93 rd Orientation Training Progamme for the Presidents and Members of District Consumer Forums (November 07-11, 2016)

Transcription

1 93 rd Orientation Training Progamme for the Presidents and Members of District Consumer Forums (November 07-11, 2016) The Ninety-Third Orientation Training Programme for the Presidents and Members of the District Consumer Forums was organized by the Centre for Consumer Studies, the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi from November 07-11, The programme was sponsored by the Department of Consumer Affairs, GoI. Twenty One Presidents and Members of the District Forums from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu attended the programme. The objective of the programme was to build the capacity of the Presidents and Members of the District Forums to enable the redressal mechanism function effectively. Participants of 93 rd Orientation Training Programme The Course Coordinators Prof. Suresh Misra and Dr. Sapna Chadah welcomed the participants and briefed them about the programme objectives, contents and expectations from each participant. The participants while introducing themselves provided information about their educational qualification, work experience and the working of the District Consumer Forum. While highlighting the working of the District Consumer Forums, the participants gave an account of the nature of complaints, total number of pending cases, monthly disposal of cases and the time taken for the disposal of complaints. They also shared information about 1

2 availability of infrastructure facilities and working environment, including facilities available to them. The participants in general highlighted the various problems faced by them in discharging their responsibilities. The objective of the programme was to enhance the skills of the participants and also to acquaint them with the latest developments and judgments in the area of consumer jurisprudence. The participants were briefed about the activities of the Centre for Consumer Studies and IIPA. Justice V.B. Gupta, Former Member, NCDRC addressing the participants The programme was inaugurated by Justice V.B. Gupta, Former Member, NCDRC. Addressing the participants he said that the basic the Act is to provide protection welfare of consumer rights. For that the Act providers for three tier structure for Redressal of consumer grievances. Presently around 650 District Forums are there. The NCDRC is having 6 benches of which 5 are functional. The redresal machinery has been provided to compensate the consumer for the genuine loss suffered by him in a simple, easy and quick manner. The compensation has to be reasonable and not for enrichment of consumers. endeavour should be made to give quick, time bound redressal to consumers following the summary procedure. The quasi-judicial machinery is having a good record in dispute resolution inspite of many problems. No doubt consumer foras are working in difficult conditions and are having many handicaps. The District Forums are having infrastructure problems. There is no place to keep the records. The computers are not available. A committee of the Supreme Court has been appointed especially to look into these issues. It has been observed that the District Forum at Quatab Enclave is located at first floor which as not friendly for handicapped and old people. Inspite of these the foras are required to impart timely justice to the parties to maintain consumers confidence in the system. The credibility of the whole system depends on the kind of response the complaints get at the District Forum. The District Forums are the first 2

3 level of interaction with the consumers so they need to be consumer friendly. The judge should be gentle and give patient hearing to the litigants. They should act on the principles of natural justice. He advised the participants that their Orders should be supported by strong reasons. The judge should read the complaint and scrutinize it properly at the stage of admission itself to avoid delay. The address and the details of the O.P. should be properly mentioned. The aspects like who has filed the affidavit, the pecuniary jurisdiction need to be scrutinized properly at the admission stage itself. If a person has bought four flats, the purpose of the same needs to be looked into in the pleadings and decide whether it is for commercial purpose or not. But the compensation has to be reasonable and not for enrichment of consumers. Sometimes the consumers also file inflated claims just to come straight to NCDRC. The complaint has to mention the date on which cause of action arose as from that period of limitation will be decided. The documents which are filed along with the complaint should be legible. All these factors help in quick decision and 10 percent of complaints can be disposed of at admission stage only. Any amount of evidence which is beyond pleadings cannot be taken into account. You have to limit to the main pleadings.in the prviosn delaing with service of the notice, the word used is may - that means it is not mandatory to serve notice to all the parties. Only the party which has the right to sue should be served the notice. He advised the participants not to pass ex-parte order in haste. Where the notice is served and the O.P. is not found, then the notice is to be served again. You would not stop service of notice before publication. He also cautioned the participants, not to allow frivolous evidences. Exaggerated claims are filed just to jump the forum. Such bogus claims are required to be cut down. The claims for enrichment cannot be allowed. In cases of frivolous complaints heavy cost should be imposed. In medical negligence cases, the Members have to be very cautious as the doctor s career is at stake. If he has earlier got treatment as well then asks for earlier reports as well. In one case a lady was admitted to nursing home in Odisha at night. She was having Diabetes Mellitus and was having high fever. The doctor left at pm and instead of leaving trained nurse he left a pharmacist. When lady had 3

4 very high fever of F at night, the pharmacist gave medication and bath and the lady died. The programme was divided into a number of thematic sessions wherein inputs on a number of subjects having bearing on the working of the District Forums were discussed. In the introductory session on Consumer Protection: An Overview Prof. Suresh Misra illustrated the need and importance of Consumer Protection in the emerging world order. He focused on various problems being faced by the consumers and illustrated the lack of concern among the business towards consumer welfare. He also gave a comprehensive picture of the international dimension of Consumer Protection and traced the growth of consumer movement. He highlighted that it is in the interest of the business to provide quality products and services to the consumers. He highlighted the problems being faced in the redressal of consumer grievances at present and also the changes being brought through the new Bill to deal with new challenges like e-commerce in better and efficient manner. Prof. Suresh Misra briefing the Participants In the session on Consumer Protection: Law & Policy Dr. Sapna Chadah analyzed the legal history of consumer protection in India and the rationale for enactment of the Consumer Protection Act in She gave a bird s eye view of the CP Act and its various provisions. Illustrating her point with a number of examples and judgments of the National Commission and the Supreme Court, Dr. Sapna focused on the outcome in terms of relief to the consumers and the development of consumer case law. Dr. Mamta Pathania discussed in detail the ways and means to educate the consumer and enhance awareness. She also gave an account of the various programmes and policies of the Department of Consumer Affairs to educate the consumers. Shri S. M. Toora in his session Banking & Consumer explained the kind of services being provided by the banks, what are the various problems being 4

5 faced by the consumers. He also elaborated the laws related to banking and banking ombudsman scheme. He also highlighted some of the Regulations by RBI for Consumers Protection. Shri S.K. Virmani, Project Manager, SCHKRMP speaking on Telecom and Consumer highlighted the major problems being faced by the consumers in the sector. He provided an overview of the various regulations framed by TRAI in the sector. He also provided information about the DoT Memorandum regarding the jurisdiction of the Foras in consumer matter. Shri B. N. Dixit, Director (Legal Metrology), from Department of Consumer Affairs explained the provisions of Legal Metrology Act and the Packaged Commodity Rules under it. He highlighted the measures being undertaken by the Department to ensure proper weights and measures are used and to prevent unfair trade practices like charging over MRP, VAT on MRP, adulteration of petrol etc. Dr. Kiran Gupta speaking on Medical Negligence and Consumer elaborated the concept of negligence and explained the law dealing with medical negligence with help of cases decided by the SC and NCDRC. Ms. Deepika Sur, Project manager, NCH in her session on Consumer Dispute Resolution through Helpline provided an overview of the working of the helplines functioning at the National and State level. She also highlighted the prelitigation stage mediation taken at the National Consumer helpline, whereby an attempt is made to resolve the disputes through out of court settlement with the company. In the session on Insurance and Consumer Shri S.M. Tripathi explained the basic principles of insurance as applicable to general insurance and life insurance. He highlighted the some of the problems faced by the consumers on which they are filing complaints before the forums and also provided case law on these. During the Programme, the participants visited the National Commission and saw the proceedings of the Commission. They also met Mrs. Rekha Gupta and Mrs. M. Shreesha, Members, NCDRC. They inquired about the working conditions at the forums and problems faced Members NCDRC interacting with participants 5

6 by the Members. They also clarified a number of doubts, relating to honorarium and legal interpretations of the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, raised by the participants. They emphasized on the need to generate awareness among the consumers and the role the Members of the Forums can play in the same. They said that as members of District Forum the participants have joined the movement; now it s their duty to give heart and soul to the movement. Most of the people who approach the system don t have the means to come to NCDRC, District Forums are the first point of contact to them. DFs have to resolve their complaint. However, the statistics from the forums are not very encouraging. They advised the participants to inculcate discipline in themselves as regard the functioning of forums is concerned; observe punctuality in the working of the forums. In this regard NCDRC Regulations and state rules need to be adhered to. Observe timing and discipline as half hearted approach will not carry us anywhere. The forum should work for the time prescribed and the court should be held; even the orders should be dictated in the court room. They also informed the participants that regarding pendency of cases, the CIC has given directions that the list of all those cases which are not finalized within 45 days be put on the website. The participants were informed that the matter regarding infrastructure and service conditions are being considered by National Commission and is being taken up with the government both at central and state levels; but that should not come in resolution of disputes of consumers. The District forums are not bound by the rigors of the CPC and Evidence Act. They are to apply Principles of Natural Justice and common sense approach. The Presidents should give enough work to the Members as that would help in resolving more matters. Members can easily learn to write and dictate the orders even if the Members are not having legal background. To keep yourself abreast with the latest developments, read the journals and the judgments of S.C. & NCDRC and cite them. The participants also visited Supreme Court and observed the proceedings of the Apex Court. The programme was participatory in nature involving presentations from the participants. The participants were divided into various groups to work on case laws. The objective was to help the new members to understand case law and Group Presentation by participants 6

7 interpret various provisions in a case law. The participants presented their reports and the Presidents gave their comments on the analysis of case laws followed by discussion. Apart from this the participants were given a comprehensive input on Judgment Writing and how a good and effective judgment is to be written. A good judgment should highlight the facts and the parties should be able to understand the order. The participating members were given specific cases on which they had to write their judgments. These judgments were discussed with the Programme Directors and other participants. The programme concluded with the Valedictory Address by Dr. S. M. Kantikar, Member, NCDRC. All of you have visited National Commission and had a detailed Dr. S. M. Kantikar, Member, NCDRC delivering Valedictory Address. discussion on the various problems District Forums are facing. All the states are facing many problems regarding the infrastructure, appointment etc.; still it is expected that you give your 100% and resolve consumer problems. He said that the idea of the forums is to give remedy to the consumers as early as possible. The objective of the Act is speedy disposal of the cases for that the stipulated time is 90 days. That s why your endeavour should be to dispose of complaints within 2-3 months as then only the filing and disposal will go up. There is lot of confusion and misapprehension among the consumers as regards the procedure of the forums. Thus, there is need for education and awareness programmes to build consumer confidence. He advised the participants that as Presidents and Members of the District Forums they should work for the betterment of the consumers. Therefore, be consumer friendly and try to help the consumers who have been cheated. During the admission of complaint itself, you should look for main issues as that will help you give redress quickly. The DFs do not have power to restore the complaint once dismissed. Even in medical negligence cases, examination and cross-examination should be avoided as it is summary procedure. In medical negligence cases the forum can invite the expert s opinion from that government 7

8 medical college. In case expert opinion is difficult to interpret then you can take the help of the doctor from the government hospital for interpreting the opinion. As for the expert opinion you can write the health secretary in case the government medical hospitals and colleges are not helping you. He said it is duty of the Forum to see that repeated adjournments are not given as it unnecessarily drags the matter. If there are such problem creators, it is better to decide matter ex-parte orders. He said that the consumer will have faith in the system only if the orders are given in time. He advised the participants to be conversant with the computers, as the learning of computers in must. That way you need not depend on the steno and also access the Supreme Court and NCDRC judgments on website. To be in tune with technology is must for all of us. He also discussed some of the latest and important judgments of NCDRC on medical negligence and how medical negligence cases are to be tackled by the fora. Shri G.N. Sreekumaran, Consultant, SCHKRMP, addressing the participants Shri G.N. Sreekumaran, Consultant, SCHKRMP, IIPA in his address said that all of you as part of the consumer justice system are concerned with Redressal of the Consumer disputes at the District Forums. The Supreme Court committee has been constituted to look into the various aspects of working of DFs. They are looking into the aspects of their working including infrastructure and honorarium. S.C. Committee is also looking into the remuneration part. Chief Justice is going to pass certain directions for the same. Many of the forums and State Commission are becoming defunct, T.N. SCDRC is one of those. The President has not been appointed as the Committee for appointment of the members of DFs could not cannot meet and appointments are held up even at forums. Haryana is also having the same problem. He highlighted some of the changes which are being introduced in the adjudicatory process by the new Bill. He said the new Bill has provisions for an executive Authority, mediation and product liability etc. The quality of members is a major issue affecting the functioning of the forums. For that the provision of 8

9 examination through PSC is being introduced. In M.S. and A.P. there is a proper selection procedure and the remuneration is also good. Both these aspects are being taken care of in the new Bill. The pecuniary jurisdiction of the District Forums is being increased as it is easier for consumers to approach district forums and most of the complaints can be resolved there. DFs will also have review powers. The circuit benches will also be provided for the district forums to take the justice to the doorstep of the consumers. Three new chapters are being introduced in the new Bill. One on mediation wherein if the parties are be interested, the D.F. will refer the complaint to mediation cell for out of court settlement. And the order of mediation will not be appealable. The CP Authority will be constituted which will take class action suits on behalf of consumers. The product liability chapter is being introduced which will be for goods as well as services. The unfair contract terms have been included in the Unfair Trade Practices. Though due to federal structure it is not possible to provide for a provision on honorarium; but it has been provided that rules can be framed by the Central Government which will apply if no rules have been framed by state government and the state government does not address the issues of honorarium. The new Act will also provide for online filing of complaints and provisions to deal with e-commerce. The central government will have greater role in monitoring and administration procedure of the Forums and can issue directions. The new Act provision will simplify the things. Other measures are also being taken by the Department to help consumers. The National Consumer Helpline, for providing advice and information to the Consumers has been expanded to 60 lines. 5 digit code is being introduced wherein Consumer can call from anywhere. IIPA is also conducting training for the counselors of state helplines. The Consumer care cells have also been set up in 5 locations on pilot basis. Regional help lines have also been set up which will be connected to the NCH. He said that the consumer will have faith in the system only if the orders are given in time. 9

10 Views/opinions of the participants on different aspects of the Training Workshop are analyzed and presented below: 1. Please rate the structure and organization of the Course. Very Well structured Well structured Somewhat unstructured Very un-structured How useful is this training to you immediately in your job? Very useful Quite useful Of limited use Not at all useful How useful is this training likely to be in future jobs that your may handle? Very useful Quite useful Of limited use Not at all useful How far have you been benefited from interaction with the fellow participants of the course? Extremely Considerably Fairly Not at all

11 5. How far was the course material supplied relevant and related to the course content? Extremely relevant Considerably relevant Fairly relevant Not at all relevant NC To what extent are you satisfied with the following? Satisfied fully Satisfied to a large extent Satisfied to a limited extent Not satisfied at all NC/ NA a) Reception b) Residential accommodation c) Food quality and service d) Class room Facilities e) Library facility f) Computer facilities g) Interaction with the faculty h) Reception facilities

12 7. Kindly indicate how effective were the following sessions/topics to you: S. No Topic Speaker/ Coordinator Assessment Exce llent Very Good Good Fair NC 1. Consumer Protection: An Overview 2. Consumer Protection: Law and Policy 3. Consumer Education and Awareness Suresh Misra Sapna Chadah Mamta Pathania Art of Judgment Writing Sapna Chadah Banking and Consumer S. M. Toora Case Law Discussion Suresh Misra Sapna Chadah Telecom and Consumer S. K. Virmani Legal Metrology Act and Packaged Commodity Rules 9. Medical Negligence and Consumer B. N. Dixit Kiran Gupta Visit to NCDRC Consumer Dispute Resolution through ADR-Role of Helplines 12. Insurance and Consumer Deepika Sur S. M. Tripathi Case Law Presentation Sapna Chadah Presentation of Judgment Sapna Chadah

13 8. Which parts of the course did you find most helpful? Medical Negligence and Consumer 11 All 5 Art of Judgment Writing 4 Consumer Education and Awareness 4 Insurance and consumer 3 Consumer Protection: Law and Policy 2 Consumer Protection: An Overview 2 Banking and Consumer 2 Presentation of Judgment 2 Legal Metrology Act and Packaged Commodity 1 Rules Case law Discussion 1 9. Which parts of the course did you find least helpful? Legal Metrology Act and Packaged Commodity Rules 4 None 3 Telecom a and Consumer Your overall impression of the course Excellent Very Good Good Fair NC

14 11. Did the course give you any specific ideas about how you can improve your work? Yes No 21 - Enlightened with case laws. Refreshed the knowledge in the field of Consumer Protection and the principles governing the decisions regarding the consumer disputes. It improved my understanding and judgment writing skills. I am a fresher for the last one year, and also in-charge Presidents for 2 districts without any activity. This course gave a lot of exposure and enhanced my knowledge. Gained a lot of inputs from writing Judgment and case law presentation. The interaction with fellow members and faculty has improved confidence in discharging our duties. Learn the importance of the decided case laws. Realized should not reach a conclusion without going through the case laws decided by the Hon ble Supreme Court and National Commission. Inculcated skills and knowledge to improve functioning. I understood what should be done for better protection of consumers. From the suggestions given during the session on Art of Judgment writing, came to know the dos and don ts while delivering judgment. The same will be helpful in delivering orders in the forum. The course was very helpful and useful knowledge in various sectors likes Telecom, Insurance has be imparted. The various sectors and subjects discussed during this period will certainly useful in deciding complaints. The course gave lot of new idea with new illustrations and taught that apt procedure should be followed. Enlightened my knowledge in the area of Consumer Protection. Application of the latest judgments in deciding and the judgments. Very nice and useful course. These types of courses are highly required to refresh our knowledge and interaction with others as well as an academician was very useful. By way of case law discussion on each subject everybody is benefitted with up to date Judgments in each sector. The same will improve the quality of our decisions and orders in future. 14

15 12. Any other comments/observation you wish to make about the Workshop. Excellent Sector wise interaction with case studies, case laws and various practical scenarios will be very helpful for the Members and Presidents I their work. Visit to NCDRC could have been longer, for better observation of the proceeding. Interaction with the President, NCDRC is necessary to present the difficulties faced at the District Fora. Useful Programme Early communication should be given. Air fare should be provided. Accommodation and food needs attention and improvement. If separate workshops are conducted for non judicial members, it will be more useful. Helpful in writing the Judgment. This is the 93 rd Orientation Training Programme and such programme should continue successfully and help the Members of the Consumer Forums to learn more in judicial functions in future. It is very essential and useful course for the Presidents and Members of the fora. Points mentioned and discussed by resource persons were very helpful. The visit to NCDRC is also very useful. It has benefited us a lot. Such classes should be conducted at frequent intervals. So that the members are equipped with good knowledge about Consumer dispute and for adjudication of the same. Such classes should be conducted at least once in 6 months so that the Members are equipped with the recent judgements and such classed should be conducted in this headquarter of every state. Some other courses with good experts are required particularly in insurance cases. We would like to place on record that the practice followed in the Indian Institute of Public Administration is to give due consideration to the views/suggestions of the participants in regard to the course contents and design of the programme at the time of restructuring the training programme. The views/comments of the participants, therefore, will certainly be considered next time, while designing the programme. 15

16 This report would be incomplete, if we do not record our appreciation for the help rendered by the officers and staff of the Administration and Training Sections of the Institute. Shri Amitabh Ranjan (Registrar), Shri Mithun Barua, Deputy Registrar (AS), Mrs. Alka Jindal, Superintendent (Training) and Mr. Dayal Singh (Training Assistant) and Mr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (Training Assistant) deserve special mention for their support. We would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our gratitude to Shri T. Chatterjee, Director, IIPA for his guidance, encouragement and pro-active interest. We are also thankful to our colleagues in the Centre for their unstinted support and co-operation but for which the programme could not have been organised in a befitting manner. The credit for success of the programme goes to the entire team. We are also grateful to the Hon ble President and Members of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission for providing opportunity to the participants to visit the Commission and observe its proceedings. In this regard efforts and support provided by Shri. Anil Srivastava, Registrar, NCDRC, deserves a special mention and appreciation. The Secretary, Additional Secretary and Joint- Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, deserve special thanks for sponsoring the programme and reposing confidence and trust in the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. (Sapna Chadah) (Suresh Misra) Course Coordinators 16