CONSUMER PROTECTION

ACT-2019
NAME: SHIVAM
ENROLLMENT NUMBER: 19BSP2626 (Section: I)
Consumer protection act

On July 20th, 2020, the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019 came into force in India, replacing the previous
enactment of 1986. The new Act overhauls the administration and settlement of consumer disputes in India. It
provides for strict penalties, including jail terms for adulteration and for misleading advertisements. It now
prescribes rules for the sale of goods through e-commerce. The consumer is now truly the king!
There are some measure and insights of the same below:
• Now, customer can file a case regarding the defects in goods and services from home through e-filing
procedure for his complaint.
• Consumers now have several protected rights, including the right to safety, information, choice, redressal as
well as right to be heard, to be educated as a consumer, and to a mediated settlement.
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• No fees are required to be paid if the claim is within Rupees 5 lakhs.
• For e-commerce, each and every details of the products needs to mentioned and provide the information
about grievances of the customer in a given timeframe.
• Misleading advertisements may be punished with imprisonment. Celebrities endorsing a product may not be
punished but can be barred from endorsing if the advertisement is misleading.
• A concept of product liability has been introduced by the new law, thereby allowing aggrieved consumers to
claim significant compensation as a relief due to the negligence of the manufacturer or service provider.
• Settlement of consumer disputes through mediation. This refers to a neutral intermediator outside the court
can resolve it just to save the consumer’ time.
Product liability

To strengthen the safeguards guaranteed to a consumer, the President gave his assent to the Consumer
Protection Act, 2019 on 9th August, 2019. Product liability refers to the three things to claim this consumer have
to show on those three things:
 Manufacturing liability.
 Service provider liability.
 Seller liability.
The responsibility of a product manufacturer or product seller, of any product or service, to compensate for any
harm caused to a consumer by such defective product manufactured or sold or by deficiency in services relating
thereto.
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• In manufacturing, any design defect, manufacturing defect, expression of the warranty on the product is
included as per new act.
• Service provider comprised of any fault, inadeiquate, warning to prevent harm written on the product etc.
• Any assembling issue, modification of the product has to be done in appropriate manner this comes under
seller libability.
Dispute resolution
process
The Act marks the very importance of mediation
in consumer-related disputes. Which in turn,
encourages the parties to undergo mediation
once the complaint has been admitted or at any
other later stage. If the members of the Central
Authority deem fit, and upon prior satisfaction,
that there exists a scope of the settlement of the
dispute, they may refer the same to mediation
and in the event of failure of mediation, the
complaint shall proceed further.
• Qualified mediators will have to mandatorily
undergo a minimum of 40 hours of training
in order to receive the requisite certificate of
accreditation.
• The new Consumer Protection Act, 2019
enables a consumer to file complaints
electronically as well as file complaints in
consumer commissions that has jurisdiction
over the place of his/her residence, under the
Act.
• The time limit permitted under the Act for
the purpose of completion of mediation is 30
days.
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The aforesaid mentioned rules provide a list of matters that cannot be submitted or referred to mediation under
any circumstances. The list is as follows:
 The matters relating to medical negligence resulting in grievous injury or death.
 Offenses relating to defaults committed, for which applications of compounding of offenses has been filed by
one or more parties.
 Cases involving serious allegations of fraud, fabrication of documents, forgery, impersonation, and coercion.
 Cases relating to criminal prosecution and of non-compoundable offenses.
 Cases involving public interest litigation.
 In any case other than those mentioned under this rule, the Commission feels like mediation is not able to
proceed or able to solve then commission may take it further.