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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
Issue an appropriate order
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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
Issue an appropriate order
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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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