The State Consumer Protection Councils

In terms of Section 7 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the State Govt. set up the State Consumer Protection Council. The Council was re-constituted under Notification No. 32(B)-DCA consisting of 85 members. The Minister-in-Charge, Consumer Affairs Department is the Chairman of the Council. The Council holds at least two meetings a year. The list of members is given in Annex XIX.

The object of the State Consumer Protection Council is to promote the rights of the Consumers as laid down in clauses (a) to (f) of Section 6 of the C.P. Act. 1986 as re-produced below :-

(a) the right to be protected against the marketing of goods ¹⁹[and services] which are hazardous to life and property;

(b) the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods ¹⁹[or services, as the cases may be], so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practice;

(c) the right to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of goods ¹⁹[and services] at competetive prices;

(d) the right to be heard and to be assured that consumer’s interest will receive due consideration at appropriate forums;

(e) the right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices ¹⁹[or restrictive trade practices] or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers; and

(f) the right to consumer’s education.