By Ridhima Malhotra
PM Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the government is working
on a new consumer protection act to empower consumers and enforce stricter
guidelines on misleading advertisements. The new consumer protection act will
ensure that the grievances are addressed in a time-bound and cost effective
manner.
Speaking at the inauguration of a two day international
conference for consumer protection, PM Modi spoke at length about the GST Law
and said that it would be beneficial for the consumers. He stated that GST
would help the prices to come down because of tough competition amongst the
manufacturers. He also focused on the importance of protecting the consumer
interests.
This new law will replace the Consumer Protection Act 1986, and
will instead incorporate the revised 2015 UN guidelines on consumer protection.
The law comes at a time when the government is initiating overhauls in several
sectors. The Government had recently enacted a new Real Estate (Regulation and
Development) Act to protect home buyers interest. The RERA legislation would
protect buyers from builder’s monopoly.
The law comes as a welcome move at a time when many believe that
the existing consumer law is riddled with loopholes. With the dwindling
consumer confidence, the revised law certainly attains significance. Experts
have also suggested that the new consumer protection act will safeguard the
customer’s rights and will help them save money by initiating favourable measures.
What remains to be seen is if it will succeed at the implementation level.
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