guide to redressal of consumer disputes!!

grv_aw

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hi guys,

as i was surfing through various articles i was pained to come across many of our fellow members who seem to be having a hard time dealing with the problems and issues that may have unfortunately arisen in their AV equipment.almost in every such thread what was even more disappointing was that they had almost given up the hope of having a legal solution to their problem once their requests are turned down by the manufacturer and the ASC's.As techie turned lawyer i consider it my duty to inform my fellow members to remain optimistic and not to give up on the legal system as yet and Hence the need for a separate thread dealing in consumer disputes.guys it will be a longer than usual thread so please bear with me.

Ok, so lets begin with a little background on consumer diputes redressal in india.

the consumer protection act, 1986 was enacted keeping in mind the urgent needs of resolution of the dispute of the consumers,while easing the burden on the city civil courts which used to deal with these problems prior to the enactment.

the act envisages a three tier mechanism for the redressal of the greivances of the consumers which is as follows:-

1.the hon district consumer forum: with a pecuniary jurisdiction of Rs 2000000 INR. at the district level.

2.The hon State consumer disputes redressal commission: pecuniary jurisdiction of Rs 1 Crore. at the state level.

3. The national consumer disputes redressal commission: pecuniary jurisdiction over and above Rs 1crore. at the national level

The hon Supreme court sits at the apex of our judicial system listening to appeals from any court/tribunal in india incl the national commission.

All three bodies stated above are headed by atleast two or members of which one is a retired judicial officer usually of the rank of district judge for the district forum,a retd judge of the high court for the state commission and a retd supreme court justice in the national commission, who presides over the hearing and one or more judge-members who are either lawyers expert in consumer matters or other persons of eminence in public life,all of whom are appointed by the governor for a fixed tenure of 5 years.

more on to come soon....
 
Part II


Moving on, as explained earlier the district consumer forum is the court of first instance in a district and has a very wide jurisdiction covering all the service providers providing services of any kind for a consideration. The term consideration has a very wide connotation but in general all government services such as PDS, government health services etc are generally not covered under the provisions of the act however services like water, sanitation etc for which we pay taxes to the government are thankfully covered under it. So do consult your lawyer before you decide to approach the court. Other than these all services such as banks, insurance, goods, consumer durables etc come within its jurisdiction and hence the consumer forums have come to acquire a very significant role in our legal system at present.
Having understood this lets come to the main aim of this article, how to go about filing a consumer complaint and the various dos and donts of consumer disputes redressal.

Consumer dispute like any other dispute arises when there is a grievance which is not adequately redressed or not redressed at all. In case of consumer dispute there occurs a deficiency in service on the part of the service provider for which he has received a certain consideration from the consumer.
One needs to keep in mind that you do not just decide to approach a court of law all of a sudden without letting the opposite party know about your intention. This is where the concept of a notice under the consumer protection act comes into the picture. Once there is a deficiency in service on the part of the service provider and that it is not adequately attended to by him despite requests (with proof) from the consumer, a consumer dispute is said to have arisen and the very inaction or inability of the service provider becomes the cause of action which is the most essential pre condition for a suit to lie in any court of law. This is how you go about it:
Lets us say you have informed your service provider/manufacturer/dealer about the deficiency in goods or service(keep a record of all your communications with the service provider about the issue) and the same has not been attended to your satisfaction or has not been attended at all, one needs to draft a notice under the provisions of the consumer protection Act (CP Act). the notice is usually meant to give a final opportunity to the service provider to make good any or all the losses the consumer has incurred before he/she moves the court. The notice period is normally 15 days. one has to keep in mind that notice has to be served by registered post only and a copy of the receipt of the post is to be kept as proof. Once the notice period expires and the service provider either doesnt respond or does not adequately redress the grievance of the consumer, he/she s at liberty to move to the appropriate forum as explained above.
Now contrary to what is advertised on the television one should definitely engage the services of a lawyer of sufficient repute in order to contest his/her case though IT IS NOT MANDATORY TO ENGAGE A LAWYER under the provisions of the CP Act. The reason i am saying this is that the opposite parties which in this case happen to be multinational corps, big enterprises who have practically unlimited resources at their disposal and have a battery of lawyers working for them whereas the consumer is usually a lay person who does not understand the complex legal procedures of the court. So if you decide to contest your case by yourselves, which in my opinion should be encouraged, please do so at your own risk.
Once the case is filed in the appropriate fora, it usually takes a year to 15 months for the court to deliver its verdict, which if ones paperwork is right and he/she has the evidence to substantiate ones claim, is in all probability a favorable one. The court may award free cost repair, replacement, refund along with such suitable damages and litigation expenses to the consumer as it thinks fit. Another point to be kept in mind is the forum also has the power to and it may or may not impose costs/penalties on the complainant if during the course of the suit it is discovered that the complaint is a frivolous one, but that should not deter the genuine consumers from approaching the court.
Once the fora delivers a favorable verdict the consumer has a right to redressal of his/her grievances as per the terms of the verdict and if the defaulter does not abide by the courts order the same can initiate proceedings for recovery against the defaulter and may also issue a warrant for the arrest of the erring party.
Well this is about it and I would like to end with a famous idea that was the backbone of the American Revolution.
If there is something wrong it is the duty of those who are capable and powerful, to make it right.
I hope I have been able to provide some basic and less known facts about the topic. will be happy to answer if you have any further queries.
 
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