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Given below are the details and functions of all the consumer protection authorities:
Central Consumer Protection Authority(( Chapter III, Consumer Protection Act, 2019))
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) aims to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers collectively. The CCPA is empowered to:
- Conduct investigations into violation of consumer rights and start prosecutions on complaints received.
- Order recall of unsafe goods and services
- Order discontinuation of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements
- Impose penalties on manufacturers, endorsers and publishers of misleading advertisements(( Central Consumer Protection Authority established to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers, PIB, accessed at https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1642422.)).
It is headquartered in New Delhi(( Notification by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution dated 23 July, 2020, accessed at https://consumeraffairs.nic.in/sites/default/files/Estt%20of%20CCPA.pdf, but there is also scope to set up regional centers throughout the nation((Section 10(3), Consumer Protection Act, 2019.)). The CCPA can begin to inquire into the mentioned issues either when they receive complaints, or on their own.
Consumer Protection Councils(( Chapter II, Consumer Protection Act, 2019.))
The Central Consumer Protection Council has advisory functions, giving suggestions about the promotion and protection of consumer rights. Similarly, state-level units called State Consumer Protection Councils and District Consumer Protection Councils are also formed which perform similar advisory functions. Some of the other bodies that also perform similar roles (such as spreading awareness) include, Consumer Education and Research Centre (Gujarat) , Bureau of Indian Standards, Federation of Consumer Organization in Tamil Nadu, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, etc.
