K Raveendran
A historic development that has empowered the Indian consumer like never before has gone largely unnoticed amidst the country’s preoccupation with the Covid pandemic and its dire consequences for the economy and the lives of the people.
Rules framed under the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019 have given a special tool in the hands of the consumers, which gives them tooth to act against defective products and services and claim compensation.
The tool, in the form of class action suit, enables one individual complaint of a faulty product or service to be treated as an ‘interest group’ of other people in similar circumstances and jointly claim compensation.
Class action suit is widely used in western countries to make producers and service providers accountable for the lapses. The threat of class action keeps companies in constant vigil about their products and services as a successful challenge can even determine the future of the company as it can pull down the value of its share abruptly. There have even been cases of abuse of the facility by interested parties.
A class action lawsuit can be invoked to recall an entire batch of faulty products based on a single complaint. If one lot of a consumer item, from a pin to an automobile, has a common defect, a single complaint can trigger the recall of the entire batch of product through the class action.
As the concept is new to India, it might take considerable time for it to sink in. Producers and service providers have to get used to a new legal recourse that their customers have access to challenge products of questionable quality.
In a strange coincidence, a class action suit involving Google Plus users is currently progressing, as if providing a live demo of the concept.
Google operated the Google+ social media platform for consumers from June 2011 to April 2019. In 2018, Google announced that the Google+ platform had experienced software bugs between 2015 and 2018, which allowed app developers to access certain Google+ profile field information in an unintended manner.
Plaintiffs Matthew Matic, Zak Harris, Charles Olson, and Eileen M. Pinkowski thereafter filed a lawsuit asserting various legal claims on behalf of a putative class of Google+ users who were allegedly harmed by the software bugs. Google denied the plaintiffs’ allegations, denied any wrongdoing and any liability whatsoever, and contended that no ‘class members’, including the plaintiffs, have sustained any damages or injuries due to the software bugs.
However, last month the US District Court for the Northern District of California, granted preliminary approval of this class action Settlement and directed the litigants to provide this notice to all Google Plus users about the settlement. Consequently, all Google Plus users, including those in India, have received a notice from Google, based on its records, indicating their eligibility to receive a payment from the settlement.
Under the Settlement, Google will pay $7.5 million, which will be used to fund class member settlement payments; attorneys’ fees not exceeding 25% of the settlement fund and costs; general administration fees and costs etc.
Class members who submit a valid claim may receive a pro rata share of the net settlement fund up to a cash payment of $12 depending on the number of claimants. Each class member can submit only one claim. Any funds remaining in the fund after distribution to class members will be distributed to recipients that have been selected by a neutral third party and approved by the court.
The payments for the class members who submit a valid claim will be made by electronic payment, such as PayPal or digital check.
Users have been given four options, including submission of a valid claim by October 8, 2020 to receive a payment, in return of which the Google Plus users will give up their rights to sue Google or any other released entities regarding the legal claims in this case. The link to submit the form was been provided.
The other options include the freedom to opt out of the class action settlement, allowing users to pursue the case independently against Google. A third option allows users to file objections to the settlement and a fourth for not doing anything, which would amount to foregoing the claim. (IPA)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
