Protecting consumer rights

Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs has not been very much in the news. This is not because everything it right with consumer affairs and there are no complaints that would bring in into limelight for good or for bad. The fact of the matter is that hitherto no serious attempts have been made to analyse and understand the difficulties of consumers in entering into transactions in which they feel dissatisfied and would require redress of their grievances. But winds of change are reaching the corridors of this ministry and it has taken some measures aimed at protecting and streamlining the rights of the consumers. For example, so far the practice was that a consumer having any complaint about purchased goods that did not satisfy him and he sought justice from authorities had to address the complaint to the consumer court at fixed places and begin litigation against the seller or supplier by engaging a lawyer to plead his case. This was a very complicated and time consuming procedure and very rarely justice was done to the person who complained. Thus the very purpose of the Consumer Affairs Ministry and organization was defeated.
Drastic reforms in the rules and regulations of the Consumer Act are under consideration of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs. If the Parliament gives its nod to these reformative measures, it will greatly protect the rights of consumers. The aim is to simplify the legal procedure for consumers, who, after the amendments are cleared by Parliament, would be able to file a complaint from the place they live and not necessarily the place where they have bought the item from, as was the case till now. The complaint has to be disposed off within 21 days. No lawyer will be employed if the good purchased cost below 2 lakh rupees.
The amendment goes beyond the objective of providing speedy justice and sparing many hassles to one who lodges the complaint. The Ministry is planning to bring under the Act e-commerce companies (fast-growing sector whose business models and trade practices are under the scrutiny of the Commerce Ministry after serious complaints) along with services such as airlines, railways and couriers. Going beyond the normal dispensation of complaint, the amendment aims at compensating the consumer for a fault or inadequacy of the service organ to meet the requirements of the consumer. For example if an air flight is delayed, a passenger will have the right to demand that the airline compensates him for the losses which he had to incur owing to delayed flights. Railways, courier service and insurance companies also will come under the purview of the amended Act. It has been found that unscrupulous providers take the consumers for granted and ignore their rights causing them considerable inconvenience. The e-commerce, which is on the rise and becoming popular in the country, will come under scrutiny of Consumer Affairs Department.
While these steps are welcome and people in general will like that the amended rules are implemented in letter and in spirit, we would like to point out that an important aspect of this affair is that the consumers need to be educated and informed on their rights. The Ministry should take this aspect into consideration and propose a scheme that will serve the purpose of educating consumers about their rights and powers. Of course, the service providers too need to be briefed on the subject of what obligations they owe to the consumers which they have to provide in any case. The Ministry is concerned with public dealing and as such, it would be advisable if it creates mechanism of liaison among the consumers, suppliers and the Department of Consumer Affairs so that a sort of understanding for respecting the rights of the consumers is developed.
An important amendment to the Act is that there is a proposal of setting up of an independent authority – the Central Consumer Protection Authority – which can conduct investigations, either suo moto or on a complaint, into violations of consumer rights. It will largely investigate cases involving group complaints (where more than one individual is the complainant). Obviously, the State Governments will also follow suit and thus State Consumer Protection Authority will come into being. The institution will go a long way in really protecting the rights of the consumers and hearing the complaints brought to its notice.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here