New consumer protection bill will bring justice to consumers soon: Paswan

The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said that the Consumer Protection bill aims at protecting the interests of consumers by timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers’ dispute.

New Delhi:'The Consumer Protection Bill aims at protecting the interests of consumers, by the end of this year the Bill will be implemented all over the country', Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Ram Vilas Paswan said that, Under the Bill, there is provision for central government to set up a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers and will be empowered to investigate, recall, refund and impose penalties.

It will regulate matters related to violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and misleading advertisements. There is also a provision for class action lawsuit for ensuring that the rights of consumers are not infringed upon.

The authority will have power to impose a penalty on a manufacturer or an endorser of up to 10 lakh rupees and imprisonment for up to two years for a false or misleading advertisement.

If the consumer suffers serious damage due to the use of fake goods, then the manufacturer will face a jail term of 7 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. If the consumer died due to use of adulterated and counterfeit goods, then the manufacturer would be sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of at least 10 lakh will be imposed.

At the same time, a provision has been made to cancel the license of the manufacturers, in the event of loss, the license of the manufacturers will be suspended.

Ram Vilas Paswan has said that this new bill will provide justice to consumers soon, the consumer court will now act like a consumer commission and consumers will now get justice within 90 days, as well as complaints of the product will be filed in 21 days.

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