Lok Sabha Passes Bill to Set up a Regulator for Consumer Complaints

New Delhi: A Bill to establish a national level regulator - Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) - to deal with consumer complaints pro-actively was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday by voice vote amid objections to several clauses.

Unveiling the government’s argument for the passage of the Consumer Protection Bill, 2019, Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the new draft legislation was important to strengthen the consumer rights considering modern-day challenges and assured that consumers’ interests regarding e-commerce will be addressed.

Paswan said the Bill will clear the way for consumers to go to court if they were not satisfied.

The Bill, which seeks to replace the Consumer Protection Act 1986, has 109 clauses to establish CCPA as a national level regulator.

The Bill also has provisions to deal with class actions, product liability, misleading advertisements, liability for celebrity endorsements and others. It also addresses new-age developments like e-commerce, direct selling, and telemarketing.

As per the Bill, the CCPA will deal with matters relating to a violation of rights of consumers, unfair trade practice and false or misleading advertisements which are prejudicial to the interests of public and consumers.

According to the Minister, the CCPA will have an investigating wing headed by a Director-General with powers to search and seize.

Several members from the treasury benches and in the opposition, including the Congress, CPI-M, AIMIM, TDP, and NCP, expressed their concerns and raised objection on different clauses of the Bill.

Congress member Shashi Tharoor said the arbitration clause should not be allowed in consumer forum as it limits the forum’s power to help the consumer.

“Law should take precedence over limited liability clauses. The definition of services in the Bill excludes free services,” he said. (IANS)

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