Consumer Protection Act to be amended to ease mediation

Move to facilitate out-of-court settlements

Alarmed by the piling up of cases in consumer courts across the country, the department of consumer affairs is mulling a significant change in the Consumer Protection Act-1986 to facilitate mediation and arbitration.

According to officials, the department plans to create a structure of arbitration and mediation at the point of grievance (the place where the consumer is located) before the case is finally moved to the court.

The structure could involve empowering panchayats, gram sabhas or similar institutions to mediate and arbitrate between parties. The idea is to ensure an aggrieved consumer moves court only after he has exhausted all other options.

"It has been observed that because of the large number of cases in consumer courts, the delivery of justice is painstakingly slow, which sometime goes on for years, killing the very essence of the Consumer Protection Act - to deliver swift justice. Therefore, we are proposing a crucial change which will help in appointing arbitrators for ensuring out of court settlement of the case," a senior official from the department of consumer affairs said.

BOOSTING CONSUMER SENTIMENTS

• Govt to amend Consumer Protection Act to facilitate arbitration and out-of-court settlement between parties
• Amendment will enable consumers to file complaint at places of their residence
• Disputes between realty players and buyers may be resolved faster
• Amendment to give powers to govt to designate mediators and arbitrators

He said the very purpose of the amendment is to ensure that justice is delivered fast to the consumers and at their nearest point of contact and they are not made to run from pillar to post to file a basic complaint.

"Work on the amendments has started and we have invited public comments on the same and hope to introduce them in Parliament as soon as possible," the official said.

Explaining the purpose of the amendment, noted consumer rights activist and founder of Consumer Online Foundation, which pioneered the Jago Grahak Jago campaign, Bijon Misra said the amendments also empower an aggrieved consumer to file a complaint at his nearest point of judgment, irrespective of the fact where the office of the company is located.

"To develop such a mechanism of arbitration and out-of-court settlement, it is proposed to give panchayats and gram sabhas the power to arbitrate and summon parties," Misra added.

According to the proposed amendment, the mediator appointed by the government will facilitate resolution of dispute between parties through the normal process. The mediator will facilitate discussion between the parties, assist to identify issues, reduce misunderstandings, clarify priorities, explore areas of compromise, generate options to solve the dispute and emphasise it is the parties' own responsibility for making decisions that affect them.

"The state-run arbitration or mediation mechanism will come handy in cases between real estate builders and buyers as well as others as the internal mechanism in companies is not trusted by the consumers," Misra added.