New Delhi: The new Consumer Protection Act (2019), which came into force on Monday, will, for the first time, provide for an exclusive law dealing with product liability and stringent punishment for the manufacturer of products.
A manufacturer or product service provider or product seller will now be responsible to compensate for injury or damage caused by defective product or deficiency in services.
The Act also enables regulations to be notified on e-commerce and direct selling with focus on protection of interest of consumers.
The new law will ensure that if any person manufactures for sale or stores or sells or distributes or imports any spurious goods shall be punished with imprisonment up to 7 years in jail and a fine up to Rs. 5 lakh, if such an act caused injury resulting in grievous hurt to the consumer.
The new law ensures that the complainant could report her or his grievance at a district or state consumer commission from the location where his/her resides rather than from where the service of the product was bought. The Act also envisages a simplified dispute resolution process, and has provision for mediation and e-filing of cases.
At presently, the consumer has only a single point of access to justice, which is time-consuming. Additional swift executive remedies are proposed in the act.
The new provisions for a deterrent punishment to check misleading advertisements and adulteration of products, and the product liability provision to deter manufacturers and service providers from delivering defective products or deficient services will be a boon to the consumers.
Also read: https://www.revoi.in/future-food-paris-shows-the-way-with-organic-farming-on-rooftops/
(Aditya)
