or not at a particular time or by a
particular amount; or
o Maintained, whether or not for a particular period; or
 The facts or circumstances by reference to which the consumers might
reasonably be expected to judge the validity of any relevant comparison
made or implied by the indication are not what in fact they are.

Class actions

Under CPA Section 2 (1) (b) permits filing of a complaint by a consumer, any
voluntary consumer association registered under companies Act 1956 or under any
other law, the State government or Central Government, one or more consumers
where number of consumers have same interest, incase of death of a consumer , his
legal representative may ,make a complaint.

Penalty under Section 27 CPA

According to CPA ,where a trader or the complainant fails to comply with an order
made by the relevant consumer forum , such person is liable to a punishment with
imprisonment for a term which is not less than one month but which may extend to
three years or with fine of not less than two thousand rupees but which may extend
to ten thousand rupees or with both

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SUBMITTED TO:-Mrs. VIJAYA SANTHI , MSc.(N) SUBMITTED BY:-MISS RAJVIR KAUR,
M MSc.(N)

PRINCIPAL 2nd YEAR

CIMS CON, DEHRADUN CIMS CON, DEHRADUN

SUBMITTED ON:-2/04/2011

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:-

BOOKS:-

1.) Russel.C.Swansburg, “Management & Leadership for Nurse

Managers”, 2nd Edition, Library of Congress Cataloging
Publication, Pp:- 412-421.

2.) B.T.Basavanthappa, “Nursing Administration”, 1st Edition,

J.P.Brothers Publication, Pp:- 349-351.

3.) Eleanor.J.Sullivan & Phillip.J.Decker, “Effective Leadership &

Management In Nursing”, 4th Edition, Library of Congress
Cataloging Publication, Pp:- 263-271.

4.) Russel.C.Swansburg & Richard.J.Swansburg, “Introduction to

Management & Leadership for Nurse Managers”, 3rd Edition, Jones
& Bartlett Publishers, Pp:- 383-386.

5.) Russel.C.Swansburg & Richard.J.Swansburg, “Management &

Leadership for Nurse Administrators”, 4th Edition, Jones & Bartlett
Publishers, Pp:- 308-315.

JOURNALS:-

1.) Indian Nursing Journal.

2.) American Journal of Management.

3.) American Association journal.

NET:-

1.) www.goggle.com

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 2.) www.wikipedia.com

CONCLUSION :-

The Consumer Protection Act 1986 is a social welfare legislation which was
enacted as a result of widespread consumer protection movement. The main
object of the legislature in the enactment of this act is to provide for the better
protection of the interests of the consumer and to make provisions for
establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for settlement of
consumer disputes and matter therewith connected.

JOURNAL ABSTRACT :-

Torts is a civil wrong commited against a person & may be either intentional or
unintentional Physical , emotional , economical may also result it a tort .
Negliegence is the failure to act as a reasonably prudent person e.g any nurse
who does not meet accepted standard of care or who perform duties in careless
fashion runs a risk of being found negliegent . Reighton (1975) identifies the
common acts of negliegence. Medication error , fall of patient from bed, failure
to communicate charges in clients condition , use of defective apparatus ,
infection due to lack of aseptic techniques, loss of damage to clients property
,burns from hot water bottle , heating pads , enema etc.

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