THE CONSUMER

PROTECTION ACT, 1986

By: Amit Kumar Giri
PGDM Sec. A
Roll No. 13
OBJECTS OF THE ACT
 Providing better protection of interest of
consumers
 Providing for the establishment of consumer
council and other authorities
 Settling consumer disputes and matters
connected therewith
RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS
 Right to Safety
 Right to be Informed

 Right to Choose

 Right to be Heard

 Right to Seek Redressal

 Right to Consumer Education

1. RIGHT TO SAFETY
Right to be protected against the marketing of
goods and services which are hazardous

2. RIGHT TO BE INFORMED

Right to be informed about the quality, quantity,

potency, standard of goods and services
3. RIGHT TO CHOOSE
Right to be assured access to a variety of
goods and services at competitive prices

4. RIGHT TO BE HEARD

Right to be represented in various forums

formed to consider the welfare of consumers
5. RIGHT TO SEEK
REDRESSAL
Right to seek redressal against unfair
practices or unscrupulous exploitation of
consumers

6. RIGHT TO CONSUMER
EDUCATION
Right to acquire knowledge to be an informed
consumer
BASIC DEFINITIONS AND
CONCEPTS
 Consumer

 Complainant (who can file a complaint)

 Complaint

 Unfair Trade Practice

1. CONSUMER
A person who buys any goods for a
consideration which has been paid or
promised or partly paid and partly promised
 A person who hires or avails of any services
for consideration which has been paid or
promised or partly paid and partly promised
2. COMPLAINANT
A complainant may be:
 A consumer

 Any voluntary consumer association

registered under the Companies Act, 1956
 The Central Government or any State
Government
 In case of death of a consumer, his legal heir
or representative
3. COMPLAINT
Complaint means any allegation in writing made by
a complainant that:
 Any unfair trade practice has been adopted by any
trader
 Goods bought by consumer suffer from any defect
 Services hired by the consumer may suffer from any
deficiency
 The trader is charging excess price for goods
 Goods or services which are hazardous
4. UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICE
A trade practice which, for the purpose of
promoting the sale, adopts any unfair method
like:
 Misleading advertisement

 Offering gifts and prizes etc.

 Not conforming to prescribed standards

 Hoarding or destruction of goods

CONSUMER REDRESSAL
AGENCIES
 District
Forum
 State Commission

 National Commission
1. DISTRICT FORUM
Set up by State Government in each district of the
state and shall consist of:
 A person who is a qualified to be a District judge
shall be its President
 A person of respect in the field of education, trade or
commerce
 A lady social worker
An appeal against its order can be filed before the
State Commission within a period of 30 days from
the order
2. STATE COMMISSION
Established in each State by the respective State
Government and shall consist of:
 A person who is a judge of High Court shall be its
President
 Two other members who shall be persons of
integrity, ability and have experience of dealing with
problems relating to economics, law, commerce,
accountancy or administration. One of them shall be
woman
An appeal against its order can be filed before the
National Commission within 30 days from the date
of order
3. NATIONAL COMMISSION
The Central Government shall establish a National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission which shall consist of:
 A person who is a judge of the Supreme Court shall be a
President
 Two other members who shall be persons of ability, integrity and
have experience of dealing with problems of economics, law,
commerce, accountancy or administration. One of them shall be
a woman
An appeal against its order can be filed in the Supreme Court
within the 30 days from the date of order
HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT?
A complaint can be sent to the appropriate
Commission/Forum and should be addressed to the
President. It should contain the following
information:
 The name, description and address of the
complainant
 The name, description and address of the opposite
party or parties
 The facts relating to complaints
 Documents in support of the allegations
 The relief which the complainant is seeking
REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO
CONSUMERS
If it is proved that the goods are defective and the
allegations are correct then opposite party has to do
the following things:
 To remove the defect from the goods in question
 To replace the goods with new goods free from
defects
 To return the price of the good
 To pay an amount as a compensation
 To remove the deficiencies in the services in
question
 To discontinue the unfair trade practice
 Not to offer the hazardous goods for sale
 To withdraw the hazardous goods from being
offered for sale
 To cease manufacture of hazardous goods

 To issue corrective advertisement to

neutralize the effect of misleading
advertisement
 To provide for adequate costs to the parties