Consumer protection only on paper

If the government and the consumer forums are deficient in service, where should the consumers go?

The government takes pride in protecting the interests of consumers by referring to the law – the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 – which is intended to provide a simple mechanism with speedy justice to the consumers who are at the receiving end due to the unbridled power of business enterprises.

Like many laws in the country, the Act and the protection of consumers’ interests are only on paper and it is yet another sorry state of bad governance. In practice, the consumers get deficient service even from the very government, be it the state or Union, or the consumer forums and the State Commission which are expected to provide relief to the harassed consumers.

Though the law does not specify it, the consumers are asked to provide stamped envelopes for despatch of notice to the opposite parties by the office of the consumer forums even before the admission of the complaint. Adjournments are granted just for asking especially by the opposite party’s lawyers and the law is given a go by. In such cases, it is mandated by the law to impose costs on the opposite parties of not less than Rs 500 per adjournment. 

The usual tactics of lawyers of delaying justice on one pretext or other like just filing vakalat and not filing reply or making false promise of a compromise are not checked by the forums. As per the law, the opposite parties should file their version within a period of 30 days or such extended period by the forum of not exceeding 15 days but this rule is frequently overlooked.

Instead of adopting and simplifying the process of filing complaints, many duplications are built into the process. For example, the complainant can directly file the complaint by way of affidavit instead of  filing the complaint and thereafter being asked to file the affidavit. Similarly, the opposite party can file reply by an affidavit instead of filing reply and thereafter being asked to file affidavit.

As per rules, the lawyers are required to file written arguments at least two days before the oral arguments but it is overlooked by the forums. The state governments are so irresponsible that they keep vacancies in the consumer forums and the State Commissions unfilled for prolonged periods. 

The consumer suffers the most due to such an indifference of the governments and the hardships are prolonged adjournments, fatigue, frustration, increased costs of litigation which are aggravated in some cases where new appointees start fresh hearing of the cases.

As per the rules, the complaints should be disposed of in 3-5 months  from the date of serving notice on the defendants depending upon the nature of the complaint and in case of delay, the forums should give the reasons in their order but this is observed more in breach. In the case of appeals, it should be disposed of within 90 days from the date of admission.

The forums should pass its final orders within 15 days after conclusion of arguments. Again, this is hardly followed. Because of all these, the consumer protection law is not a deterrent to powerful corporates as it does not prescribe minimum compensation for deficiency in goods or service. 

Low compensation

The Indian scenario is that the judicial authorities are accustomed to award low compensation to complainants thus defeating the very purpose of the law. If the defendant is the government, the situation is still worse as the forums are wary of antagonising them.

Though the law states that adequate costs should be paid to the winning party towards the legal action, the costs awarded by the forums are  meagre amounts that in some cases it may not be sufficient even to cover conveyance expenses.

Though the law requires that separate accommodation in the court hall be provided to parties appearing in person , what one witnesses is a fish market-like situations in consumer forums because of over crowding. 

Indeed, if the forums award stiff compensation as done in the Western countries, most of the cases will disappear as erring corporates would settle the disputes before they move to consumer forums. The forums and State Commissions should allot time slots to parties to be present in the courts based on the stage of the complaints like admission, hearing, arguments etc rather than asking every one to be present at the start of the day. 

The Centre is talking of ‘Digital India’ without knowing the ground situation. The confonet.nic.in which is supposed to provide on line information of case status etc, is never functional fully. Since more than a year or so, the site is non- functional! If the parties to the dispute require any information on the status of the complaint, they have to spare a day for a visit to the forum as no information is given on phone.

The new Union government in its anxiety to improve economy will only further appease the business enterprises thereby further endangering the consumer’s interests.
 (The writer is with the Right India Consultancy House)