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Consumer protection act:Old and new
When we talk about consumers right, India does not exactly has a glorified past, in fact, India had worse consumer laws in consumer rights, from the advent of our constitution till until the 1980s when the act came into the picture there was hardly much in terms of consumer protection, but since prehistoric times the most learned philosophers and thinkers had written about consumer rights and service but all of this was absent and the socio-economic status of the country had gone down until 1986 when the government formulated and enunciated the law and the act came out to be “ Consumer protection act, 1986”
Section 2 of the act defines1 consumer which means A consumer is one that buys good for consumption and not for resale or commercial purpose. The basic aim of the act was to safeguard the rights of the consumer to keep their best interests at par. This right helped to educate the consumer on the right and responsibilities of being a consumer and how to seek help or justice when faced with exploitation as a consumer. It also established a three-tier grievance redressal system. The government urged the consumers to know their rights and a motto of “ Jago grahak jaogo” was circulated Though, the act surely exposed the customers to new opportunities but it also exposed them to new problems as it seemed the act was an insufficient piece of legislature, it has various problems in its implementation hence it cannot keep up with the market dynamics and was failing so in order to keep the idea of welfare going an amendment in the form of consumer protection act, 1986 was introduced replacing the three-decade-old consumer protection act, 1986 . 2
The act came as a refreshing relief to the consumers as the new act will be more holistic and ironclad, and are framed in the best interest of the consumers . The Act proposes the creation of a Central Authority for the Protection of Consumers (CCPA) to encourage, protect and enforce consumer rights and intervene in situations of unfair trade, and most importantly The Act provides for a streamlined process for dispute settlement, with a provision for mediation and e-filing3.
1 https://indiankanoon.org/doc/334666/.
2The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, No. 144, Acts of parliament,2019(India).
3 Gazette of India" (PDF). egazette.nic.in. Retrieved 17 June
