A comprehensive up gradation of the existing Consumer Protection Act, 1986, by way of introduction of a new Bill is currently under consideration of the Parliament, aimed at making the consumer law more effective, functional and purposeful. Salient features of the Bill include:

(a) Establishment of the central consumer protection authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers, to investigate and intervene when necessary to prevent consumer detriment arising from unfair trade practices, and to and take action against misleading advertisements.

(b) Provisions for “product liability” action for or on account of harm caused by or resulting from any product by way fixing laibility the liability of a manufacturer

(c) Provision for “mediation” as an alternate dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism which aims at giving legislative basis to resolution of consumer disputes through mediation, thus making the process less cumbersome, simple and quicker. This will be done under the aegis of the consumer fora.

(d) Several provisions aimed at simplifying the consumer dispute adjudication process in the consumer fora are envisaged. These include, among others, enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction of the consumer disputes redressal agencies, increasing minimum number of members in the consumer fora to facilitate quick disposal of complaints, power to review their own orders by the state and district commission, constitution of ‘circuit bench’ to facilitate quicker disposal of complaints, reforming the process for the appointment of the president and members of the district fora, enabling provisions for consumers to file complaints electronically and file complaints in consumer fora that have jurisdiction over the place of residence of the complainant, and deemed admissibility of complaints if the question of admissibility is not decided within the specified period of 21 days.

CONSUMER GRIEVANCE RESOLUTION

NATIONAL CONSUMER HELPLINE: Government of India has set up a National Consumer