This is to certify that (Name) student of S.Y BMS (Roll No) 16 from has done his 4th semester project in CO-OPERATIVES & RURAL MARKETS.

The project work entitled “CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 1986”. Embodies the original work done by during the 4th semester project period.

Teacher incharge Head of Department

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It’s great opportunity to acknowledge the Prof. Mishra sir. He is the one who provided me continues source of information under his great guidelines and support. I had tried to make the project possible and desirable as he needed.

I am thankful to all of them for guiding me in correct way to make my project comparitable.

INDEX

SR.NO CONTENTS1 INTODUCTION

2 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

3 MEANING & DEFINITION

4 OBJECTIVES

5 FEATURES

6 CONSUMER RIGHTS

7 STRUCTURE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

8 CONTENTS OF CONSUMER COMPLAINT

9 CONCLUSION

10 BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Consumer rights are an integral part of our

lives like the consumerist way of life. We have all made use of

them at some point in our daily lives. Market resources and

influences are growing by the day and so is the awareness of

ones consumer rights. These rights are well defined and there are

agencies like the Government, consumer courts and voluntary

organizations that work towards safeguarding. While we like to

know about our rights and make full use of them, consumer

responsibility is an area which is still not demarcated and it is

hard to spell out that all the responsibility is that a consumer is

supposed to shoulder.

Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is an important

Act in the history of the consumer movement in the country. The

Act was made to provide for the better protection and promotion

of consumer rights through the establishment of consumer

councils and quasi-judicial machinery. It is mile stone in the

history of socio-economic legislation and directed towards public

welfare and public benefits.

The CPA was passed by the Lok Sabha on 5th

December 1986 and Rajya Sabha on 10th December, 1986 and

assented to by the president in the Gazette of India.

Extra Part II: Section 1 dated 26.12.1986.and

at PP 1-12 called, “the CPA 1986 (Act No.66 of 1986) and the

preamble states that, “An Act provide for better protection

of the interest of the consumers and for that purpose to

make provisions for the establishment of consumer

councils and other authorities for the settlement of

consumer’s dispute and for matters connected therewith.”

Under the Act, consumer disputes redressal

agencies have been set up through out the country with the

District Forum at the District level, State Commission at the State

level and National Commission at national level to provide simple,

inexpensive and speedy justice to the consumer with complaints

against defective goods, deficient services and unfair and

restrictive trade practices1.

The Law relating to consumer protection in

India is at recent origin and is developing slowly, day by day, with

the pronouncement of orders passed by the commissions

constituted under the Act all over India and the National

Commission2. However the presence of some protective Laws for

the benefits of consumer in the ancient culture cannot be denied.

1

2

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

In the early years when welfare legislatures

like the consumer protection Act did not exist, the maxim Caveat

emptor (let the buyer beware) governed the market deals. We

find the seeds of consumer protection during the Mughal times

and especially during the time of Khiljis. It is said that Sultan Ala-

ud-Din Khilji (1296 A.D. to 1316 A.D.) had introduced strict price

control measures based on production costs. He had also

established separate shopping centers in Delhi for (1) grain, (2)

cloth, sugar, dried fruits, herbs, butter, and oil, (3) horses, slaves,

and cattle, and (4) miscellaneous commodities. The supply of

grain was ensured by collecting tax in kind in the production

areas and keeping it in the royal storehouses. Hoardings of grain

were forbidden. Elsewhere the growers were ordered to sell their

grains for cash in their fields at fixed prices and were not allowed

to take any grain home for private sale. The market controller, the

state intelligence officer, and the Sultan’s secret agents, each

submitted independent reports on these shopping centers to the

Sultan. Even a minor violation of the rules was not tolerated.

The shopping center for cloth, known as the

sara-i-adl, was established near one of the royal palaces on the

inner side of the Bada-un-Gate. All goods, including foreign

imports, were first taken there and their price fixed. Every

merchant was registered with the commerce ministry and had to

sign a bond guaranteeing a regular supply to the goods in which

they traded. The Hindu Multani merchants were advanced money

by the treasury to import rare commodities for the sara-i-adl,

some price were subsidized. Costly fabrics and luxury goods could

be sold only to those who have obtained permits from the

Government. The prices of cattle were also fixed and

unscrupulous merchants were deprived of their trading rights.

The shopping center for general commodities

was under the direct control of the commerce ministry. Ala-ud-

Din’s Minister of commerce was also the Superintendent of

weights and Measure and the Controller of the Commercial

transactions. He was assisted by Superintendent for each

commodity. Prices and weight and measure were chequed by

sending the children employed in the royal pigeon-house to buy

petty articles.The prices fixed for the Delhi market were also

applied in the provincial capitals and towns.

During the British regime (1765-1947), also

known as the ‘Colonial Era’, Government’s economic polices in

India were concerned more with protecting and promoting the

British interests than with advancing the welfare of the native

population. The administration’s primary per-occupation was with

maintaining law and order, tax collection and defence.

Accordingly much of the legalisation enacted during the British

regime was primarily aimed at serving the colonial rulers intend

of the natives. There were, however, some pieces of legislation

which protected the overall public interest through not

necessarily the consumer interest.Prominent among these were:

the Indian Penal code, 1860, the sale of Goods act, 1930, the

dangerous drugs act, 1930 and the drugs and cosmetics act,

1940. In a sense, the sale of good act, and the principles of the

law of torts were more for the protection of the trader than the

consumer.

MEANING

As the preamble of CPA 1986 reflect; this socio-

economic Law was enacted to provide for the better protection of

the interest of consumers and for that purpose the CPA 1986

seeks to provide speedy and simple redressal to consumer

dispute. In Charan Singh v. Healing Touch Hospital the Hon’ble

Supreme Court has made important observations on the object of

the act.

DEFINITION

S.2(1)d of the act defined consumer as “Consumer” means any

person who-

(i) Buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or

promised or partly paid and party promised or under any system

of deferred payment and includes any user of such goods other

than the person who buys such goods for consideration paid or

promised or partly paid or partly promised, or under any system

of deferred payment when person, but does not include with the

approval of self person, but does not include a person who

obtains such goods for resale or for any commercial purpose or

(ii) {Hires for avails of} any services for a consideration which

has been paid promised or partly paid or partly promised or under

any system of differed payment and includes any beneficiary of

such services other than the person. [hires or avails of ] the

services for consideration paid or promised or partly paid or partly

promised, under any system of differed payment, when such

services are availed or with the approval the first mentioned

person.

OBJECTIVES

(a) To assist countries in achieving or maintaining adequate protection for their population as consumers;

(b) To facilitate production and distribution patterns responsive to the needs and desires of consumers;

(c) To encourage high levels of ethical conduct for those engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services to consumers;

(d) To assist countries in curbing abusive business practices by all enterprises at the national and international levels which adversely affect consumers;

(e) To facilitate the development of independent consumer groups;

(f) To further international cooperation in the field of consumer protection;

(g) To encourage the development of market conditions which provide consumers with greater choice at lower prices.

FEATURES

Following are the features of the Act are:1) The Act aims to provide better and all-round protection to consumers.2) In terms of geographical application, it applies to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.3) It applies to all goods and services unless otherwise expressly notified by the Central Government.4) It is indeed a very unique and highly progressive piece of social welfare legislation and is acclaimed as the magna carta of Indian consumers. The Act has made the consumer movement really going and more powerful, broad-based and effective and people oriented. In fact, the Act and its Amendment in 1993 have brought fresh hopes to the beleaguered Indian consumer. This is the only law which directly pertains to market place and seeks to redress complaints arising from it. Even prior to 1986, there were in force a number of laws which could be interpreted in favour of the consumers. But, this Act is most powerful piece of legislation the consumer has had before 1986. Its provisions are very comprehensive and highly efficacious.

In fact, it provides more effective protection to consumers than any correspondinglegislation in force even in countries which are considered to be much more advanced.

5) It provides effective safeguards to the consumers against different types of exploitation such as defective goods, unsatisfactory (or deficient) services and unfair trade practices.

CONSUMER RIGHTS

Consumers in the advanced countries, obviously,

are much more conscious of their rights than in countries like

India.

1. Right against exploitation by unfair trade practices.

2. Right to protection of health and safety from the goods and

services the consumers buy or are offered free.

3. Right to be informed of the quality and performance standards,

ingredients of the product, operational requirements, freshness

or the product, possible adverse side effects and other relevant

facts concerning the product or service.

4. Right to be heard if there is any grievance or suggestions.

5. Right to get genuine grievances redressed.

6. Right to choose the best from a variety of offers.

7. Right to physical environment that will protect and enhance the

quality of life.

STRUCTURE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

The Act envisages a three- tier quasi-judicial machinery at the National, State and District levels.

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission - known as "National Commission" deals with complaints involving costs and compensation higher than Rs. One Crore.

State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions - known as "State Commission, deals with complaints involving costs and compensation higher than Rs. Twenty Lakhs and less than Rs. One Crore.

District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums - known as "District Forum, deals with complaints involving costs and compensation less than Rs. Twenty Lakhs.

CONTENTS OF CONSUMER COMPLAINT   Procedures for filing complaints and seeking redressal are simple. There is no fee for filing a complaint before the District Forum, the State Commission or the National Commission. ( A stamp paper is also not required). Three to five copies of the complaint on plain paper are required to be submitted by the complainant or his authorized agent in person  or could be sent by post to the appropriate Forum / Commission.   A complaint should contain the following information:-

(a) The name, description and the address of the complainant. (b) The name , description and address of the opposite party or parties, as the case may be, as far as they can be ascertained; (c) The facts relating to complaint and when and where it arose; (d) Documents, if any, in support of the allegations contained in the complaint. (e) The relief which the complainant is seeking.   The complaint should be signed by the complainant or his authorized agent. The complaint is to be filed within two years from the date on which cause of action has arisen.

CONCLUSION:-

I can conclude that very few consumers Are fully aware about the rights, responsibilities and Consumer Protection Act. Hence, it isnecessary to educate them on their rights and responsibilities as consumers, to make them vigilant, rational and aware buyers. The government has been fruitful in providing protection to the consumers in the real sense of the term and served the purpose of the Act. It is hoped that further improvement in the act would aim at even more efficiency and render the position of the consumers much stronger in this era of globalization and privatization where the sudden unchecked advent of Multi National Companies has to be balanced with the protection of the rights of the consumers by the legislature and the judiciary.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.google.com www.wikipedia.com Co-operative & rural markets S.Y

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