Consumer Protection Act Cases

1. Consumer Protection Act Cases

2. The Consumer Protection Act Cases, 1986 (COPRA) was an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to protect the interests of consumers in India. It was replaced by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. It was made for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumer's grievances and matters connected with it. The act was passed in Assembly in October 1986 and came into force on December 24, 1986. The statute on the right was made before this COPRA act

3. Objectives of the central council • The right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property. • The right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard, and price of goods or services, as the case may be to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices; • The right to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices ; • The right to be heard and to be assured that consumer's interest will receive due consideration at appropriate forums; • The right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers • The right to consumer education.

4. Consumer Court is a special purpose court in India that deals with cases regarding consumer disputes, conflicts, and grievances. There are judiciary hearings set up by the government to protect consumer rights. Its main function is to maintain fair practices & contracts by sellers. Consumers can file a case against a seller if they are cheated or exploited by sellers. The court will only give a verdict in favour of the consumers/customers if they have proof of exploitation, i.e., bills or purchase memos. If a consumer does not have the proper documents required for filing a case then it would be very difficult for the consumer to win or even file a case.

5. Rights provided by consumer courts • Right to Safety: The right to be protected from all types of hazardous goods and services • Right to Information: The right to be fully informed about the performance and quality of all goods and services • Right to Choose: The right to free choice of goods and services • Right to be Heard: The right to be heard in all decision-making processes related to consumer interest • Right to Redressal: The right to seek compensation, whenever consumer rights have been infringed • Right to Consumer Education: The right to complete consumer education

6. Responsibilities of the consumer • Ensure that the company has provided you the contact details of the consumer grievance handling system and are easily accessible. • Avoid purchase of products/services from a company which do not provide details of the consumer grievance officers to handle consumer grievances. • Ignoring the loss suffered on purchase of defective goods and services and not filing complaint encourages the corrupt business man to supply low standards or defective goods and services. Therefor file a complaint even for a small loss. File only a genuine complaint. • The consumer must file a complaint if not satisfied with the quality of product/services.

7. Claim the penalties/compensation as provided under rules and regulations to ensure that the quality delivery system improves. • Study carefully all terms and conditions related to return/replacement of defective goods, refund, and warranty policies. • While purchasing the goods or services, Consumers must look for standard quality marks such as ISI, Hallmark, Agmark, ISO, FSSAI, etc. • Do not buy any spurious/ fake/duplicate/ hazardous products. • Do not get carried away by advertisements only or believe on the words of the seller. • Consumers must insist on getting complete information on the quality, quantity, utility, price, etc. of the product or services. • Access the information available on various alternatives available for the product and services under purchase consideration. To know more about Consumer Protection Act Cases