points on consumer protection act 1986

Consumer Protection Act 1986, a major step taken in 1986 by the Indian government was the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, popularly known as COPRA.

1. It applies to all goods and services.
2. It covers all sectors, i.e., private, public and cooperative.
3. This Act provides many rights to consumers. These rights are related to safety, information, choice, representation, redressal, education etc.
4. This Act provides safety to consumers regarding defective products, dissatisfactory services and unfair trade practices. So under the purview of this Act, there is a provision to ban all those activities which can cause a risk for the consumer.
5. Established consumer protection councils at centre and state levels.
6. Under COPRA, three-tier quasi-judicial machinery at district, state and national levels was set-up for redressal of consumer disputes. The Act has enabled the consumers to have the right to represent in the consumer courts. The enactment of COPRA has led to the setting up of separate departments of consumer affairs in central and state governments.