The
government is planning the most radical overhaul of key consumer laws in
decades to keep pace with a changing marketplace – from botched online shopping
experiences and shoddy haircuts at salons to exploding mobile phones.
The Ram
Vilas Paswan-headed consumer affairs ministry has decided to amend the Consumer
Protection Act 1986 to create a proposed National Consumer Protection
Authority, aiming to update the country’s consumer protection laws in light of
India’s new economy.
Indian
consumers are increasingly buying newer goods and services not covered under current
laws. For instance, there is no law yet for refunds in online shopping. What if
you paid for a song download but ended up with an empty file? An early morning
electric shock from a beard trimmer due to poor circuitry sounds funny, but
there are no rules yet on product liability.
Several
of the first-time provisions being envisaged will affect all businesses and may
even force some firms to overhaul their systems and processes.
For the
first time, the Bureau of Indian Standards – the country’s watchdog for product
quality – will set up benchmarks for paid services, such as bus journeys, hotel
packages and beauty clinics.
At
present, the BIS Act 1980 covers just 90 products, most of which are industrial
-- such as steel – that are rarely bought by individual customers.
Its
basket is being expanded to include 2,000 items of common consumption. These
include simple but life-saving equipment like a two-wheeler helmet, for which
currently there are no prescribed quality standards.
“Class-action
suits”, a legal tool, will now be extended to consumer laws, so that one
individual complaint of a faulty product or service could be treated as an
interest group of people in similar circumstances.
“There
will be clear rules for recall of product, refund of product and return of
product,” an official said.
The
three-tier consumer-court system will continue but their process will be
updated.
Currently,
the district forum deals with consumer disputes where the value of the goods or
the compensation claimed is less than Rs. 5 lakh and the state commission
hears cases for claims exceeding Rs.5 lakh but not exceeding Rs. 20 lakh. The national
commission hears claims exceeding Rs. 20 lakh and also decides cases
challenging lower court verdicts.
The
official said a review showed there is no “authority of a federal nature” that
deals with unfair trade practices. “All of this must be seen in light of the
bigger countrywide picture as well as the Constitution, which in article 301
and 307 talks of a common national market,” the official said. Source:
Posts
