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Consumer bill seeks to strengthen redressal fora

Surinder Sud

The scope of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, is proposed to be expanded to protect consumers against sellers of spurious goods and service providers indulging in unfair or restrictive trade practices. Those offering services that are hazardous in nature are also to be covered under this law.

Statutory provisions are being made to expand and enhance the capability of the network of consumer disputes redressal agencies, commonly called consumer courts, to speed up disposal of cases. The powers of these courts are proposed to be enhanced and the procedures for trial of cases streamlined for this purpose.

These are among the provisions made in the Consumer Protection (amendment) Bill, 2001, introduced in the Rajya Sabha a day before the end of the truncated budget session. It is expected to be passed in the next monsoon session which may be convened earlier than usual to take up the pending legal business.

Based on the recommendations of the Naren De working group and another experts group that had looked into various aspects of consumer protection, the amendment seeks to remove some glaring loopholes in the existing law besides providing legal sanction for the expansion of grievance redressal infrastructure.

An important flaw in the existing legislation that the bill seeks to remove is to bring the sale of spurious goods and services within the meaning of unfair trade practices. The law is also being extended to cover service providers indulging in unfair or restrictive trade practices or those offering hazardous services.

The definition of unfair trade practices is being enlarged to include withholding of information about final results of any scheme offering gifts, prizes or other items free of charge and adoption of deceptive practices in the provision of services.

However, services availed for commercial purposes have been excluded from the purview of the consumer disputes redressal agencies as the consumer law is meant primarily for individual consumers.

To provide level playing field for the aggrieved consumer as well as the producer or service provider, the latter is proposed to be barred from hiring the services of practicing lawyers unless the complainant also opts to field a legal practitioner.

In a bid to end the inordinate delays in dispensing justice, the bill prescribes the maximum period within which complaints are to be admitted, notices issued to opposite parties and cases settled. Similar provisions have been proposed also for appeals against the judgements.

The period varies from 21 days to a maximum of 90 days. The trials would ordinarily be on summary basis without adjournments to speed up the disposal of cases. In case of adjournments, the courts would have to spell out the special reasons for doing so.

The powers of the consumer courts are proposed to be stepped up to the level of Judicial Magistrate of the first class. They will be empowered to order recovery of amounts to be paid as compensation in the same manner as arrears of land revenue.

Measures aimed at expansion of grievance redressal network include setting up of benches of the national commission and state commissions and holding of circuit benches of these commissions. It provides for setting up district consumer protection council in every district to provide a forum for protecting the rights of consumers at the grassroots level.

To overcome the shortage of competent persons to man the disputes redressal agencies, the Bill suggests re-appointment of president and members of the district forum, state commission and the national commission for a second term of five years.

It also spells out the minimum qualifications as well as disqualifications for members of these agencies.

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