The Rights Of Consumers And The Legal Protections Against Fraud And Unfair Business Practices

The consumer protection act safeguards the consumers who buy goods and services against fraud, unfair and restrictive trade practices.The consumer protection bill was introduced in lok sabha on july 8th 2019. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on July 30,2019 and on august 6th 2019 in rajya sabha. It received the president's assent on august 9,2019. It has to be noted that the new act, while incorporating many new provisions, has retained certain old provisions of 1986-act.

Objectives:
The main objective of the act is to protect, promote and enforce the rights of the customer. The preamble of the act states clearly that the object of the act is to set up enforcement authorities and speedy disposal of the cases.

Rights Of The Consumers:

There are certain rights for the consumers which are stated in the sec 2(9) of the consumer protection act 2019.

The rights include:
  • Right to Safety
  • Right to Information
  • Right to Choose
  • Right to Be Heard
  • Right to Seek Redressal
  • Right to Consumer Awareness

The right of a consumer to be protected against the marketing of goods and services that are hazardous and injurious to the life and property. The right to be protected against unfair trade practices and restrictive trade practices by being aware of the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or products and services.

According to consumerism theory it is assumed that the consumer know their needs. So it is the right of a consumer to have access to a variety of goods, services and products at competitive prices to choose what they want according to their need.

The right to seek redressal at respective forums against unfair and restrictive trade practices. The act provides a three -tier redressal mechanism. The right to receive adequate compensation or consideration from respective consumer forums in case they have been wronged by the seller.

The right to receive consumer education is also considered as a basic right since every consumer should have a knowledge or awareness about the rights and duties of the consumer.

In the case of Nisha Priya Bhatiya v/s Institute Of Human Behaviour And Allied Science 2014 the hospital would not provide any information about the bill of the treatment rendered by the consumer but merely said to pay the lump sum amount. The court in this case held that,the right to information is the basic rights rights of the consumer as mentioned in the consumer protection act 2019. So in this case the info about the bills should be properly informed to the consumer by the hospital.

Legal Protection Against The Unfair Trade Practices:

Section 2(47) of the act stated about the unfair trade practices. The practices include false and misleading advertisement, luring advertisement,false gifts, product safety standards, spurious goods, not issuing bills, infringing privacy etc…

The District Commissions will have the jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods, services or products paid as consideration to the seller does not exceed 50 lakh rupees.

State Commissions will have the jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods, services or products paid as consideration to the seller exceeds 50 lakh rupees but does not exceed two crore rupees.
The National Commission will have the jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods, services or products paid as consideration to the seller exceeds two crore rupees.

Therefore, with the changes in the digital era, the Indian Parliament brought the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 in force to include the provisions for e-commerce as digitalization has facilitated convenient payment mechanisms, variety of choices, improved services, etc. So consumers can also file an E-complaint.

In Aero club v. Rakesh sharma 2017,in this case there will be a display board in a shop,that the store offers 40% discount, but when the consumer buys the product the discount was provided and later an extra amount was added in the bill in the head of tax. so ultimately no discount was provided at the end. The court held that it is unfair trade practices and the consumer should be compensated.

Conclusion:
There are also associations for consumerism namely Consumer guidance trinity of india, consumer education and research Centre and Jago Gharak Jago where they provide a toll free number -1800-11-4000,1915.

Award-Winning Article Written By: Ms.Poorna K

Certificate of Excellence awarded by Legal Service India
Authentication No: MR101740481006-19-0325

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