Generally unfair trade practices may include illegally refusing any transaction, deceptively soliciting customers, disrupting business activities of the rivals unfairly, unfairly excluding competitors. In the new corporate and business world today where there is cut throat competition the business persons daringly use unfair trade practices to edge over the other. This may give them advantage for short term but in long run it affects the organization and eventually the entire industry and society. The misrepresentation of the goods can be of any kind. The unfair trade practices also invite a cluster of torts and can bring in unwanted financial losses to the sellers.
In India, till 2002, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act (MRTP), which was enacted to prevent monopolies and restrictive trade practices, was the foremost legislation to deal with unfair trade practices in the country. The MRTP Act was repealed giving way to the Competition Act, 2002, thus transferring all the pending cases in the MRTPC to Competition Commission of India (CCI) for adjudication from the stages they were in. However, no provision to deal with unfair trade practice was incorporated in the Competition Act and thus this was, instead, given effect under Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (COPRA) which was already dealing with unfair trade practices.
Unfair trade practices in India have penetrated through various sectors to the Indian Scenario. Some of them are through Food Processing Industry, Pharmaceutical Industry, Insurance, Education etc.
Case Laws:
- Pooja Roy v. Krishnango Bhattacharya14
M/s Kasko India, a wholesale license drug dealer was charged for engaging in altering the original labels of the manufacturer and pasting fresh printed labels extending the expiry date and selling spurious drugs. This was considered as a unfair trade practice in the pharmaceutical sector.
- Consumer Guidance Society v. Amway India Enterprises:
The Amway Enterprises who offers a variety of consumer product and food supplements. It was found that some products of Amway were misbranded and also adulterer. The products like Nutrilite Protein, Amway Madrid Safad Musli contained different quality of ingredients than mentioned in the label. On the f9indings it was held that Amway have restores to unfair means of business and were charged compensation charges and directed to remove their misbranded products and renew their advertisements.
Consumers are frequently being subjected to unfair trade practices by the giant sellers and consumers are becoming a prey to their cut throat business competition. The awareness among consumers in today’s modernized world is giving way to consumers ascertaining the rights provided to them under Consumer Protection Act and seeking redressal against the unfair trade practice. The illiterate group of consumers should be made aware of their rights that they can use to safeguard themselves from such unfair practices by the monopolists. The government should take measures to educate people about the various redressal forms that they can approach on breach of their rights as a consumer. Involvement of trade and industry, civil society organizations and above all consumer themselves is vital to keep a check on the practice of unfair trade in the years to come.
Aishwarya Says:
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