Sailesh Consumer Protection Act

8/9/2019 Sailesh Consumer Protection Act

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The consumer protection act providesfor a three-tier consumer

disputes redressal systemencompassing the District, State andNational levels.


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COMPOSITION OF

DISTRICT FORUM Office :- Head quarters of the respective district.

Members :-

Tenure :- 5 years or age of 65(whichever is

earlier) Jurisdiction over complaints where value of

goods or services and compensation


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PROCEDURE IN CASE OF GOODS(where defects cannot be easily determined)

complains copy of complaint30

lab fees If defect in goods

In case of

dispute

If no dispute

DISTRICT FORUMCONSUMER

OPPOSITE PARTY

Refer the sample to the

appropriate lab.

Send the report to opposite

party

Submit the

objections in

writing

Issue an appropriate order


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PROCEDURE IN CASE OF OTHER GOODS & SERVICES

Evidence by complainant

Evidence brought by

complainant and

opposite party.

CONSUMER DISTRICT FORUMcomplains

OPPOSITE PARTY

copy of complaint

30



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SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ORDER

Order to the opposite party (in case of goods)

Remove the defects pointed out by the lab.

Replace the goods with new ones free of

defect.

Return to the complainant the price/charges.

Pay compensation.


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SPECIFICATIONS OF THE ORDER

Order to the opposite party (in case of services)

Remove the deficiencies in services.

To provide adequate costs to parties.

To discontinue unfair trade practice.


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STATE COMMISSION

Office :- established by state govt. in its state.

Members :-

Tenure :- 5 years or age of 67(whichever is earlier)

Jurisdiction: over complaints where value of goods orservices and compensation >25 Lakhs but < 1 crore.

It also hears appeal against orders of district forum

President

(High court judge)

Qualified personQualified person

(women)


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PROCEDURE FOR DISPUTE HANDLING

Evidence by complainant

Evidence brought by

complainant and

opposite party.

CONSUMER STATE COMMISSIONcomplains

OPPOSITE PARTY

copy of complaint

30



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NATIONAL COMMISSION Office :- established by central govt. in Janpath

Bhawan, A Wing, 5th Floor, Janpath , New Delhi.

Members :-

Tenure :- 5 years or age of 70 (whichever is earlier)

Jurisdiction over complaints where value of goods orservices and compensation >1 crore.

It also hears appeal against orders of statecommission.

President

(Supreme court judge)

Qualified person

Qualified person

(women)

Qualified person

Qualified person


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FAQS


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FAQs :Whocan filea complain???

1. Consumer

2. Recognized consumer association

3. Group of consumers, where there arenumerous consumers having the same

interest

4. Central /State govt.


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FAQs :Wheredo I filemycomplaint?

If the cost of goods or service and compensation

asked for is:

up to Rs. 25 lakhs - District Forum

> Rs 25 L butRs.1crore - National Commission


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FAQs : Howmany Consumer Courts

aretherein India?

At present, there are

569 District Consumer Forums,33 State Commissions & the highest bodywhich is the National Consumer DisputesRedressal Commission (NCDRC) having its

office at Janpath Bhawan, A Wing, 5th Floor,Janpath , New Delhi.


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FAQs: Is There A Fee For Filing A

Complaint?


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FAQs : Is There Any Time Limit For

Filing A Complaint?

Yes, the time limit is within two years from

the date on which the cause of action arises.

This would mean two years from the day the

deficiency in service or defect in goods has

arisen/detected.


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FAQs: Can I Argue And Present My

Complaint In Court Myself?

Yes, You do not have to have a lawyer to

argue before consumer courts.However if the matter is a complicated one it

is always advisable to engage someone

including a lawyer with necessary

experience in such matters..


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THANK YOU


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CASE STUDY

(Thisstorybasedonatrueevent. Theproduct,nameoftheconsumer,

dealerandcompanyhavebeenalteredtoprotecttheidentitiesofthe

peopleinvolvedintheincident)

Neha is a 33 year old housewife with an 8 year old daughter Pooja. Her

husband Arun works in National Bank as a cashier. To ease her kitchen work, Neha

wants to buy a mixie (blender). However, she is not sure which is the best mixie

brand that is available in the market. After checking with the local newspaper anda few friends she visits Relionus Traders' showroom. Relionus Traders have been in

the business for 10 years and deal with all the major brands of mixies. On reaching

the store, Neha was greeted by a salesman to whom she asks for advice.

The salesman immediately replies that Blendo-Magic brand is the best in

terms of price & features, and that the showroom never has had any complaints

with this brand. Moreover, the mixie comes with a juicer jar and a dry blender, freewith the purchase. Neha inquires about the warranty of the mixie, only to be

informed that the mixie is made using the most superior technology and materials

in the market and it is also covered by a 6 month limited warranty. In her

excitement, Neha forgets to ask details of what the limitations of the warranty

are.


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The salesman also advises Neha that she can buy another 6 months of

extra warranty for an additional charge, although it is unnecessary considering

the exceptional quality of the product. Convinced about the brand, and hoping

not to have many consumer complaints, Neha also decides to buy the

additional warranty thereby obtaining a full year of warranty for the purchase.

Content with her purchase, Neha goes back home excited to put the mixie to

full use with the help of the complementary recipe book given to her by the

showroom. The mixie is dutifully put to use for the next four days to prepare

food for the family. The juicer jar has come in particularly handy to preparefresh fruit juice which little Pooja seems to enjoy.

On the fifth day after the purchase while preparing mint chutney, a

strange noise is heard and the mixie stops abruptly. Close inspection reveals a

strong smell of electrical burns emitting from it and thereafter there is no

response from the mixie after being plugged in. Neha fishes out the user

manual of the mixie, and tries to find out what the fault is. She gives up on this

futile effort after few minutes and decides to call the customer service of

Blendo-Magic company. The only suggestion the Blendo-Magic customer

service representative gave was to keep the mixie unplugged for 5 minutes

and then try again. However, this did not seem to help.


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Annoyed by the turn of events and her impulsive choice of theBlendo-Magic brand, Neha heads out to Relionus Traders showroomwhere she meets the salesman who sold her the mixie. The salesman tells

her that he does not deal with consumer complaints and she has to go tothe assistant manager who handles consumer complaints. After waitingfor half an hour, Neha finally gets to meet the assistant manager whoinforms her that Relionus Traders have no repair arrangements for Blendo-Magic companys products and she will need to take this consumercomplaint up directly with the Blendo-Magic company.

After returning home, Neha places a call with Blendo-Magiccompanys customer service again to find out what she has to do to claimthe warranty. On inquiry, the Blendo-Magic company representativeinforms her that they do not have any local repair centers in Nehas cityand that the mixie will need to be shipped to their Mumbai office to claimthe warranty along with a draft of Rs.250/- which covers labor charges.

Incidentally the warranty covered only materials and not labor, and thathas to be paid in advance by Neha along with the warranty claim. Neha isalso shocked to find out that she will need to ship the mixie to Mumbai ather own cost to claim the warranty.


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Cornered she reluctantly ships the mixie to Blendo-Magic companys office in

Mumbai. She calls the Mumbai office ever so often to find out the status. After a wait of

around four and a half weeks, when she calls she is informed that the mixies

transformer had burned out due to voltage fluctuations in her house and the limited

warranty is void if the product has been damaged due to electrical or voltage problems.The damaged mixie is promptly returned to her by Blendo-Magic company. Left with no

choice, Neha decides to file a consumer case in the district consumer forum, ie the

consumer court with the jurisdiction, against Blendo-Magic company. Her advocate

promises her of some kind of solution in 2-5 years since the consumer law in the

country is quite ineffective and filing a consumer complaint in the consumer court is a

very time intensive process in India.

One day, when browsing the internet for her daughters school project, Neha

accidentally came across the consumerdaddy.com site. On browsing through the

product reports, Neha discovered the consumer report for Blendo-Magic company,

which lists 1280 complaints from other consumers. She also discovers that there are

several other mixie brands that have zero or lesser complaints than Blendo-Magic. If

only Neha had discovered this consumer report before she decided on the Blendo-

Magic brand, she could have avoided the purchase of the Blendo-Magic brand.Currently she has lost the cost of the mixie, the Rs.250 she paid as labor charges, the

shipping cost for shipping the product to Mumbai, the consumer court complaint filing

charges, and the advocates fee!

Threeyearsand fivemonthslater, Neha stillawaitsthedaytheconsumercourt

willhearhercomplaint. Betterlatethannever


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Sailesh Consumer Protection Act

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