Consumer Protection Act

THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 1986 Though consumer is the purpose and most powerful motivating force of production, yet at the same time consumer is equally vulnerable segment of the whole marketing system. Attempts have been made to guard the interest of the consumer in a sporadic way till 1986, when Government of India enacted a comprehensive legislation-Consumer Protection Act, to safe guard the interest of the consumer than ever before. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986, applies to all goods and services, excluding goods for resale or for commercial purpose and services rendered free of charge and under a contract for personal service. The provisions of the Act are compensatory in nature. It covers public, private, joint and cooperative sectors. The Act enshrines the rights of the consumer such as right to safety, right to be informed, right to be heard, and right to choose, right to seek redressal and right to consumer education. Consumer: A consumer is any person who buys any goods for a consideration and user of such goods where the use is with the approval of buyer, any person who hires/avails of any service for a consideration and any beneficiary of such services, where such services are availed of with the approval of the person hiring the service. The consumer need not have made full payment.
Goods: Goods mean any movable property and also include shares, but do not include any auction able claims.
Service: Service of any description such as banking, insurance, transport, processing, housing construction, supply of electrical energy, entertainment, board or lodging.
Nature of complaint:
a) Any unfair trade practice or restrictive trade practice adopted; by the trader b) Defective goods
b) Deficiency in service
c) Excess price charged ;by the trader d) Unlawful goods sale, which is hazardous to life and safety when used
Consumer Courts: A three-tier-system
a) National Consumer Dispute