Question

what are the problems faced by a new system of consumers Court​? please help urgent .....

Answer 1

Answer:

The new Bill includes the establishment of an executive agency, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), which will protect and enforce the rights of consumers.

The authority will intervene whenever necessary to protect consumers from unfair trade practices and initiate class action including enforcing recall, refund and return of products. This body will act in a manner similar to enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US. This will be a landmark step in upgrading the implementation mechanism to global standards.

Besides, in order to ensure safe products to consumers, the Bill has a provision for product liability and provides enough powers to the regulatory authority to recall products and cancel licences if a consumer complaint affects more than one individual.

This is the first time that powers to take action for damage caused by a product have been introduced in a consumer protection framework. This step will act as a deterrent for manufacturers since the liability quotient has increased.

The Bill also has several provisions aimed at simplifying the consumer dispute resolution process. They include enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Consumer Grievance Redress Agencies, power to State and District Commissions to review their orders, and setting up a ‘circuit bench’ in order to facilitate quicker disposal of complaints.

The Bill also proposes to set up Consumer Mediation Cells which will be attached to the redressal commissions at the district, State and national levels which will further help reduce the backlog of cases and lessen the strain on redressal forums.

Hopefully, these proposals will lead to significantly reducing the huge backlog of cases and prevent further stalling of disputes. The new Bill is proposed on the lines of institutions in the US, and in European countries which provide that a consumer protection law should derive its basis from the contract law and the law of sale of goods, without which the law of consumer protection tends to be confusing and conflicting.