“Complainants of flats in the new consumer set-up”

By Anju D. Aggarwal

Posted on 20 Jan 2001
 

Complainant :

The complainants against a builders can be filed under the Consumer Protection Act and for purpose section 2(1)_ (b) of said Act defines complainant follows :-

“Complainant” means –

1. a consumer : or

2. any voluntary consumer association registered under the companies Act 1956 or any other law for time being in force; or

3. The Central Government any State Government , who or which makes a complaint.;

4. One or more consumers, where there are numerous consumers having the same interest”;

It may be mentioned here that heirs of a ‘consumer’ are to ‘consumers’ for purposes of Consumer Protection Act. They can sue the opposite party, were the ‘consumer’, who had availed of the services had died, the definition of ‘complainant’ also include any beneficiary.

It will also be relevant to reproduce the definition of ‘complaint’ as given in section 2(1) (c) as the word ‘complaint’ occurs in the definition of ‘complainant’ given above. The definition of complaint after its amendment by Ordinance Number 24 dated 18^th June 1993 reads as follows :-

3. “Complaint” means any allegation in writing made by a complainant that –

“(i) an unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade practice has been adopted by any trader;

(ii) the goods bought by him or agreed to be bought by him suffer from one of more defects :

(iii) the services hired or availed of or agreed to be hired or availed of by him suffer from deficiency in any respect.

(vi) a trader has charged for the goods mentioned in the complaint a price in excess of the priced fixed by or under any law for the time being in force or displayed on the goods or any package containing such goods.

5. goods which will be hazardous to life and safety when used, are being offered for sale to the public in contravention of the provisions of any law for the item being in force requiring trader to display information in regard to the contents, manner and effect of use of such goods.”

Points relevant for filing complaints

While filing a complaint under the Consumer Protection Act, a complainant should atleast keep the following 11 points in view :-

1. The complaint should have the complainant’s name and address :

2. The complaint should also contain the name and address of the opposite party / opposite parties :

3. The facts relating to the complaint how when and where it arose;

4. Attach documents if any (xerox copies) in support of the allegations;

5. Mention the relief you are seeking, i.e. whether you want the defect to be removed, the item replaced, the price returned or compensation awarded. The Consumer Protection (Amendment) Ordinance 1993 now gives five further relief’s mentioned below :-

1. to remove the defects or deficiencies in the services in question :

2. to discontinue the unfair trade practice or not to repeat them;

3. not to offer the hazardous goods for sale;

4. to withdraw the hazardous goods for sale;

5. to provide for adequate costs for parties.

6. Mention the total value of the relief claimed, how much is the price of the item ? How much are the charges paid for services rendered to the complainant. How much is the cost of litigation ?

7. The complaint can be sent in English, Hindi or Marathi. It is better to make the complaint in English if the address of the opposite party/parties falls in another State or Union Territory.

8. The complaint should be signed by the complainant. In case somebody else has been authorized to complainant, a letter authorizing him to do so should be attached.

9. Do not make the complaint n a post card or on an inland letter.

10. Send at least four copies of the complaint and documents. The number of copies should be increased correspondingly in case there is more than one opposite party.

11. A number of complaints should not be bunched together. For each grievanc4e, a separate and self-contained complaint should be filed.

Notice (i) No court fee is payable for filing the complaint.

(ii) You can yourself represent the case at the time of authorized another person to represent your case.

(iii) You can send the complaint by Regd. A.D. Post.

Contractor

The insertion of the words, ‘housing construction’ in the definition of ‘Service’ under section 2(1) (o) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 will, in my view, cover also contractors who build flats, bungalows, houses or buildings for others on payment.