Product Liability(Consumer Protection Act, 2019)

 Desk Team LawDocs

Introduction

Product Liability-In our day to day lives of buying Product and availing services from different businesses and brands, we might come across problems such as the purchase of a defective product or

availing of a service that was insufficient, The Consumer Protection Act of 2019 has granted us rights against

such defective products or insufficient services. The burden is now on the sellers!

Sections 82 to 87 of the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 provide all the provisions of Product Liability.

If a consumer has been harm, and that harm is cause by any defective product or

any insufficient service, it is the responsibility of the product manufacturer or product seller, of any services or

any products, to compensate the consumer for the harm caused.

So, let the sellers beware. The Consumer Protection Act of 2019 places strict liabilities for manufacturers of goods, service providers, and

product sellers if any harm is cause by their defective product or

insufficient services, they will have to take the responsibility of compensating the harm caused to the consumer.

Who can File a Complaint?

A complaint can be brought up against a product manufacturer, product seller, or service provider by,

• A consumer who is not a reseller or using products for commercial purposes
• A registered Voluntary Consumer Association
• Central Government
• State Government
• One of more consumers with the same interest

Liabilities under The Consumer Protection Act of 2019

Let’s talk about the liabilities placed on product manufacturers, product sellers, and

service providers under the Consumer Protection Act of 2019

i) Liabilities of a Product Manufacturer as under Section 84: – Under the Act, a product manufacturer shall be held liable in either of these cases, if

• There is a manufacturing defect in the product
• a defect in the design of the product
• There is a deviation from the specifications of the manufacturing
• The product does not conform to the express warranty
• There is a failure to contain adequate instructions of correct usage of the product, or there is a failure to include any warning regarding improper or incorrect usage

Even if the product manufacturer proves that they were not negligent or fraudulent in making

the express warranty of a product, they can still be held liable.

ii) Liabilities of a Product Service Provider as under Section 85: – Under the Act, a product service provider shall be held liable in either of these cases, if

• The services which were provide by them are faulty in quality, nature, or the manner of performance
• Harm was cause by the act or omission, or commission, or negligence, or conscious withholding of any information
• There are no warnings or adequate instructions issue by the product service provider to prevent any harm
• The product service provider does not conform to the terms and conditions of the contract or the express warranty

iii) Liabilities of a Product Seller as under Section 86: –

Under the Act, a product seller who is not a product manufacturer, shall be held liable in either of these cases, if

• The harm is cause by the product seller exercising substantial control over the designing, manufacturing, testing, packaging, or labeling of a product
• The harm is substantially cause by the product seller altering or modifying the product
• When they make an express warranty of a product independent of any express warranty made by the manufacturer and the product fails to conform to such warranty
• They have failed to exercise reasonable care in the assembling, inspecting, or maintaining of a product
• The product has been sell by them and the identity of product manufacturer of such product is not known, or if it is known, the service of notice or process or
• warrant cannot be the effect on them, or they are not subject to the law which is in force in India or the order if any, pass or to be pass cannot be enforced against them

Proper responsibilities and liabilities have now been place on the product manufacturer, product seller, and product service provider. There are, however, a few exceptions.

Exceptions to Product Liability Action

The Consumer Protection Act of 2019 has provided exceptions in certain situations as under Section 87,

i) If at the time of harm, the product in question was misuse, alter, or modify, then a product liability action cannot be bought against the product seller

ii) The product manufacturer shall not be liable, in any product liability action based on failure to provide adequate warnings or instructions, if

• The product was purchase by an employer for use at the workplace and the product manufacturer has provided adequate warnings or instructions to the employer
• When the product was sell as a component or material which is to be use in another product and adequate warnings or instructions were provide by the product manufacturer to the purchaser, but
• the harm was cause to the purchaser by the use of the end product in which the component or material was use.
• The product should have been use only under or by the supervision of an expert
• While using the product in question, the purchaser was under the influence of alcohol, etc.

iii) Product manufacturer shall not be liable for a failure to instruct or warn about a danger which is obvious or

commonly known to a purchaser of such product.

Conclusion

Since the introduction of Product Liability by the Consumer Protection Act of 2019, appropriate burdens and

responsibilities are now place upon the product manufacturer, product seller, and product service providers. The notion of buyer beware has now shifted to seller beware!

The Act makes sure that the product manufacturers, sellers, and service providers will take reasonable care to ensure that their products and

services are to be compliant with the different requirements under different legislations.  

It’s a necessary step that has been take to protect the interests of the consumers and to avoid their exploitation

by product manufacturers, product sellers, and service providers. So now as consumers, we need to worry about defective products and insufficient services

as we have our interests protected by the Consumer Protection Act of 2019.