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Inc Consumer Protection Act

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) was passed in 1986 to protect consumer interests in India. It establishes rights for consumers including the right to safety from hazardous goods/services, being informed about product details, access to a variety of goods/services, and the right to be heard. The CPA created grievance redressal forums at district, state, and national levels to resolve disputes. It defines key terms like "consumer", applies to all goods/services, and aims to prevent unfair exploitation of consumers.

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281 views4 pages

Inc Consumer Protection Act

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) was passed in 1986 to protect consumer interests in India. It establishes rights for consumers including the right to safety from hazardous goods/services, being informed about product details, access to a variety of goods/services, and the right to be heard. The CPA created grievance redressal forums at district, state, and national levels to resolve disputes. It defines key terms like "consumer", applies to all goods/services, and aims to prevent unfair exploitation of consumers.

Uploaded by

animesh panda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INTRODUCTION:

  Consumer Protection Act, is an act of Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to protect interests of


consumers in India.
 It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
 This Act is applied to all goods and services. It shall come enforce through central govt. by notifications
for different provisions of this act.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ACT:


The main objective of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is to protect the interest and safeguard the rights
of the consumers which are as follows: 
 Right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and
property. 
 Right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or
services so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.
 Right to be assured , wherever possible , access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices.
 Right to be heard and to be assured that consumers' interests will receive due consideration at
appropriate forums
 Right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices and unscrupulous exploitation of consumers
 Right to consumer education.
ENACTION OF ACT:
 The act was passed in lok sabha on 9th cecember 1986 and Rajya sabha on 10th december 1986
 Assented by the president of india on 24th december 1986 and was published in Gazette of india on 26th
december 1986.
 This act was enacted in the 37th year of the Republic of india and was amended from time to time in the
following years that is 1991, 1993, and 2002.
PHILOSOPHY OF THE ACT:
 The philosophy behind the law is, according to legal analysis, is prevention. That is, the act tries to
prevent consumers from being unfairly exploited by businesses and individuals.
 Councils made up of consumers and their chosen representatives work with the guidlines of this law to
hear and settle disputes.
 Areas of regulation in the consumer protection act that focus on hazards to health and personal property
are at the top of the law’s priority list.
 Some of the terms used during hearing and settlements are; purity, price, quality,quantity etc.
 The law also specifies the consumer’s right to be heard in an appropriate setting. In addition, the act lists
consumer education as very important, so as to prevent future disputes.
 The structure of the hearing system, taken directly from the law itself, includes “redressal forums” at
district, state and national levels.

DEFINITIONS IN CPA:
COMPLAINANT MEANS:
i. A consumer
ii. Any voluntary consumer association registered under the companies act, 1956 or under any other law
for the time being in force
iii. The central government or any state government
CONSUMER MEANS:
Any “person” who hires or avails of any services for a consideration which has been paid or promised or
partly paid and partly promised and includes any beneficiary of such services.
CONSIDERATION MEANS:
Fees may have been fully paid in cash or cheque, or undertaking that it will be paid, which is accepted by
the doctor/hospital. The fees may have been given partly with the understanding that the remaining bill will
be paid subsequently.
DEFICIENCY MEANS:
Any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature, and manner of the performance
which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or has been undertaken to
be performed by a person.
COMPLAINT MEANS:
Any alligations made in writing by a complainant- any unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade practice has
been adopted by a trader.
CHARGE MEANS:
Fee/payments with element of profile making motive involved. As government hospitals/ certain charitable
hospital don’t charge fees, hence such services rendered are exempted from this act.

RIGHTS OF THE CONSUMER:


 Right to ensure Safety – Hazardous goods & services
 Right to be Intimated – About the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods
 Right to select – Access to variety of goods and services at competitive price
 Right to get listened - due consideration at appropriate forums.
 Right to seek Redressal – Right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous
exploitation of consumers
 Right to Consumer Education –Right to acquire the knowledge and skill to be an informed consumer
throughout life.

SALIENT FEATURES:
 Through CPA, services rendered by medical practitioners for consultation and treatment are kept free of
charge.
 Under CPA, service charges are borne by the insurance company where relevant and claimed by the
affected person.
 CPA is not applicable in case of free health care service where no charge is made to any person,
whether rich or poor.

The CPA provides a forum for the consumer and helps to solve consumer disputes. Under this act, the
consumer need not to pay any court fees, and the conflict or dispute must be resolved within 3 months
provided expert involvement is not necessary. Disputes are solved by the district forum, and the state and
national commissions.

 District forum:
It comprised three members. They are follows:
 District judge, who will be the president of the forum.
 The two members, who are specialists in law, commerce, economics, accounting, industry or
administration. At least one of them must be a women.
Functions of district forum are as follows:
 Welcomes filling of complaints by consumers and tries to get compensation for the affected
party. The compensation claimed must not be more than 5 lakh INR.
 Appeal against the order of the district forum must be made to the state commission within 30
days from the date of the order.
 State commission:
 The high court judge, who will be the president of the state commission.
 Two member (at least one of them must be a women) who are specialists in industry, commerce,
law, accounting, administration or economics.
 Duties of the state commission include accepting complaints and providing compensation to
affecting person in case of claims between 5 to 20 lakh INR.
 National commission:
There are 5 members consisting of the following:
 A supreme court judge, who will be the president of the commission.
 4 members who are specialists in economics, commerce, law, accounting, administration or
industry. At least one of them should be a women.

NEGLIGENCE:
It is the conduct that falls below the standard of care. The standard of care is established by the law
for the protection of consumers against and unreasonable practices which create risk or harm.

COMMON SOURSES OF NEGLIGENCE:


Nurses should be aware of the common negligent acts that have resulted in lawsuits against hospital
and nurses.
The commonly occurring examples are outlined below:
1. Medication errors that result in injury to client
2. Intravenous therapy errors resulting in infiltration or phlebitis.
3. Burn to clients caused by equipment, bathing, or spill of hot liquids and food.
4. Falls resulting in injury to client.
5. Failure to use aseptic technique where required.
6. Errors in sponge, instruments, or needle count in surgical cases.
7. Failure to give a report, or giving an incomplete report, to an oncoming shift.
8. Failure to adequately monitor a client’s condition.
9. Failure to notify a physician of a significant change in a client’s status.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
 Health education and awareness programme for people should be conducted through media so
that common man should be educated regarding intricacies of human body, disease and
treatment.
 The limit of penalty imposed on opposite party, if the complaints made against nursing
practitioners is found to be frivolous (as per the amendment in section 26 of the CPA in 1993)
should exceed from present Rs. 10,000/- to Rs. 50,000/- so that frivolous complaints will be
reduced.
 The nurses must not indulge in malpractice.
 A nurse has right to refuse to assist any medical practitioner if he/ she indulge in malpractice.

PREVENTION:

 Reduced reliance on memory by using checklists protocols and computerised decision aids for
prescription writing.
 Improved information access with availability of computerised medical records at bedside.
 Standardization of drug doses and time of administration, of information displays, equipment and
supplies location in hospital.
 Training of doctors, nursing and other staff in safe practice.

SUMMARIZATION:

The consumer protection act(CPA) was passed by the government of India in 1986 to protect the interests of
the consumer. Consumer means any person who buys any goods against consideration is consumer.
Similarly any person who hires service against consideration is also a consumer. In health care delivery,
patient is a consumer.

CONCLUSION:

Rules and regulations framed by statuary bodies must be strictly followed at all levels. Continuing nursing
education programme through workshops, conferences and in service education courses to refresh their
knowledge and also to create awareness among nurses regarding new technologies in medical sciences,
which will be beneficial for self-development, to patient and society at large.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 Elakkuvana Bhaskar Raj. D, Anbu .T, Loganathan G, Venkatesan .B, textbook of management of
nursing service and education, emmess publication, 3rd edition, 2017, page no 329-331.
 Clement .I, textbook of management of nursing services and eduation, elsevier publication, 2nd edition,
page no 498-499.
 Kumar Neelam, sharma madhu, textbook of nursing administration and ward management,pee vee
publication, page no 112-114.
 www.google.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 https://www.slideshare.net/atifghayas/cpa-28483926

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