Consumer Protection Act, 2019
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Consumer Protection Act, 2019 is an Act of the
Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...
. It repeals and replaces the
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 Consumer Protection Act 1986 (COPRA) was an Act by the Parliament of India elected to protect the interests of consumers in India. It was replaced by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. It was made for the establishment of consumer councils a ...
.


Introduction

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha as a replacement of COPRA, 1986 on 8 July 2019 by the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution,
Ram Vilas Paswan Ram Vilas Paswan (5 July 19468 October 2020) was an Indian politician from Bihar and the Cabinet Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the First Modi ministry, first and Second Modi ministry, second Modi ministries. Pasw ...
. It was passed by
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...
on 30 July 2019 and later passed in
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
on 6 August 2019.' The bill received assent from the President
Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...
on 9 August, and was notified in ''
The Gazette of India ''The Gazette of India'' is a public journal and an authorised legal document of the Government of India. It is published weekly by the Directorate of Printing Department of Publication, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban ...
'' on the same date. The Act came into effect by 20 July 2020, while certain other provisions of the Act like establishing the Central Consumer Protection Authority came into effect from 24 July
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
. The Act features focuses on giving customer more power by taking transparency to another level. In September 2020 government declared a new draft known as advertising code which gives customer protection against false advertisements.


Provisions

The Consumer Protection Act has made it mandatory for every e-commerce entity to display the
country of origin Country of origin (CO) represents the country or countries of manufacture, production, design, or brand origin where an article or product comes from. For multinational brands, CO may include multiple countries within the value-creation proce ...
.


Councils, Authorities and Commissions established

This act is also focused on continuing the formally defined institutions created by the COPRA,1986 to take up cases and decisions related to consumer protection. It allows the central government to move away the burden of establishing consumer protection laws from the parliament and the burden of litigation from the courts; by providing an alternate pathway for the governments and citizens alike to approach, deliberate, discuss and decide on matters related to consumer protection in the interest of consumers.


Consumer Protection Authority ''(Body)''

This act also allows for the establishment of independent statutory authority bodies on both the levels of the centre and the state to have jurisdiction over consumer protection law and cases. These bodies have a wide range of powers, including but not limited to search and seizure, declaration of judgements, protection of good-faith decisions. These bodies have formal internal structure with their own investigative wing to conduct research into a particular case. They have the right to recall goods, refer the matter to other regulators for investigating a case on all fronts, to issue directions and penalties against false or misleading advertisements.


Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ''(Body)''

This act allows for the creation of commissions to which consumers can approach and place their concerns on the levels of the district, state, and centre. They function in a manner similar to the courts, and have complete jurisdiction over declaration of case judgements. Their function is similar to ones defined in the COPRA, 1986.


Consumer Protection Councils ''(Body)''

The job of the body is to advise the central government and the prime minister on issues to be mitigated and policies to be made regarding consumer protection.


Rights of consumers

The
consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
bill 2019 primarily defines the following consumer rights. # Be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property. # Be informed of the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods and services. # Be assured of access to a variety of goods or services at competitive prices. # Seek redressal against unfair and restrictive trade practices.


References

{{Reflist Acts of the Parliament of India 2019 Consumer protection legislation 2019 in Indian law Consumer protection in India Consumer protection law Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution False advertising law