Complaint under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Meaning and Grounds

A consumer forum's door opens only to a complaint, and 'complaint' is a defined term: a written allegation that one or more of seven statutory wrongs exists, made to obtain the Act's reliefs. The definition is therefore the Commissions' subject-matter jurisdiction in miniature: a grievance that fits a ground is justiciable; one that fits none, however real, belongs elsewhere. This note sets out the definition, then each ground, with what must be alleged and where each leads.

1. The Text of Section 2(6)

Three features frame the definition. It requires an allegation in writing, matched by the filing provisions (including electronic filing). It is tied to relief under the Act, the complaint must seek what Section 39 can give. And its grounds include contracts 'agreed to be' made: a booking not yet performed, goods agreed to be bought, already supports a complaint.

2. The Seven Grounds

2.1 Unfair contracts, unfair and restrictive trade practices

Ground (a) collects the practice-based wrongs. An unfair trade practice (Section 2(47)) is the deceptive promotion of goods or services, false representations, misleading price claims, disparagement, bargain bait, gift schemes, plus the 2019 additions: not issuing a bill, refusing thirty-day refund of defective goods, and misusing personal information. A restrictive trade practice (Section 2(41)) manipulates price or supply, including delay likely to raise cost and tie-in sales. An unfair contract (Section 2(46)) is the one-sided standard form, excessive deposits, disproportionate penalties, unilateral termination or assignment, unreasonable burdens; note the forum nuance: complaints lie across the tiers, but the power to declare unfair terms null and void belongs to the State and National Commissions (Sections 47(1)(a)(ii) and 58(1)(a)(iii)).

2.2 Defective goods and deficient services

Grounds (b) and (c) are the daily bread of consumer litigation. Defect (Section 2(10)) is any fault or shortcoming in the quality, quantity, potency, purity or standard of goods required by law, contract or the trader's own claim; deficiency (Section 2(11)) is any shortcoming in the quality, nature or manner of performance of a service, expressly including negligence or omission causing loss, and deliberate withholding of relevant information. The complaint should identify the standard invoked (statute, contract, representation) and the shortfall against it; expert evidence and laboratory analysis (Section 38(2)(c)) supply the proof for goods.

2.3 Overcharging

Ground (d) makes excess pricing independently actionable, measured against four benchmarks: the price fixed by or under law; the price displayed on the goods or package (the MRP under the Legal Metrology regime); the price on the trader's exhibited price list; and the price agreed between the parties. Charging above any applicable benchmark grounds the complaint, no defect or deceit need be shown.

2.4 Hazardous goods and hazardous services

Grounds (e) and (f) protect life and safety. For goods, the allegation is sale to the public of goods hazardous when used, in contravention of standards prescribed by law, or where the trader knows them unsafe; for services, offering services the provider knows to be injurious to life and safety. These grounds pair with the consumer's first right (protection against hazardous goods, Section 2(9)(i)), with the CCPA's recall and refund powers, and with the criminal provisions for adulterated and spurious goods (Sections 89 to 91 territory).

2.5 Product liability

Ground (g), new in 2019, lets the complaint carry a product liability action under Chapter VI: a claim that harm, personal injury, death, property damage, with consequential mental agony, was caused by a defective product, against the product manufacturer, product seller or product service provider, on the liability bases and defences of Sections 83 to 87. The complaint framework is the same; the cause of action and its ingredients are the chapter's own.

3. Complaint, Relief and Forum

The grounds map onto the reliefs of Section 39: removal of defects, replacement, refund, compensation (including for negligence), punitive damages in fit cases, discontinuance of unfair practices, withdrawal of hazardous goods, ceasing manufacture of hazardous products, declaring unfair terms void, corrective advertisement, and costs. Which Commission takes the complaint follows the pecuniary rules (value of goods or services paid as consideration: District up to fifty lakh, State to two crore, National above) and the territorial rules (opposite party's place, cause of action, or the complainant's residence or workplace). Limitation is two years from the cause of action (Section 69), with condonation for sufficient cause; admissibility is to be decided in twenty-one days, failing which the complaint is deemed admitted (Section 36(3)).

4. Related Topics and Provisions

• Consumer and complainant (Topics 5 and 7): who brings the allegation
• Consumer dispute (Topic 9): what the complaint becomes on denial
• Defect, deficiency and the practice definitions (Topic 4): the grounds' vocabulary
• Section 39 reliefs, jurisdiction and limitation: where each ground leads, in later notes
• Chapter VI: the product liability ground in full