Things you should know before making your next purchase

- Nikita Chowdhary

‘Caveat emptor’ meaning let the buyer be aware was a highly used warning before the 1986 Consumer Protection Act. It was utterly disheartening for us as buyers to have bought products that did not meet the basic requirements. To save common people, like us a forum was set up, and the grievances of the buyers were heard and addressed making the seller more cautious and resulting in ‘Caveat Venditor’ meaning let the seller be aware.

After the implementation of the act, have you ever told a shopkeeper, “I will launch a complaint with Consumer forum”?

A lot of you used this right to get the value of what we paid for. Would you like to do the same when it comes to online shopping?

Even after all the digitalization in the world a lot of people are skeptical when it comes to buying things online. Has it ever happened that you did not buy a product online because you were worried about the terms and conditions related to the returns, exchange, shipment policies, etc.?

 

To our rescue the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan has amended the Act to provide relief to various buyers from not just traditional buyers but also from the e-commerce retailers and platforms.  

Additional relief for all the shopaholics, the act will now consider all the unfair trade practices performed by the e-commerce organizations also along with traditional shop owners. The CCPA (Central Consumer Protection Authority) protects and enforces the rights of the people as empowered by the Act. The CCPC (Protection Council) will now have ministers from 2 states from each region i.e., East, West, South, North, and Northeast.

The best part I think is the hearing process being which would now also be with the help of video conferences. Not just that, but also the new provisions state that any claim that is being delayed to even be admissible in the court, will now be automatically admissible if the question of admissibility is not decided within 21 days.

For e-commerce entities, the complaints should be acknowledged within 48 hours. Even the date for redressing time has been fixed to 30 days of the same. 

Talking about the e-commerce regulations authority like the CCPA is yet to be notified as he mentioned ‘is under publication’. However, for now, you’ll be able to see information related to return, refund, exchange, warranty, guarantee, shipment and delivery, modes of payment, and payment method security on every e-commerce entity. A grievance redressal mechanism has also been marked important in the new provisions. But most importantly to make informed decisions about purchases, people like us will now be able to see the Country of Origin along with other specifications. 

 

The new Act also includes the concept of product liability, which means we can have compensation claims made to anyone amongst:

• The product manufacturer,
• The product service provider, or
• The product seller.

The new provisions bring a lot of relief to me as a customer, being more carefree in my shopping approaches is what we shopaholics want the most, right?

Do these provisions bring relief to you as well? Let us know in the comment section below. Follow SimplyBiz for more such information and content. 

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Author: Nikita Chowdhary