Offences and Penalties under the Consumer Law

In one line

The Act punishes disobedience of the regulator, misleading advertisements, and the manufacture or sale of adulterated or spurious goods, with punishment rising to life imprisonment where a consumer dies.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: Chapter VII of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 creates the offences; section 88 punishes non-compliance with a direction of the Central Authority, section 89 a false or misleading advertisement, section 90 the manufacture, storage, sale, distribution or import of goods containing an adulterant, and section 91 the same acts in relation to spurious goods, the punishment in the last two graded by the harm caused and rising to imprisonment for life where a consumer dies; section 92 requires a complaint by the Central Authority or an officer authorised by it before a court takes cognizance, section 93 punishes a vexatious search, and section 96 allows compounding of offences under sections 88 and 89.

The offences

Section 88: disobeying the Central Authority. Whoever fails to comply with a direction of the Central Authority is punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to twenty lakh rupees, or with both.

Section 89: false or misleading advertisement. Imprisonment up to two years and fine up to ten lakh rupees; for a subsequent offence, imprisonment up to five years and fine up to fifty lakh rupees. Chapter [Misleading Advertisements and the Liability of an Endorser] works it out.

Section 90: adulterated goods. Whoever, by himself or through another, manufactures for sale, stores, sells, distributes or imports any product containing an adulterant is punishable:

(a) where the act does not result in injury, with imprisonment up to six months and fine up to one lakh rupees;

(b) where it causes injury not amounting to grievous hurt, with imprisonment up to one year and fine up to three lakh rupees;

(c) where it causes grievous hurt, with imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to five lakh rupees;

(d) where it results in death, with imprisonment of not less than seven years, which may extend to imprisonment for life, and fine of not less than ten lakh rupees.

Sub-section (2): the offences in clauses (c) and (d) are cognizable and non-bailable.

Sub-section (3): besides the punishment, the court may, on a first conviction, suspend any licence issued to the person under any law for up to two years, and on a second or subsequent conviction, cancel it.

Section 91: spurious goods. The same three grades for injury, grievous hurt and death, with the same penalties as clauses (b), (c) and (d) of section 90, spurious goods being goods falsely claimed to be genuine under section 2(43).