PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE
- Consumer Protection Bill
- Community innovation
1 . Consumer Protection Bill
Context : Lok Sabha passed the Consumer Protection Bill 2019
Salient Features of the Bill
- Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA): Executive Agency to provide relief to a class of consumers. The CCPA will be empowered to-
- Conduct investigations into violations of consumer rights and institute Complaints /Prosecution
- Order recall of unsafe goods and services
- Order discontinuance of Unfair Trade Practices and Misleading Advertisements
- Impose penalties on Manufactures /Endorsers /Publishers of Misleading Advertisements
- Simplified Dispute Resolution process
- i) Pecuniary Jurisdiction enhanced to-
- District Commission –Up to Rs1 crore
- State Commission- Between Rs1 crore and Rs 10 crore
- National Commission –Above Rs.10 crore
- ii) Deemed admissibility after 21days of filing
- iii) Empowerment of Consumer Commission to enforce their orders
- iv) Appeals only on question of law after second stage
- v) Ease of approaching consumer commission
- Filing from place of residence
- E-filing
- Videoconferencing for hearing
- i) Pecuniary Jurisdiction enhanced to-
- Mediation
- An Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism
- Reference to Mediation by Consumer Forum wherever scope for early settlement exists and parties agree for it.
- Mediation cells to be attached to Consumer Forum
- No appeal against settlement through mediation
- Product Liability
- A manufacturer or product service provider or product seller to be responsible to compensate for injury or damage caused by defective product or deficiency in services
- The Basis for product liability action will be:
- Manufacturing defect
- Design defect
- Deviation from manufacturing specifications
- Not conforming to express warranty
- Failing to contain adequate instruction for correct use
- Services provided arefaulty, imperfect or deficient
New Bill- Benefit to Consumers
- Presently Consumer only have a single point of access to justice, which is time consuming. Additional swift executive remedies are proposed in the bill through Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)
- Deterrent punishment to check misleading advertisements and adulteration of products
- Product liability provision to deter manufacturers and service providers from delivering defective products or deficient services
- Ease of approaching Consumer Commission and Simplification of Adjudication process
- Scope for early disposal of cases through mediation
- Provision for rules for new age consumer issues: e-commerce & direct selling
2 . Community innovation
Context : In yet another step to foster innovation in India, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), flagship initiative of NITI Aayog is all set to launch a new milestone program for community innovation
About the initiative
- The new initiative aims to encourage the spirit of innovation in the country.
- Purpose of the new initiative is to make innovation ecosystem socially inclusive as well as to ensure equitable distribution of infrastructure for innovation across the country.
- New program has been specifically designed for underserved, unserved regions of Tier 1 or Metro cities, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, Smart Cities, Aspirational districts, North-East, Jammu and Kashmir as well as the rural and tribal regions of India.