Law of Consumer Protection (principles and Practice)

The Consumer Protection Act of 1986 has been drastically amended and its scope greatly widened by the amendment of 1993. The Act now covers all kinds of services. It also covers all kinds of consumer transactions whether made in cash or in kind. It protects the consumer from the burden of restrictive and unfair trade practices. It enables the Consumer Forums and Commissions to award compensation for not only the amount lost in purchasing defective material or in hiring deficient services but also for mental pain, suffering and harassment caused by defective goods or services. The present edition has had the benefit of coming across a fairly large number of successful consumer complaints. These have enriched the text materials of the book both in respect of the commodity market and services sector. In addition, a good number of foreign cases have been added, e.g., those of English and EEC Courts showing their experiments with consumer protection programmes. By far a bulk of the book is devoted to defective goods and deficient services. Useful practice notes have been provided for filing complaints with consumer redressal forums, for preparing written statements, appeals and for getting orders executed. The clear presentation makes it very easy even for the layman to understand the law, his rights and obligations and how to proceed in case he wishes to file a suit under the Consumer Protection Act or to defend himself.