Consumer Protection and Business Law
This domain tests the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the essentials of a valid contract under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, and basic sale-of-goods rules. Definitions, rights and the correct forum carry most of the marks.
Consumer Protection Act, 2019
- A consumer buys goods or hires services for consideration, including online and e-commerce purchases; buying for resale or a commercial purpose is excluded, but goods bought for self-employment are covered.
- Six rights: safety, information, choice, being heard, redressal, consumer education.
- Three-tier redressal, with pecuniary limits revised in 2021: District Commission up to ₹50 lakh; State Commission above ₹50 lakh up to ₹2 crore; National Commission above ₹2 crore.
- A complaint must be filed within two years of the cause of action. The Act also covers product liability, unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements (CCPA), and e-commerce rules apply to online sellers.
Contract basics (Indian Contract Act, 1872)
Valid contract needs offer and acceptance, consideration, capacity, free consent, lawful object and intention to create legal relations. Void agreements are unenforceable from the start; voidable contracts are enforceable until the aggrieved party rescinds.
Worked example
A customer buys a ₹30,000 phone that stops working in a month and the seller refuses to replace it. The value is within ₹50 lakh, so the District Commission has jurisdiction; the complaint must be filed within two years of the refusal. Relief can include replacement or refund plus compensation for loss and mental agony.
Traps that cost marks
- Calling a person who buys goods for resale a consumer.
- Filing before the wrong commission because of a wrong pecuniary limit.
- Forgetting that consideration must be real but need not be adequate.
- Ignoring the caveat emptor exceptions: misrepresentation, fitness for a disclosed purpose, and sale by description.