Firstly, let’s know what is a Consumer, a Consumer Forum and a Consumer Court. A Consumer is an individual who buys a product or gets service for consideration. It may be for his or her personal usage or to earn his living for survival. The consideration may be in the forms of paid, partly paid and partly promised. The consumer guarantees 6 consumer rights under the Consumer Protection Act:
- Right to safety
- Inform to right
- Right to choose
- Hear to right
- Redressal to right
- Right to consumer education
The Consumer Court is a legal institution mandating by the Government of India. The Consumer rights Court provides a means of redressal for customers who feel like. They were subjected to unlawful, illegal or unethical trade practices within the Indian commercial marketplace. In this article, we will learn about a few Consumer Court cases which have been revolutionary.
The consumer movement in India has led to the formation of various organisations locally known as Consumer Forums. Following are the functions of consumer forums:
- They guide consumers on how to file cases in the consumer court.
- On many occasions, they also represent individual consumers in consumer courts.
- These voluntary organizations also receive financial support from the government for creating awareness among the people.
- It works for the protection of consumer rights.
- It imparts knowledge about consumer rights by writing articles and getting it is published in the newspaper.
Table of Contents
Revolutionary Consumer Court Judgements, consumer rights:
1. Bata fined Rs 9000 by Chandigarh Consumer Forum for making Customer pay Rs 3 for Paper Bag
Chandigarh resident, Mr Dinesh Prasad Raturi, had bought a pair of shoes from a Bata store located in Sector 22D in February. His bill of Rs 402 included Rs 3 for a paper bag with Bata’s branding. He found this unfair as Bata was endorsing its brand on the bag and forcing the customer to pay additionally for it. Raturi asked for a refund of Rs 3 and compensation for the lack of proper services, which were both denied by the store.
Raturi then wrote to his local Consumer Forum. The Chandigarh consumer forum penalized Bata for the extra Rs 3 charge on paper bags. It was asking to refund. Additionally, Bata was to pay litigation charges of Rs 1000. Another Rs 3000 was to be paid to Raturi as compensation for causing mental distress by a deficiency in services. Another Rs 5000 was to be paid by Bata in the legal aid account of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
Moving forward, Bata has been told to give free paper bags to all customers. The consumer forum mentioned that if companies really cared about the environment then they should provide environment-friendly bags for free to customers.
2. Consumer Forum asks Eatery to Pay Rs 10000 for Levying Service Charge
Paying service charge on hotel and restaurant bills is not mandatory. In 2017 IPS officer, Mr Jai Jeet Singh, refused to pay a service charge of Rs 181 to a Mumbai based restaurant, Punjab Grill, as he was dissatisfied with their service. But the restaurant would not provide him with a fresh bill without the service charge. So Singh moved the consumer forum seeking a refund of the service charge along with compensation.
The restaurant failed to appear before the consumer forum, despite being served a notice. Thus, the consumer forum proceeded ex-parte against the restaurant. The consumer form levied a compensation of Rs 5000 to Mr. Singh for mental distress caused by the restaurant administration. It also levied an additional fine of Rs 5000 for costs incurred towards litigation.
3. Consumer Forum asks Theatres to Provide Free Drinking Water
In 2017, Vijay Gopal was disallowed from carrying a water bottle he bought from the same mall inside the Inox theatre by the security guards citing security reasons. So he moved the consumer forum. The consumer forum ordered Inox and all theatres in the twin cities to provide free purified water outlets for customers. It also directed Inox to pay Rs 5000 as compensation to Gopal for mental agony and Rs 1000 towards other costs.
It was also noted that the theatres sold water bottles above the MRP. Hence, the consumer forum directed theatres in Hyderabad and Secunderabad to sell water bottles at their MRP and comply with all directions issued.
To know more about Consumer Forums and these cases, watch our video below:
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