Unfair Trade Practices: Challenges and Way Forward for Consumer Protection - National Law School of India University (2024)

The Government of India understood the need to protect the consumers from being cheatedby suppliers. Several laws have been enacted for this purpose. The Indian Contract Act, thePrevention of Food Adulteration Act, the Dangerous Drugs Act, the Sales of Goods Act, theBureau of Indian Standards Act, etc., are remedial acts for aggrieved consumers. However,these laws involve a lengthy legal process which is very expensive and time-consumingbecause the consumer has to initiate action by way of a civil suit. The Consumer ProtectionAct, 1986 was enacted to provide quicker and simpler access to redressal of consumergrievances. The Act provided machinery to aggrieved consumers. But the consumers haveundergone a drastic transformation since the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act,1986. Therefore, it has become inescapable to replace the Act with CPA,2019 to address theemerging vulnerabilities of the consumer. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was enactedreplacing the old CPA 1986. The CPA 2019 establishes an executive agency known as theCentral Consumer Protection Authority. The task of prevention of or acting against unfairtrade practices is vested in it. The term “unfair trade practice” describes the use of deceptive,fraudulent, or unethical methods to gain business advantage or to cause injury to a consumer.Unfair trade practices are considered unlawful under the Consumer Protection Act. Thepurpose of the law is to ensure that consumers have the opportunity to make informed,rational decisions about the goods and services they purchase. Unfair trade practices includefalse representation of a good or service, targeting vulnerable populations, false advertising,tied selling, false free prize or gift offers, false or deceptive pricing, and non-compliancewith manufacturing standards. Alternative names for unfair trade practices are “deceptivetrade practices” or “unfair business practices.”