New Consumer Protection Act 2019 to be superb for many consumers now
Posted on: 03/Sep/2019 10:06:32 AM
It has been over three decades since the old Consumer Protection Act 1986 came into being and many consumers were unhappy as the act did not safeguard their rights.
The sensational piece of information is consumers could feel happy now as the new Consumer Protection Act 2019 has replaced the old one. It is now revealed that this new act would further safeguard the consumer rights.
It must be noted that the introduction of central regulator, strict penalties for misleading advertisements and guidelines for e-commerce and electronic service providers are some of the major highlights of the new act.
Consumer Court:
In the previous act, the consumers were required to file complaints in the area where seller or service provider was located but in the new act complaints could be filed in a consumer court where the complainant resides or works. This new act is a boon for the consumers because of rise in the e-commerce purchases (seller could be located anywhere). Another advantage of the new act is time as well as money could be saved through videoconferencing techniques etc.
Pecuniary jurisdiction:
By this new Consumer Protection Act 2019, there would be increase in the pecuniary jurisdiction or ability of the courts to take up cases based on the value of the cases. It was later mentioned by Mr. Madhavan, co-founder and president PRS Legislative Research that since the access to districts courts is better when compared to the state and national commissions the increase in the limit to Rs 1 crore of district court over the previous Rs 20 lakh of district court would be convenient point.
Product liability:
In the old Consumer protection Act 1986, a consumer could approach a civil court but not a consumer court and the process of compensation for the manufacturing defect could take long time. In this new act, the consumer would be able to seek compensation for the harm caused by a product or service through consumer court.
E-commerce:
In the old act, there was no provision for e -commerce whereas in the new Consumer protection Act 2019 e-commerce would be governed by all the laws that apply to direct selling. It must be noted that for the purpose of more transparency various platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc would have to disclose sellers information like addresses, websites, emails etc related to refund, exchange, warranty etc. By this, if any fake product is sold through e-commerce platforms then the company could be penalized.
Mediation cells:
In this new act, it is possible that court could refer settlement through mediation whereas in the old act there was no provision for this.
Regulator:
It is revealed that the new act proposes establishment of central regulator CCPA or Central Consumer Protection Authority so that the issues related to the consumer rights could be addressed. Other issues such as unfair trade practises, misleading advertisements could also be addressed and penalties could be imposed for selling faulty/fake products. In the older act there was no separate regulator is known. Important point is the existing consumer rigights would be strengthened by this CCPA.
