Consumer Dispute — Get It Right Before It Costs You

Sellers and service providers sometimes ignore the interest of consumer in the race of making huge profits in a short span of time. They rely on unfair trade practices and sometime deliver goods with inferior quality. This leads to dissatisfaction in consumer and sometimes huge losses. A complaint can be filed by a consumer against the seller, dealer, manufacturer of goods which are defective or against the provider of services with the consumer forum.

Followings are the Rights of a Consumer: • Consumer has the Right to be safe from Goods and Services which are hazardous to life and health. • Consumer has the Right to be informed of quality, quantity, standard and price. • Consumer has the Right to choose between range of products at competitive prices. • Consumer has the Right to be heard about their interest at the appropriate forums. • Consumer has the Right to Education of their rights and remedies in case of grievances. • Consumer has the Right to Redress of their grievances against the exploitation and unfair trade practices. • Consumer has the Right to have a Healthy Environment to enhance the quality of their life.

Common problems faced by consumers include Food adulteration, wrong measurement of weight, duplicate product, false advertising, wrong delivery of goods and the negligence in service in most delicate services like Medical, Transport or Education. As per the Section 24A of the act provides that the no forum shall admit a complaint unless it is filed within 2 years from the date on which the cause of action has arisen. For filing the complaint consumer should know the details regarding the Jurisdiction of the consumer forum which is given under the act. The Jurisdiction are as follows- 1. District Forum A complaint should be filed with District Forum where value of goods or services is upto Rupees 20 lakhs. 2. State Commission Where value of goods or services exceeds Rupees 20 lakhs but upto Rupees 1 crore, the complaint should be filed before the State Commission. 3. National Commission Where value of goods or services exceeds Rupees 1 crore, the complaint should be filed before the National Commission. Who can file a Consumer Complaint? • Consumer who buys a Goods or Services for consideration • Any Recognized Consumer Association • Group of customers with common interest • Central or State Government • Legal heirs or relative of Consumer