To help customers settle their complaints more quickly and easily, the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 was established. The Act explicitly provided the word “customer” extra rights and special safeguards for the first time. It is important to note that the Act’s intent is to protect all consumers, not just those in the traditional sense. The Act is comprehensive because its main objective is to preserve consumers’ interests by protecting them from subpar products, subpar services, unfair business practises, and restricted business activities. To guarantee that vendors behave in the public interest and safeguard consumer rights against dishonest practises, the government has passed a number of legislation.
To help customers settle their complaints more quickly and easily, the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 was established. The Act explicitly provided the word “customer” extra rights and special safeguards for the first time. It is important to note that the Act’s intent is to protect all consumers, not just those in the traditional sense. The Act is comprehensive because its main objective is to preserve consumers’ interests by protecting them from subpar products, subpar services, unfair business practises, and restricted business activities. To guarantee that vendors behave in the public interest and safeguard consumer rights against dishonest practises, the government has passed a number of legislation.
What are Goods?
Term goods is defined under Section 2(21) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. According to this section, goods mean any property which is movable. Goods also include food as defined under section 3(1)(j) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Illustration: A brought a book from B for a consideration of Rs. 500. Here, the book is a tangible good and Rs. 500 is the amount paid for it as a consideration.
What is Defect?
Every consumer desire that the goods he bought are in a situation as desired by him means there shouldn’t be any defect in it but, how can we define this defect?
Section 2(10) defines a defect as any
- Shortcoming
- Imperfection
- Fault
in some parameters of goods such as -:
purity, quality, quantity, potency, or standard which the producer is required to maintain or provided under any law or any contract or implied by the trader in any manner.[5]
Defective Goods
From the above definitions, it is easy to identify a defective good. Goods that include any of the shortcomings given under section 2(10) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 is a defective good.
Illustrations
- Adulterated milk is a defective good.
- Beauty products which may badly affect users’ skin is a defective good.
RECENT CASE LAWS RELATED TO DEFECTIVE GOODS
- Antonio Paulo Vaz v. Tata Motors Ltd. In one instance, a dealer sold Vaz a faulty, 2-year-old vehicle rather of a brand-new one. Vaz asked the dealer to replace the automobile or refund the money, but the dealer declined. Vaz complained to the district commission about the manufacturer and dealer, and the panel found both of them equally responsible. Manufacturers submitted a rebuttal of the case to the National Commission, and the court ruled that the Manufacturer is not responsible for the fault of the dealers until the Manufacturer’s fault is established in instances.
- M/S Sugoi Motors Ltd. v. Gurdial Chadha In this instance, Gurdial Chadha purchased a vehicle in 2017 however it was not delivered as promised. But the petitioner filed the complaint in 2020 after the expiry of the statutory period of two years under section 24A of the Consumer Protection Act. Therefore, the court couldn’t investigate the same even if the car was defective or not as per specifications.
Due to its broad scope, a fault in goods can occur in many different situations. No matter the product’s size, shape, colour, dimension, condition of matter, or other characteristics, defects may still exist. The service flaw frequently results in discomfort, harm, and in severe cases, death. Producers of things must be extremely cautious about the products they are producing.
All customers worldwide are concerned about safety and seek it out.
A little flaw in a product can have a significant effect on the consumer, who may suffer harm. This harm encompasses losses in terms of the body, mind, and wallet.
Cases of the defect in goods are too many to count and have rapidly increased with the introduction of online shopping. The Consumer Protection Act tries to limit these grievances of the consumers by penalizing the producers of such goods. It is the much-required means of providing justice to those consumers who have been at a loss or inconvenience.
REFERENCES:
Consumer Protection Act, 2019,Section 21(2), Section 2(10)
S. Sekhar(2018), Defect in Goods, https://lawtimesjournal.in/defect-in-goods/#:~:text=Section%202(1)(f,Purity
Devm(2021),Defective Goods and Deficiency in Services in Consumer Protection Act, 2019, https://www.juscorpus.com/defective-goods-and-deficiency-in-service-in-consumer-protection-act/
Meaning of Defect in Goods (2021), https://www.legalaims.com/meaning-of-defects-in-goods/
P. Vasudevan (2021),Defect in goods and deficiency of services under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986
M. Revati (2016),Who can be sued for deficiency of services under the Consumer Protection Act
,https://blog.ipleaders.in/sued-deficiency-services-consumer-protection-act/
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