Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (2019)
The Supreme Court ruled that advocates cannot be held liable under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, for deficiency in service.
The Court also indicated that its 1995 decision that held medical professionals accountable under the Act may need to be revisited.
It suggested that the definition of the term ‘services’ under the Act, which includes the medical sector, be re-examined.
Indian Medical Association v. V.P. Shantha was a landmark case which decided that doctors, medical professionals, and hospitals do come under the Consumer Protection Act as service providers.
The option of mediation under the Consumer Protection Act.
As of now, medical negligence is not covered under it. That is something we could work on.
World Consumer Rights Day - March 15
2019 Act
With a view to modernise the framework governing the consumer protection in the new era of globalisation, technologies & e-commerce markets, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was enacted to replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
The 2019 Act enhances consumer protection, particularly for online transactions.
- Guarantees 6 basic consumer rights
- Enhances consumer protection, particularly for online transactions
- Emphasises on speedier adjudication of complaints
- Provides procedural ease, thereby reducing inconvenience for the consumers
- Established Central Consumer Protection Authority to regulate matters like false or misleading advertisements that harm consumers.
E Jagriti portal
- E - Justice & Grievance Redressal through Information Technology & Innovation
- Enables consumers to file complaints, track case statuses, access judgements online
- Ensures transparency, efficiency, accountability and speedy resolution of consumer disputes.
- 29+ lakh cases disposed till date (march, 2025)
National Consumer Helpline (NCH)
- Allows consumers to register complaints via toll free number 1915
- available in 17 languages
- NCH 2.0 initiative includes AI powered speech recognition, a translation system and a multi lingual chatbot
Jago Grahak Jago Campaign
- Delivers simple messages to educate consumers about fraudulent practices, common issues and available redressal mechanisms
- App provides essential e commerce information about all URLs during a consumer's online activities, alerting them about unsafe URLs.
Quality control and measure
- 94% of the Indian Standards harmonised with ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)
- over 760 products notified for compulsory BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) and implementation of Indian standards.
