Minakshi Mishra

New Consumer Protection Act of 2019 comes into force empowering consumers. Broadening the definition of consumer, the New Consumer Protection Act of 2019 recognises those engaged in offline as well as online multi-level and telemarketing transactions. Coming into effect on Monday (July 20), the revamped CPA, now addresses the needs of the dramatically changing marketplace including, the e-commerce marketing platforms providing door-to-door delivery of goods and services. The CPA clearly defines all e-commerce as buying or selling of goods or services including, digital products over digital or electronic networks. It was stated by the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan while briefing the media on the new Consumer Protection Act 2019 on Monday at New Delhi. Replacing, the earlier Consumer Protection Act from 1986, the revamped CPA envelopes the e-commerce sector under its fold, changing the definition of the ‘consumer’ and now addresses the ‘consumer’ as anyone who is engaged in offline as well as online multi-level and telemarketing transactions. This inclusive definition of a consumer is significant and game-changing as earlier the CPA did not mention anything about e-commerce or online deals. Consumers will benefit from the new features of the CPA that includes the formation of a three-tier consumer dispute redressal machinery at the national level. Its counterparts the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), the state, with state commissions, and the district level, with district forums of the NCDRC, will be addressing the consumer protection issues at the respective levels. The CPA includes the establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) and rules for prevention of unfair trade practice by e-commerce platforms The revamped CPAA has called for the setting up of a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) primarily to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers. The government press release also stated that the CCPA would be empowered to conduct investigations into violations of consumer rights and institute complaints/prosecution. CCPA had the power to issue order and recall unsafe goods and services. And could also order the discontinuance of unfair trade practices including, misleading advertisements. It could impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of misleading advertisements. With the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs heading the CCPA along with the Minister of State as vice-chairperson and 34 other members from different fields, the CPA is all set to look into consumer protection issues. Constituted for a three-year tenure, the council will have Minister-in-charge of consumer affairs from two states for each region — North, South, East, West, and North East. A revamp was long overdue since the earlier CPA was way back in the 1980s. The traditional ways of marketing and types of businesses have undergone a sea change, and it was time to take into account differences that came into the picture, so the rights of the consumer are not compromised. The CPA now empowers the government and considers the consumers’ point of view and protection from different considerations. The guidelines in the CPA 2019 clearly say that every e-commerce platform will be liable to provide all information relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment. It also asks for grievance redressal mechanism, among other things to enable the consumer to make an informed decision. The CPA significantly calls upon e-commerce platforms to be transparent in providing ‘country of origin’ information for all products. Coming at a time when the anti-China sentiment is high on ‘josh’ the ‘country of origin’ clause has attracted attention towards a move to curtail the consumers’ dependency on imports. Doing away with the three-decades-old Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the new Consumer Protection Act 2019 seeks to revamp the process of administration and settlement of consumer disputes, with strict penalties, that includes jail term for adulteration and misleading ads by erring firms. Thus, empowering the consumer by enabling a smooth process of grievance redressal if a consumer chooses to file a complaint. Earlier, the consumer would have to file a complaint, at the registered office of the seller, whereas, under the new CPA, the consumer can file complaints electronically, in consumer commissions which have jurisdiction over his place of residence. For protecting the rights of the consumer, the CPA further states that under provisions of product liability, in the event of injury or damage to the consumer through the use of a defective product or service, he/she is entitled to compensation from the product manufacturer, seller or service provider. The newly enforced law has provision for punishing defaulters in case of selling counterfeit products, it also enables plaintiffs to use digital mediums like video conferencing to attend hearings. However, it fails to spell out empowering the consumers, about e-commerce transactions in sectors like travel, transport and insurance, among others. Some of these are already bound by certain sector-specific norms, that include Acts and regulators like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDA), among others. The Act should have stated and specified that wherever there is an existing regulation or an Act that binds a business for consumer protection, those businesses, would not be under bindings by particular provisions of the CPA, 2019.