• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Some moves that help

R. Desikan

The Government has introduced in the Rajya Sabha several amendments to the existing Consumer Protection Act, which was first amended in 1993. The amendments are expected to be passed during the monsoon session. While introducing these amendments, the gov ernment declared, with a view to achieving quicker disposal of consumer complaints, widening the scope of some of the provisions of the Act to make it more effective. Some amendments proposed in the Act have been taken up for analysis in the following pa ragraphs.

The first one pertains to the exclusion from the jurisdiction of consumer disputes redressal agencies those departments for which corresponding consumer redressal provisions exist under special laws.

It is my opinion that this amendment is repugnant and anti-consumer. To put it simply, even before the CPA became a law, the provisions in the special laws existed for the protection of the interest of the consumers, but were of little consequence from t he point of view of the consumer. Many of us have suffered due to the callous attitude of two public sector service agencies -- the telephones and the railways. Both these departments have elaborate redressal systems incorporated in their working but bec ame answerable to the consumer only after the introduction of the CP Act.

The second amendment I take up for scrutiny dwells on the provisions for creation of benches of the National Commission and State Commissions apart from holding of circuit benches of these commissions. This is an excellent amendment and one hopes that it will translate into speedy disposal of outstanding petitions.

Another proposed amendment is the prescription of a period within which complaints are to be admitted, notices issued to opposite party and complaints decided. Similar provisions have also been proposed in respect of appeals. This is also a very good ame ndment. It will help reduce the issuance of notice and therefore the total time taken to dispose off a complaint.

The proposed amendments provide that no adjournment will be ordinarily allowed and where allowed, a speaking order giving reasons would be made. While this is welcome, fixing a fee for seeking adjournments would act as a major deterrent.

The proposed amendments call for enhancing the pecuniary limits of jurisdiction of the consumer disputes redressal agencies. This is a disputable amendment for it could increase workload and lead to further delay in disposal of cases.

An amendment which has to be fought against is the one that envisages charging a fee in respect of complaints filed before the consumer disputes redressal agencies.

One other of the proposed amendments provides for depositing, either fifty per cent of the amount of compensation or a fixed fine whichever is less, before the admission of appeal. This provision will help reduce appeals and force the opposite party to b e more reasonable.

Another disputable point in the proposed amendments is the exclusion of services availed for commercial purposes from the purview of the consumer disputes redressal agencies. However, permitting the engagement of legal practitioner by an opposite party o nly if the complainant is himself a legal practitioner or he engages a legal practitioner or he has no objection to the opposite party engaging a legal practitioner is an excellent provision which we have been campaigning for.

Similarly, prescribing minimum qualifications as well as disqualifications for members of the consumer disputes redressal agencies also needs to be applauded. The extending of the provisions of the Act to service providers indulging in unfair or restrict ive trade practices or offering services which are hazardous and bringing in the sale of spurious goods or services within the meaning of unfair trade practices are also good moves.

These are just a few of the amendments that I have taken up for review. But what is needed is the provision of a budget for taking care of the financial needs of the consumer redressal system. Perhaps the substantial amounts of money available in the Con sumer Welfare Fund can be apportioned for the Consumer

Disputes Redressal System

I also wish the Government introduced one more amendment -- to provide some monetary compensation for consumer councils who represent individual consumers in the consumer fora.

All said and done, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs deserves to be congratulated for the excellent work.

The author is former chairman, Federation of Consumer Organisations, Tamil Nadu and can be reached at rdesikan@vsnl.com