What a complaint must contain: This question has been answered in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 under Sec. 2(1)(c), which states that:
“A complaint must contain any of the following allegations”:
- An unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade practice has been adopted by any trader
- The goods bought by him or agreed to be bought by him suffer from one or more defects
- The services hired or availed of or agreed to be hired or availed of by him suffer from deficiency in any respect
- A trader has charged for the goods mentioned in the complaint a price in excess of the price fixed by or under any law for the time being in force or displayed on the goods or any package containing such goods
- Goods which will be hazardous to life and safety when used, are being offered for sale to the public in contravention of the provisions of any law for the time being in force requiring traders to display information in regard to the contents, manner, and effect of use of such goods”.
When a complaint cannot be filed: Firstly, a complaint cannot be filed unless the complainant satisfies the criteria for being a “consumer” under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Further, if a complaint is on behalf of the public, which consists of unidentifiable consumers, it will not stand in the court.
In Consumer Education and Research Society, Ahmedabad v. Indian Airlines Corporation, New Delhi, a complaint was filed keeping a newspaper report as its basis, alleging that the passengers were travelling by flight no. 1C-401 from Calcutta to Delhi on 13th May 1989 were made to stay at the airport when the flight got delayed by 90 minutes, thus causing great inconvenience to the passengers. It was held that such a complaint cannot be said to be viable as it was a general complaint. No specific person, who was traveling by the said flight, came forward to authorise the complaint.
Similarly, a complaint by an individual on behalf of the general public is not permitted.
If the complainant is found to be an unregistered association, the complaint will not be entertained in the redressal forum. An illustration in this regard can be the case of Gulf Trivandrum Air Fare Forum vs. Chairman & Managing Director, Air India, where the complainant was an association which was formed outside India and not registered in India. It was held that since the complainant was not a voluntary association registered under the laws of India, it does not have a locus standi under clause (d) of Sec. 2(1) to file a complaint. Hence the complaint was not entertained.
If a complainant files a complaint against any person or party to recover some amount as compensation with the motive of indulging in speculative litigation taking unjustified advantage of the fact that no court fee was payable under the Consumer Protection Act, the complaint so filed will not make a case and is liable to be dismissed on the ground of being frivolous and vexatious.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.
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