Opportunity to celebrate “Consumer is the King”
By Bhamy V. Shenoy
Every year Dec. 24 is celebrated as National Consumer Day (NCD). It was the day Indian Parliament adapted Consumer Protection Act (CPA) in 1986. On this day we have been discussing that “Consumer is the King” and how CPA helps the consumers.
However this year we should resolve to make a difference. Finally after several amendments over the years to CPA 1986, it was comprehensively amended in 2019. The theme of NCD this year as suggested by Ministry of Consumer Affairs is “New features of Consumer Protection Act 2019 (NCPA).”
The old Consumer Protection Act of 1986 was a great gift to us by Parliament despite its faulty implementation by the Consumer Courts. Most of the retired Judges presiding over them converted them into veritable Civil Courts and failed to give judgements within the stipulated 90 days.