Question : Complaint Redressal under CPA

(a) whether consumer known as the king of the market, has to face so many difficulties like adulteration, sale of low quality goods, overprice, tampering in weight, etc.;
(b) if so, whether the present Consumer Protection Act (CPA) is not sufficient and there is a need to frame new regulations to ensure satisfactory resolution of the complaints regarding product quality;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether there is a need to give special attention towards data security in India in the matters related to consumer protection and mobile data commission as the manner in which data is collected by the e-commerce companies has increased the worries of the people; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER OF STATE
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) to (c): To protect the rights of consumers and for speedy disposal of the cases filed in the Consumer Commissions, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 has been enacted, which provides for establishment of three-tier quasi-judicial machinery, called Consumer Commissions, at the District, State and National levels to provide simple and speedy redressal to consumer disputes. Other provisions of the Act for consumer grievance redressal include, inter-alia, establishment of a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to regulate misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices affecting consumers as a class; simplification of the adjudication process in the Consumer Commissions; filing of a complaint by a consumer in the Consumer Commission having jurisdiction w.r.t. his place of work/residence irrespective of place of transaction and place of business or residence of the opposite parties, e-filing and e-payment, video conferencing for hearing, deemed admissibility of complaints, if admissibility is not decided within 21 days of filing; court monitored mediation to facilitate early disposal of cases; provision of product liability; penal provisions for manufacture/sale of adulterated products/spurious goods; as also prevention of unfair trade practice in e-commerce and direct selling.

(d) & (e): Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has informed that the Government has introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill in Parliament in the year 2019 and the same was referred to Joint Committee of Parliament (JCP). The JCP has tabled its report in December, 2021 in Parliament.

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