Consumers play a key role in maintaining the economy of India. Each and every person constitutes a consumer because each one of us is engaged in some form of exchange of goods or services through money as a medium. Gradually, there arise many kinds of disputes among the consumers as well as consumers and the sellers. In this context, it has to be stated that there lies a need for a statute which regulates the friction between the consumers and the sellers. For this purpose, Consumer Protection Act was enacted in the year 1986 to look after the various rights and duties of the consumers during the time of purchasing a product and even after that. The Act plays an important role in the fields where there arises an incidence of exchange of goods or services between two persons where money acts as a medium. The Act also provides certain guidelines as to what measures must be complied with during the time of such exchange, what are the various rights available to both the buyer and seller etc. It also provides certain provisions regarding the need and formulation of various ‘Consumer Redressal Centres’ both at the central as well as states level.
The Act lays down certain provisions regarding the definition of consumer, various consumer protection councils, and provisions in connection with various consumer redressal agencies in India as well as other miscellaneous provisions. Among this, provisions relating to consumer redressal agencies demand a lot of attention in the present Indian scenario. Many people are still not aware that there are such agencies working in favor of consumers in every district. Due to this reason, many of them are not getting proper solutions for their problems as consumers. Chapter III of the Act provides for the implementation of redressal agencies. Section 9 of the Act provides for ‘establishment of consumer dispute redressal agencies’ which include:
- A District forum established by the State Government in each district of the State by its notification.
- A State Commission established by the State Government in each state by its notification and
- A National Commission established by Central Government by notification
