“CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT”

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Ektaa Jha

Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted for better protection of the interests of consumers. The provisions of the Act came into force with effect from 15-04-1987.The Act intends to provide simple, speedy & inexpensive redresses to the consumer’s grievances.

In India various Acts intended to protect the consumers against different forms of exploitation were enacted, such as, the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Indian Contract Act, 1872; Indian Standard Institution(Certification marks) Act, 1952,etc.

The Consumer Protection Act is an alternative and cheapest remedy already available to the aggrieved persons by way of civil suit. In the complaint or appeal the consumer does not have to pay any court fees under this Act.

 

CONSUMER: A person who buys any goods for a consideration and user of such goods where the use is with the approval of the buyers. Service of any description is covered under Consumer Protection Act & includes banking, financing, insurance, processing, housing, construction, board and lodging, among others.

 

How to file a consumer complaint?

A complaint can be filed by

-the consumer to whom the goods are being sold or services are provided

-any recognised consumer association

-one or more consumers with same interest

-the central government or state government

Further process of filing complaint-

Stage 0: Decide to file

This problem occurs when a consumer has been ignored, insulted or cheated from the company by whom you bought a product is helplessness, anger or revenge.

Consumer daddy i.e. the consumer court understands these emotions. But unfortunately the consumer court of our country is one of the most putrid, decadent, impersonal and sluggish system in the world.

Whatever your decision is regarding filing the complaint at consumer court, consumer court encourages the consumer to take few steps to ensure that the company will pay back its mistake, i.e.

Filing the complaint at consumer court website, filing the complaint at other popular consumer blogs in India, filing the case at local police as applicable, opting to move to the lok adalats, filing a complaint with state Human Rights Commission, etc.

 

Stage 1: Collect necessary documentation

Before a consumer complaint can be filed against a company, you need to ensure that you have all the supporting documentation that you need. Documents such as-

#invoice or bill for the purchase

#warranty card for product and SLA for services

#proof of the payment such as copy of the cheque or credit card statement

Or, any other documents which can show the negligence, insensitivity or lack of attention from the company.

In case you cannot get a copy of the bill, do not worry or feel helpless. Most of the billed purchases are entered into the ledger and accounting books of the company.

 

Stage 2: Send the notice to the company

In this step, you will be required to ‘officially’ notify the company of your grievance. Be detailed about what it is that you are complaining about and what you expect the company to do.

Points to be taken in the notice-

#providing clarity to the company on the nature of your grievance

#providing clarity to the company on how you expect the company to solve your complaint

#particular time should be given within which the grievance should be rectified

#provide a polite and stern notification that you intent to pursue the matter legally

Accordingly, the company will respond to your notice with the willingness to resolve your problem.

 

Stage 3: Get legal representation

The consumer court does not have a take on this. There is both advantage and disadvantage of having an advocate or a lawyer to represent you.

Advantage of having or hiring lawyer is that you do not need to read the remaining of this boring article. The advocate will know what to do from here on.

The biggest disadvantage of hiring a lawyer is that good ones don’t come free.

If you decide to get a legal representation, then the remaining steps will be followed through by your lawyer.

Stage 4: Prepare you complaint

Few important things which should be kept in mind while preparing the complaint.

How much time do I have?

The consumer protection act 1986, clause 24(1) a consumer court shall not admit a complaint unless it is filed within 2yrs on which the cause of action arisen.

Which court should I file the complaint in?

Depending upon the compensation you are filing for choose an appropriate courts. If the total amount in your complaint is below Rs.20lakhs, you must file the complaint with the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum. If it is between Rs.20lakhs and Rs.1crore than you must file the complaint with the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and if it is more than Rs.1crore, than you must file the complaint with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

 

Stage 5: File your complaint

Along with the complaint and the affidavit, attach a list of documents you are submitting as part of the complaint file. Ensure that you attach photocopies of the evidentiary documents and not the original. You also need to sign and attach a VAKALATNAMA, which is similar to a power of attorney authorizing your lawyer to represent you in court on this case, should you decide to hire a lawyer.

 

Stage 6: Attend the Admission Hearing

Till this point you have got a rosy picture of the concept of consumer protection in India. Most of the consumer courts such as District Consumer Redressal Forum in the country operate from shacks that are in high probability a little, if not any, better than a cattle shed. Also, it is a public secret that merely depositing the court fee will not get you a complaint reference number nor the admission hearing dates. You will also need to pay the unofficial “fee” or the bribe to the court desk.

We highly recommend that you do not miss the admission hearing or the subsequent hearings as if you are absent, your case will be decided in your absence based on its merits. It is recommended to spend a whole day in the court as it is difficult to predict when your case will be called for hearing. When called to the court, ensure that you are earnest in your appearance and polite, respectful, and stern in your tone of voice.

Typically, the judge will review your case file. Judges may ask you to give an explanation of the problem and what solution you seek. Be sure to explain the case in short and precise manner and also remember do not contradict on what have you written in your complaint. Judges using these ways may ask you short questions to clarify the merits of your case. Be short and precise in your answer. The judge may ask you for additional evidence or the original documents if there are any disputes regarding the authenticity of the documents. If this is the case, ensure that the documents are handed only to the court officials and not to any complain official.

 

Stage 7: Attend Subsequent hearing till the Verdict

This depends on the complexity of your case, and the number of times the judge wants to postpone or conduct hearings. It could be anywhere from one to seven hearings before which your case is disposed. Be sure to attend each hearing. The consumer court will finally reach a verdict on your case and will send you and the company the court orders. If the verdict is in your favor, you may be eligible for a refund, and the company may also have to pay for punitive damages that include compensating you for any mental agony, insult, inconvenience, or damage you may have suffered. In many cases, the court will also direct the company to pay for your legal and court expenses.

Stage 8: After the Verdict

Most lawyers will tell you that your actual legal battle with a company starts only after you obtain a verdict from a consumer court. Consumer court system in our country has no stalwart statutory powers to enforce their verdicts on any company. If the company does not follow the verdict of the consumer court, and neither does it file appeal within 30 days, to get a company to abide by the verdict of a consumer forum, you will have to file another proceeding to “execute the verdict” in the consumer court. Put simply, after you get a verdict from a consumer court, you will have to approach it again to issue a judgment to the company to follow the verdict of the consumer court or to face other civil and criminal penalties including attachment of properties or arrest. Sadly, this could mean another 2-5 years of your life fighting a legal battle against this company to remedy your problem.

Conclusion

Consumers play a vital role in the economic system of a nation because in the absence of effective demand that emanates from them, the economy virtually collapses. Mahatma Gandhi said, “A consumer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us, we are on him. He is not an interruption to our work; he is the purpose of it. We are not doing a favour to a consumer by giving him an opportunity. He is doing us a favour by giving us opportunity to serve him. But, of late, unfortunately cheating by way of overcharging, black marketing, misleading advertisements, etc has become the common practice of greedy sellers and manufacturers to make unreasonable profits. In this context, it is the duty of the government to confer some rights on consumers to safeguard their interests. Consumers are a vulnerable lot for exploitations, more so in a developing country with the prevalence of mass poverty and illiteracy. India too is no exception to it. Procedural simplicity and speedy and inexpensive redressal of consumer grievances as contained in the CPA are really unique and have few parallels in the world. Implementation of the Act reveals that interests of consumers are better protected than ever before. However, consumer awareness through consumer education and actions by the government, consumer activists, and associations are needed the most to make consumer protection movement a success in the country.

 

 

SOURCE: https://www.consumerdaddy.com/a-15-how-to-file-a-consumer-complaint.htm

https://www.sethassociates.com/consumer-protection-act-in-india.html

It is not exactly the copy and paste from these sited but have taken some help from these sites.

3 COMMENTS

  1. INSURANCE CLAIM OF THE VEHICLE

    I have the insurance of Mahindra Bolero with Shriram General insurance Company Ltd., bearing Policy No.-10003/31/12/435786; Code:-3599861, Registration No. of the vehicle CG 12 Y 0559.
    I have met with an accident on 7/05/12 with the above vehicle. When my vehicle was under repair, & Repairing Centre even didn’t calculated/generated the Retail Invoice (Bill) of the vehicle, at that time Shriram General Insurance surveyor Nitin Vijay (SLA NO.- 57542) have submitted the claim amount to the Insurance Company. I was astonished to know that the surveyor have submitted the claim amount without the repairing of the Vehicle, & without Repairing Centre Retail invoice, & how the Shriram General Insurance Company (SGI) have sanctioned/settled the claim amount of Rs.1,17,932 for the repair of the vehicle? I think that both Surveyor, & SGI Insurance company are misguiding the whole claim procedure. Repairing centre have given the estimated amount of Rs.2,31,366.
    I have filed a complaint against the Shriram General Insurance Company Ltd. on 24th Aug.2012 in District Consumer Forum Korba (C.G) for the settlement of the above claim amount.
    Registrar of the consumer forum delayed two months in sending the notice to the Insurance Company at head office Jaipur, at Korba, to Surveyor, & at Mahindra Auto Centre, Korba.
    Now till date my vehicle is ready, & repaired with the bill amount of Rs.2,56,196, the original retail invoice has been courier to the Shriram General Insurance JAIPUR dt. 22nd Sept.2012 addressing Mr. Ajit Sharma (Regional Manager-Claims), but till date no response have come from there side, & the Shriram General Insurance is denying, & delaying in giving the exact amount towards the repairing charges of the vehicle, and even till date Shriram General Insurance surveyor didn’t came for the final photo of the vehicle. Even MD of the Insurance Company send a mail saying that it would be settled in the month of October 2012, but till date no action have been taken from there side.
    After getting notice they hired the lawyer from Korba. On October 2012, judge of the Consumer forum told the lawyer of the Insurance Company for their decision of the case, & adjourned date till November 21, 2012 for the date of hearing, but on that date judge didn’t came, & everytime the lawyer is submitting the vakalatnama, he is telling nothing for the decision taken by Insurance Company, as asked by the judge, & extended the date till(December 17, 2012), but on this day judge didn’t came, & it is again adjourned to 29th December 2012, & again it is extended to 29th January 2013.
    It is almost three months passed, but till date no relief was granted by the judge of the District Consumer Forum.
    Due to this I am suffering lots of Problem which hampers my daily lots of time, job, & money. I am both mentally, & physically torture with the issue of the same
    I, therefore request you to take necessary action against them, & given me proper claim money.

  2. may I get model petition copy in word format for filing consumer petition before Forum.

    It is observed many times that Advocates fully occupy the Consumer Hall before Judge and consumer pettioners are treated like criminals standing hours together without proper sitting place. This may be looked into at appropriate forum.

    In fact Advocates should not be allowed in first petition like in ID Act, only the affected person represent his own case with proper documents or otherwise.

  3. Consumer Court decreed in my favour slapping a penality of Rs.2000/= on the defendent with instruction to pay it within 30 days. Nothinh happened. I wrote to defendent to act on Courts order, alternatively inform if an appeal has been filed , if so , a cpy of memorandum of appeal be sent to me. No reply only silence. After three months of judgment I filed an appeal before the court of 13th January enclosing all relevant documents. It has yet to be acted upon. Delay is unbearable. Please advise what I should do. Best regards

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