Open Forum

New Delhi, 11 March 2013

 ‘Consumer Justice Now’

CITIZEN’S AWARENESS CRITICAL

By Col (Dr) PK Vasudeva (Retd)

With the World Consumer Rights Day to be celebrated tomorrow (March 15), it would be worthwhile to recall Mahatma Gandhi’s quote: “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work - he is the purpose of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to serve him.” 

While few would remember the quote, the Father of the nation couldn’t have been more apt, even in those days. Since then India has indeed come a long way but it is not truly an ideal situation. The Government would do well to educate the consumers of his rights as well as ensure that the system in place delivers. More importantly, with India being one of the biggest markets in the world, its responsibilities towards the consumers become all the more crucial.  

It should like the Consumers International (CI) reach out to one and all on its call for observing the day as “Consumer Justice Now”. The CI’s website is urging its members and supporters to use the occasion to expose the very real damage caused by poor or non-existent consumer protection around the world. Whether it is faulty products causing injury, utility service providers ignoring complaints, or irresponsible lending by banks, better consumer protection is always part of the solution.

Rich countries, transitional economies and the developing world can all benefit from improvements in consumer protection - WCRD 2013 will be about bringing attention to areas that are desperately in need of improvement.

This theme has also been chosen to coincide with the update of the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection (UNGCP). The CI will be working with its members to feed in proposals on how the Guidelines can better address the concerns of today's consumers.

On announcing World Consumer Rights Day this year, CI Director General Helen McCallum stated: "Good consumer protection is not just about legislation, it can deliver justice, create a fairer society and even save lives. The decision to update the UN Guidelines gives us the first opportunity in over a decade to raise the standards of consumer protection around the world. I'm sure all CI members and supporters will want to join together to make this one of the biggest World Consumer Rights Day we have ever had."

Its site states that securing the UNGCP was a major victory for the global consumer rights movement. However, the advance of technology and changing business practices have created many new challenges that did not apply when the UNCGP was first drafted. The Internet, for example, was still many years away. The challenge is to bring the UNCGP up to date and make it relevant for today's consumers. The UNGCP revision process will be completed in July 2014.

The WCRD was established way back in 1983 to promote the basic rights of consumers everywhere. Every year on 15 March, the global consumer movement unites around a common theme to deliver an exciting array of campaigning activities.

The CI, which is based in London, is the world federation of consumer groups that serves as the only independent and authoritative global voice for consumers. Founded on 1 April 1960, currently with over 220 member organisations in 115 countries across the world, the organisation continues to build a powerful international movement to empower and protect consumers everywhere. The CI seeks to hold corporations to account and acts as a global watchdog against any behaviour that threatens, ignores or abuses the principles of consumer protection.

The CI, former International Organisation of Consumer Unions (IOCU), the umbrella body, for 240 organisations in over 100 countries, expanded the charter of consumers rights contained in the US Bill to eight, which in a logical order reads: Basic Needs; Safety; Information; Choice; Representation;  Redress; Consumer Education and Healthy Environment. 

This charter had a universal significance as they symbolised the aspirations of the poor and the disadvantaged. On this basis, the UN, in April 1985, adopted its Guidelines for Consumer Protection. 

At home in India the Government, adopted 15 March as the National Consumer’s Day.  Importantly, India is a country, which never fell behind in introducing progressive legislation and we were in fact among the first in the world to introduce universal adult franchise for women. 

Mahatma Gandhi had rightly said: “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work - he is the purpose of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to serve him.” 

That in pursuance of achieving one such goal, Consumer Protection Act came into force in the year 1986. As per the Act’s Preamble it was brought to provide for the better protection of the interests of consumers and for settlement of consumers’ disputes. Although there were remedies in other laws such as Contract Act, Sales of Goods Act, Torts, IPC and procedure prescribed in C.P.C. and Cr.P.C., the purpose of enactment of Consumer Protection Act, was to provide specialized redressal to the consumer grievances.

That the Act provides for the Central Consumer Protection Council, State Consumer Protection Council and three tiers of the Consumer Redressal Authorities i.e. District Consumer Forum, State and National Consumer Commissions. The Councils were assigned with the job to promote and protect interest of the consumers at the Central and State levels and the redressal authorities were established to provide speedy and simple remedy to consumer disputes through quasi-judicial machinery.

Importantly, the proceedings at the three levels are deemed to be judicial proceedings. Further the District Consumer Forum is deemed to be a Civil Court headed by a person qualified to be a District Judge. The territorial jurisdiction of the District Forum is the entire district and the current enhanced monetary jurisdiction is the dispute up to Rs 20 lakhs.

That the State Consumer Commission has two jurisdictions i.e. original which is the territory of the entire state beyond Rs 20 lakhs up to Rs one crore and the Appellate Jurisdiction i.e. to hear the appeals against the judgments and orders of the District forums.

That the National Consumer Commission has two jurisdictions i.e. original, which is the territory of the whole of India beyond Rs one crore up to infinity and the Appellate Jurisdiction i.e. to hear the appeals against the judgments and orders of the State Consumer Commission.

That by the establishment of the specialized mechanism by the Act it was ensured that the ‘consumer’ can file a ‘complaint’ in case of any unfair trade practice, defect in goods, deficiency in services or excess-pricing. Thus making it necessary to first understand the connotations of these words and/or phrases in the context of the Act.

Firstly, the consumer is defined by the Act as a person who buys or uses any goods or hires any services for money paid or promised. Secondly, the complaint means any allegation in writing made by the consumer against any unfair trade practice, defect in goods, and deficiency in services or excess pricing.

Another important aspect to be noted is that the Act came into force with the objective to protect and promote the interest of the consumers in addition to the existing provisions for the same objective in other laws and statutes not in abrogation of the same. 

That since its inception there has been a number of changes and development in the law as well as the redressal system. The legal concepts have been enlarged and elaborated by wonderful judicial precedents. Amendments have been brought to make it more effective. Though a lot is yet to be achieved, at least the steps in right direction had been taken has come a long way and is growing fast.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)