 bill no xxxi  of  2015 the consumer goods (right to free return) bill, 2015 a billto provide for consumers the right to free return of consumer goods,      within a stipulated time and for all matters connected                     therewith and incidental                              theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:— chapter  i preliminary1 (1) this act may be called 'the consumer goods (right to free return) act, 2015';5(2) it extends to the whole of india;short title, extent and commencement(3) it shall be come into force on such date, as the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for coming into force of different provisions of this act;2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions10(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state, and in other cases, the central government;(b) "consumer" means any person who buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any5system of deferred payment and includes any user of such goods other than the person who buys such goods for consideration paid or promised or partly paid or partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment when such use is made with the approval of such person, but does not include a person who obtains such goods for resale or for any commercial purpose;(c) ''consumer goods'' means products that are purchased for consumption by an average consumer;10(d) ''durable goods'' means goods which are consumed and used or disposed after serving its usefulness for a period of time, which is more that two years, like refrigerator, laptops, television sets etc;68 of 1986(e) ''manufacturer'' would have the same meaning as given in section 2(j) of the consumer protection act, 1986;15(f) "retailer" or "retail supplier" means any person who does the sale of goods from individuals or business to the end-user or final consumer and also includes online retail shops;(g) "semi durable goods" means those products which are neither perishing nor lasting, like cloths, preserved foods, furniture etc; chapter ii procuring receipt and exchange of contract20receipt to act as a guarantee contract3(1) the appropriate government shall make it mandatory for all retailers to give a receipt for every durable and semi durable consumer goods purchase by the consumers and such receipt of purchase shall act as contract between the retail supplier and the consumer, wherein the production of this receipt shall be a pre-requisite for every claim made under the provisions of this act25(2) every receipt given to the consumer shall have consumer guarantees specified on it as under:—(a) that goods are of acceptable quality; (b) that goods will be reasonably fit for use;30(c) that the description of goods is accurate and it would match any sample or demonstration model;(d) that the goods will satisfy any extra promises made about them; (e) that there is a 'right to free return' of the goods within fifteen days of its purchase; chapter iii the right to free return354 every consumer shall have the right to return free any, semi durable or durable goods purchased, within fifteen days of the purchase in such manner as may be prescribed:right to free return valid till fifteen daysfrom purchaseprovided that every such return of goods shall be done in their original condition, withno alteration to its size or shape, along with its original packing and the receipt of the purchase405 the appropriate government shall ensure that all retail shops shall,—(a) remove all signs that say 'no refund' or 'no replacement' from product covers and the retail shops; andremoval of no replacement and no refund signs anddisplay of right of consumers(b) display a board mentioning the right of consumers for free return of goods purchased by them6 a receipt of the purchase of goods shall be considered as guarantee itself and the retail supplier shall not ask for any further payment from the consumer for receiving any guarantees;no payable payment for receiving guarantee5| 7                                                                                         ||--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| right to claim them against the wholesaler  or the manufacturer, from whom he received the || goods                                                                                     || right of                                                                                   || retailer to                                                                                || make claim                                                                                 || against                                                                                    || defective                                                                                  || goods                                                                                     | chapter iv grievance redressal mechanism10| right          ||----------------|| consumers to   || move to court |68 of 19868 a consumer may in case of any grievance under this act move the 'consumer disputes redressal forum' or the 'state consumer protection council' or the 'central consumer protection council' established under the consumer protection act, 1986 for redressallaw enforcing agency9 the central consumer protection council established under cpa 1986 and the agencies appointed by it shall be responsible for the enforcement of the provisions and rules made under this act15details disclosed online for transparency10 the central consumer protection council shall publish on its website this act and rules made thereunder and also the details of complaints received by the authorities in district, state and central level, on different products, under the purview of this act, including details of:—(a) the products returned;20(b) the refund sought; (c) tracking the progress of each complaint with time line for completion; and(d) the complaint resolved;2511 the appropriate government will from time to time, provide, after due appropriation made by the parliament by law in this behalf, requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of this actappropriate government to providefunds power toremovedifficulty12 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the appropriate government may make such order or give such direction, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the removal of any difficulty| power       ||-------------|| make rules |13 the appropriate government, may be notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act30 statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe consumer protection act, 1986 is widely considered to be a benevolent social legislation that provides for the protection of consumer rights the fact was amended a number of times, the last being in 2002 the principal act, introduced in 1986 and subsequently amended, established consumer dispute resolution mechanisms and provides to control the trade of spurious goods and services through the authorities established it does not confer on the consumer a positive right which he can enforce himself in the context of increasing influx of imported goods to the country and the new trend of online shopping, it is necessary that the consumers are empowered to refuse a goods that does not satisfy the needs, without approaching forums or courtsthe bill makes it the right of a consumer to return any purchased product within a stipulated time for genuine reasons it seeks to provide the consumer a right to return any purchased durable or semi-durable goods within fifteen days of purchase it also provides that there should be a centralized database on complaints received and resolved by consumer protection councils and forums on goods purchased, so that before buying any product the consumer can make an informed choice to any terms agreed by both parties, retail supplier and consumer the bill seeks to provide additional statutory provisions for the benefit of the consumerthe enforcement of the act would be the responsibility of the authorities established under the consumer protection act 1986 this will ensure that there is no burden on the central or state governments for establishing additional authorities for monitoring and carrying out the purposes of this acthence, this billvivek  gupta financial  memorandumclause 11 of the bill makes it obligatory for the appropriate government to provide requisite funds for carrying out the purposes of the bill the bill, if enacted will involve direct or indirect expenditure from the consolidated fund of india at this stage, it is difficult to quantify the expenditure memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 13 of this bill gives power to the appropriate government to make necessary rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character————— a billto provide for consumers the right to free return of consumer goods, within a stipulated time and for all matters connected therewith and incidental thereto—————(shri vivek gupta, mp)gmgipmrnd—2151rs(s3)—07082015