(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
[(a) "Appropriate laboratory" means a laboratory or organization-
(i) Recognized by the Central Government;
(ii) Recognized by a State Government, subject to such guidelines as may be prescribed by the
Central Government in this behalf; or
(iii) Any such laboratory or organization established by or under any law for the time being
in force, which is maintained, financed or aided by the Central Government or a State
Government for carrying out analysis or test of any goods with a view to determining whether
such goods suffer from any defect;]
(aa) "Branch office" means -
(i) Any establishment described as a branch by the opposite party; or
(ii) Any establishment carrying on either the same or substantially the same activity
as that carried on by the head office of the establishment;
(b) "Complainant" means -
(i) A consumer; or
(ii) Any voluntary consumer association registered under the companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956),
or under any other law for the time being in force; or
(iii) The Central Government or any State Government, who or which makes a complaint;
(iv) One or more consumers where there are numerous consumers having the same interest;]
(v) in case of death of a consumer, his legal heir or representative. who or which makes a
complaint;
(c) "Complaint'' means any allegation in writing made by a complainant that-
(i) An unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade practice has been adopted by
[any trader or service provider;]]
(ii) The goods bought by him or agreed to be bought by him] suffer from one or more defects;
(iii)[Service hired or availed of or agreed to be hired or availed of by him] suffer
from deficiency in any respect;
(iv) a trader or the service provider, as the case may be, has charged for the goods or
for the service mentioned in the complaint, a price in excess of the price in excess
of the price
(a) fixed by or under any law for the time being in force;
(b) displayed on the goods or any package containing such goods;
(c) displayed on the price list exhibited by him by or under any law for the time being
in force;
(d) agreed between the parties;
(v) goods which will be hazardous to life and safety when used are being offered for
sale to the public;-
(A)in contravention of any standards relating to safety of such goods as required
to be complied with, by or under any law for the time being in force;
(B)if the trader could have known with due diligence that the goods so offered are
unsafe to the public;]
(vi) service which are hazardous or likely to be hazardous to life and safety of the
public when used, are being offered by the service provider which such person could
have known with due diligence to be injurious to life and safety.]
(d) "Consumer" means any person who, -
(i) Buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly
paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes
any user of such goods other than the person who buys such goods for consideration
paid or promised or partly paid or partly promised or under any system of
deferred payment when such use is made with the approval of such person but does
not include a person who obtains such goods for resale or for any commercial
purpose; or
(ii) [Hires or avails of] any services for a consideration which has been paid or
promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred
payment and includes any beneficiary of such services other then the person
who 8[hires or avails of] the services for consideration paid or promised, or
partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment, when
such services are availed of with the approval of the first mentioned person [but
does not include a person wo avails of such services for any commercial purpose];
Explanation.For the purposes of this sub-clause "commercial purpose" does not include use
by a consumer of goods bought and used by him and services availed by him
exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood, by means of
self-employment;]
(e) "Consumer dispute'' means a dispute where the person against whom a complaint has
been made,denies or disputes the allegations contained in the complaint;
(f) "Defect" means any fault, imperfection or short coming in the quality, quantity,
purity or standard which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the
time being in force or [under any contract express or implied or] as is claimed by
the trader in any manner whatsoever in relation to any goods;
(g) "Deficiency" means any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality,
nature and manner of 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
in pursuance of a contract or otherwise in relation to any service;
(h) "District Forum" means a Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum established under
Cl. (a) of sec. 9;
(i) "Goods" means goods as defined in the sale of Goods Act, 1930 {3 of 1930);
(j) "Manufacturer" means a person who-
(i) Makes or manufactures any goods or parts thereof; or
(ii) Does not make or manufacture any goods but assembles parts thereof, made or
manufactured by others; or
(iii) Puts or causes to be put his own mark on any goods made or manufactured by any
other manufacturer.Explanation. Where a manufacturer despatches any goods or
part thereof to any branch office maintained by him, such branch office shall
not be deemed to be the manufacturer even though the parts so despatched to it
are assembled at such branch office and are sold or distributed from such
branch office:
(jj) "Member" includes the President and a member of the National commission or a
State Commission or a District Forum, as the case may be;]
(k) "National Commission" means the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
established under CI. (c) of sec. 9:
(l) "National" means a notification published in the official Gazette;
(m) "Person" includes, -
(i) A firm whether registered or not;
(ii) A Hindu undivided family;
(iii) A Co-operative society;
(iv) Every other association of persons whether registered under the societies
Registration Act, 1860 (21of 1860), or not;
(n) "Prescribed" means prescribed by the rules made by the State Government, or as
the case may be, the Central Government under this Act;
(nn) "regulation" means the regulations made by the national
Commission under this Act;
(nnn) "restrictive trade practice" means a trade practice which tends to being
about manipulation of price or its conditions of delivery or to affect
flow of supplies in the market relating to goods or service in such a
manner as to impose on the consumers unjustified costs or restrictions
and shall include-
(a) delay beyond the period agreed to be a trader in supply of such goods or
in providing the services which has led or is likely to lead to rise in the price;
(b) any trade practice which requires a consumer to buy, hire or avail of any goods or,
as the case may be services as-condition precedent to buying, hiring or availing
of other goods or services.]
(o) "Services" means service of any description which is made available to potential
[users and includes, but not limited to, the provision of] facilities in connection
with banking, Financing insurance, transport, processing, supply of electrical or other
energy, board or lodging or both, [housing construction] entertainment, amusement
or the purveying of news or other information, but does not include the rendering
of any service free of charge or under a contract of personal service;
(oo) "spurious goods and services" mean such goods and services which are claimed
to be genuine but they are actually not so,]
(p)"State Commission" means a Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established in a
State under CI (b) of Sec. 9;
(q)"Trader" in relation to any goods means " a person who sells or distributes any goods
for sale and includes the manufacturer thereof, and where such goods are sold or
istributed in package form, includes the packer thereof";
(r) "Unfair trade practice" means a trade practice which, for the purpose of promoting the
sale, use or supply of any goods or for the provision of any service, adopts any unfair
method or unfair or deceptive practice including any of the following practices, namely:
(1) The practice of making any statement, whether orally or in writing or by visible
representation which, -
(i) Falsely represents that the goods are of a particular standard, quality, quantity;
grade-composition, style or model;
(ii) Falsely represents that the service of a particular standard, quality or grade;
(iii) Falsely represents any re-built, second-hand, renovated, reconditioned or
old goods as new goods;
(iv) Represents that the goods or service have sponsorship, approval, performance,
characteristics,accessories, uses or benefits which such goods or service do not have;
(v) Represents that the seller or the supplier has a sponsorship or approval or affiliation
which such seller or supplier does not have;
(vi) Makes a false or misleading representation concerning the need for, or the usefulness
of,any goods or service;
(vii) Gives to the public any warranty or guarantee of the performance, efficacy or length
of life of a product or of any goods that is not based on an adequate or proper
test thereof Provided that where a defence is raised to the effect that such
warranty or guarantee is based on adequate or proper test, the burden of proof
of such defense shall lie on the person raising such defense;
(viii) Makes to the public a representation in a form that purports to be -
(i) A warranty or guarantee of a product or of any goods or service; or
(ii) A promise to replace, maintain or repair an article or any part thereof or
to repeat or continue a service until it has achieved a specified result,
if such purported warranty or guarantee or promise is materially misleading or
if there is no reasonable prospect that such warranty, guarantee or promise
will be carried out;
(ix)Materially misleads the public concerning the price at which a product or like
products or goods or service, have been or are, ordinarily sold or provided,
and, for this purpose, a representation as to price shall be deemed to
refer to the price at which the product or goods or service has or have
been sold by sellers or provided by suppliers generally in the relevant
market unless it is clearly specified to be the price at which the product
has been sold or services have been provided by the person by whom or on
whose behalf the representation is made;
(x) Gives false or misleading facts disparaging the goods, services or trade of
another person;
Explanation. For the purposes of CI. (1), a statement that is----
(a) Expressed on an article offered or displayed for sale, or on its wrapper or
container; or
(b) Expressed on anything attached to, inserted in, or accompanying an article
offered or displayed for sale or on anything on which the article is mounted
for display or sale; or
(c) Contained in or on anything is sold, sent, delivered, transmitted or in
any other manner whatsoever made available to a member of the public,
Shall be deemed to be a statement made to the public by, and only by,
the person who had caused the statement to be so expressed, made or contained;
(2) Permits the publication of any advertisement whether in any newspaper or otherwise,
for the sale or supply at a bargain price, of goods or the services that are not
intended to be offered for sale or supply at the bargain price, or for a period
that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable, having regard to the nature of
the market in which the business is carried on, the nature and size of business,
And the nature of the advertisement.
Explanation.-- For the purposes of CI. (2), "bargaining price" means
(a) A price that is stated in any advertisement to be a bargain price, by
reference to an ordinary price or otherwise, or
(b) A price that a person who reads, hears or sees the advertisement, would
reasonably understand to be a bargain price having regard to the
prices at which the product advertised or like products are ordinarily sold:
(3) Permits-
(a) The offering of gifts, prizes or other items with the intention of not providing them as
offered or creating impression that something is being given or offered free of charge
when it is fully or partly covered by the amount charged in the transaction as a whole;
(b) The conduct of any contest, lottery, game of chance or skill, for the purpose of promoting,
directly or indirectly, the sale, use or supply of any product or any business interest;
(3A) withholding from the participants of any scheme offering gifts, prizes or other
items freeof charge, on its closure the information about final results of the scheme.
Explanation: for the purposes of this sub-clause, the participants of a scheme shall be
deemed to have been informed of the final results of the scheme where such
results are within a reasonable time published, prominently in the same
newspapers in which the scheme was originally advertised.]
(4) Permits the sale or supply of goods intended to be used, or are of kind likely to be used,
by consumers, knowing or having reason to believe that the goods do not comply with
the standards prescribed by competent authority relating to performance, composition,
contents. Design, constructions, finishing or packaging as are necessary to prevent or
reduce the risk of injury to the person using the goods;
(5) Permits the hoarding or destruction of goods, or refuses to sell the goods or to make
them available for sale or to provide any service, if such hoarding or destruction or
refusal raises or tends to raises or is intended to raise, the cost of those or other
similar goods or services."
(6) Manufacture of spurious goods or offering such good for sale or adopting deceptive
practices in the provision of Services.]
(7) Any reference in this Act to any other Act or provision thereof which is not in
force in any area to which this Act applies shall be construed to have reference
to the corresponding Act or provision thereof in force in such areas.
