Consumer Act 1986(Ppt)

Amity Business School

CONSUMER ACT 1986

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Who is a Consumer ?o buys any goods for a

consideration,o hires or avails of any

services for a consideration,

o “uses such goods” with the approval of person who has bought such goods for consideration.

– Consumer of goods

• buys or agrees to buy goods

• any user of such goods

– Consumer of services

• hires or avails any

services

• any beneficiary of such

service 2


CONSUMERS NEED PROTECTION AGAINST

• Unfair trade practice

• Restrictive trade practice

• Defects

• Deficiencies3


Consumer Protection Act 1986• The Act was passed in Lok Sabha on 9th

December 1986 and in Rajya Sabha on 10th December 1986.

• The Act is legislated to provide for better protection of the interests of consumers and for that purpose to make provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumer’s disputes and for matters connected therewith.

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Rights under Consumer Protection Act 19861) The Right to be protected against marketing of goods and

services which are hazardous to life and property.

2) The right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods, or services so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.

3) The right to be assured, wherever possible, access to variety of goods and services at competitive prices.

4) The right to be heard and be assured that consumers’ interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums.

5) The right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers.

6) The right to consumer education.

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Use of Act

1)Who?

3)How?

2)Where?

4)What?

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Case in consideration

Standard Chartered Bank

v/s

Mr. Vibhu Bakhru

(A New Delhi resident)

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Background of the case• Banks employing ‘Terror Agents’ popularly called as ‘Recovery

Agents’.• Debt Recovery Agents resort to high-handed tactics.• Banks justified the use of external agents for recovery of loans

saying it was not easy for them to deal with defaulting borrowers who somewhere down the line stopped repaying their loans.

• Analysts felt harassment of any kind, either verbal or physical, ,including acts intended to humiliate publicly or intrude the privacy of the credit card holders' family members, referees and friends, making threatening and anonymous calls or making false and misleading representations was uncalled for.

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Background of the case• Need for the regulators to intervene. RBI guidelines in this regard:

Temporary ban

To run proper training program for all their recovery agents

Use the ‘Lok Adalats’ for recovery of personal, credit card and housing loans if the loan amount is less than Rs. 10 lakh.

Bank can take into possession defaulter’s property but only through legal means

Due-diligence mechanism for hiring recovery agents

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Facts of the case• Mr.Bhakru, who had availed the services of a credit card of

the SCB, was asked to pay Rs 28,000 which was not due to be paid by him.

• Then Mr.Bakhru refused to pay the amount raised by the Bank, some muscle men started abusing and harassing him which forced him to approach the Commission for redressal.

• He, in the complaint, said that the Bank not only harassed him but also put his name in the defaulters' list which damaged his reputation and creditworthiness in the society.

• The Bank, which later gave him a "no due certificate" without receiving any payment, submitted that the case be dismissed as nothing remained.

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Verdict • "The fact of having issued 'no due certificate' after filing of the

complaint and having harassed the consumer for 15 long months does not take away the right of the consumer to seek compensation and impose punitive damages on such service providers," the commission said.

• The Commission, dismissing the Bank's plea, asked it to pay to Mr.Bakhru damages of Rs 20,000, besides the penalty of Rs 10 lakh, which will be deposited in the Consumer Welfare Fund.

• It also issued general directions to the all the banks and FIs, operating from Delhi, asking them not to employ "muscle men" as their recovery agents.

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Learning The student is expected to understand his/her rights as a consumer in the market place and enabled to take action as an aware citizen to defend his/her rights during his life as member of his family and the Community in the markets for goods and services for domestic consumption.

Be careful, about false and /or misleading advertisement.Obtain proper receipt/cash memo for purchases made and guarantee/warranty card duly stamped and signed by the seller, wherever applicable. Use consumer protection Act for redressal of consumer grievances against sale of defective goods or deficient services or adoption of unfair restrictive trade practices.

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Don’t get Sandwiched, use Consumer Rights

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Consumer Act 1986(Ppt)

Documents

Transcript of Consumer Act 1986(Ppt)