Can the shopkeepers charge you more than the MRP?

Introduction:

In this blog post, I will be addressing the problems that are being faced by us consumers amidst this lockdown and what can be done to combat those problems. 

The industrial revolution and the development in trade and commerce all over the globe have led to a vast expansion in commercial activities. As a result of which a vast variety of consumer goods have appeared in the markets to cater to the divergent necessities of all types of consumers. A range of different kinds of services has also been made available to consumers. 

In spite of various acts providing protection and safeguard for the consumers and providing stringent actions against the wrongdoers, shopkeepers, or the manufacturers still manage to exploit the consumers in one way or the other. It became necessary to protect the consumers from the exploitation, to provide better protection of the interests of the consumers the Consumer Protection Act,1986 was enacted and was recently amended in 2019.

As we all are aware of the present pandemic of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) and the dire strait we have been embedded in, to combat this pandemic virus we have resorted to a complete lockdown since March 23rd, 2020. Due to a complete lockdown, all the financial activities came to a standstill including the manufacturing activities, which left us with a limited supply of resources. 

Which gave rise to an old problem on a bigger scale that is overcharging for the resources from us consumers. We, consumers, are not only left with the problem of limited resources amidst this state of emergency but we are also left with a limited amount of pecuniary resources.

While we are combatting the Coronavirus, some shopkeepers have been charging more than the MRP of the products in between the midst of this pandemic which will sooner or later result in exhaustion of the hard cash available with us consumers.

Before coming to the solution of this issue let us first understand what are the rights that have been endowed to us consumers by the legislature. 

Consumer Rights are provided under Section 9 of the Consumer Protection Act, which includes:

1. The right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of the goods, products, or services as the case may be to product us consumers from unfair trade practices. 

2. The right to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of goods, products, or services at competitive prices.

3. The right to be heard and to be assured that the interests of consumers will receive due consideration in the appropriate fora (forum). 

4. The right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers.

5. Right to be protected against the marketing of goods, products or services which are hazardous to life.

6. The right to consumer awareness. 

The Consumer Protection Act also provides for various penal provisions and fines that might be imposed on the wrongdoers.

An example of this can also be seen where the Government of India included the sanitizers, surgical masks, and gloves as the Essential Commodities till June 30th, 2020 in order to prevent hoarding of these items due to a sudden surge in the prices of these items, as they are quite essential in combatting the Coronavirus.

Section 2A of the Essential Commodities Act provides the powers to the Central Government to add and remove any commodity from the schedule of Essential Commodities in the public interest, and the government has included sanitizers, surgical masks as essential commodities as we saw a sudden surge in the black marketing, overpricing and speculation.

Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act also provides powers to control the supply, distribution, and production of the essential commodities. If any person contravenes any order made under section 3 of this act then section 7 of this act provides for punishment of up to seven years, fine or both.

Now following are the actions that can be taken against the wrongdoers:

1. You can file a complaint with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. You can file a complaint to the Ministry through the following ways:

A) You can send in your complaint through an email along with the necessary shreds of evidence such as a bill, video, or audio recording.

(nch-ca@gov.in)

B) You can file an online complaint on www.consumerhelpline.gov.in

C) You can also call to register your grievance on these toll-free numbers 14404 and 1800 11 4000.

D) You can also register your complaint by sending a text message on 813-000-9809.

2. You can file a complaint with the National and State helpline for Coronavirus:

Central Helpline Number for coronavirus: - +91- 11- 23978046

Helpline Numbers of all the States & Union Territories

S. No Name of the State Helpline Numbers

1 Andhra Pradesh 0866- 2410978

2 Arunachal Pradesh 9436055743

3 Assam 6, 913, 347, 770

4 Bihar 104

5 Chhattisgarh. 104

6 Goa 104

7 Gujarat 104

8 Haryana. 8 ,558, 893, 911

9 Himachal Pradesh. 104

10 Jharkhand 104

11 Karnataka 104

12 Kerala 0471- 2552056

13 Madhya Pradesh 104

14 Maharashtra 020-26127394

15 Manipur 3, 852, 411, 668

16 Meghalaya 108

17 Mizoram 102

18 Nagaland 7, 005, 539, 653

19 Odisha 9, 439, 994, 859

20 Punjab 104

21 Rajasthan 0141- 2225624

22 Sikkim 104

23 Tamil Nadu 044-29510500

24 Telangana 104

25 Tripura 0381- 2315879

26 Uttarakhand 104

27 Uttar Pradesh. 18, 001, 805, 145

28 West Bengal. 1800 313 444 222, 03323412600

S.No Name of Union Territory Helpline Numbers

1 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 03192 -232102

2 Chandigarh 9, 779, 558, 282

3 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 104

Daman & Diu

4 Delhi 011-22307145

5 Jammu & Kashmir 01912520982, 0194-2440283

6 Ladakh 01982256462

7 Lakshadweep 104

8 Puducherry 104

3. You can file a police complaint to your local police station or even to the District Magistrate/Collector of your district

4. You can even file a case in the respective consumer forum of your district.

Conclusion:

In these tough times, some people are taking undue advantage of the current situation and exploiting us consumers by overcharging for the products of basic necessities, with the help of this blogpost I try and make all the people out there aware of their rights and what can be done when someone exploits their rights.