Lok Sabha Question No. 3279 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-23
Subject: Complaint Redressal under CPA
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Ganesh Singh

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3279 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2022

## COMPLAINT REDRESSAL UNDER CPA

3279.  SHRI GANESH SINGH: (OIH)

## Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC  DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (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?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h (श्री अश्विनी क ु मार चौबे)

## 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.

## ORIGINAL IN HINDI