WHY IT IS IN NEWS?

• A new consumer protection law is on the anvil to crack down on misleading advertisements and simplify the grievance redressal mechanism- Prime Minister Narendra Modi
• He was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day international conference on Consumer Protection for East, South, Southeast and Asian nations

What PM Said?

• Extolling the virtues of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST), Mr. Modi said it was one of the key consumer-friendly reforms that his government had introduced.
• The GST would benefit consumers in the long run as prices would come down because of competition among manufacturers.
• Consumers can no longer be cheated as they can see on receipts the tax they are paying. 

Need for new law

• The new law will replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, and is in line with the revised UN guidelines on consumer protection.
• It is currently with the Cabinet Secretariat and will be placed before the Cabinet for consideration soon.
• Stringent provisions are proposed against misleading advertisements.
• A Central Consumer Protection Authority with executive powers will be constituted for quick remedial action
• The new Real Estate law, new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, the Ujjwala scheme and direct benefit transfers as steps taken to empower consumers in the last three years.
• The Real Estate Regulatory Act will protect home buyers from the builders’ monopoly.
• The builders will no longer able to cheat them by diverting funds of certain project to another. There will be a robust grievance redressal mechanism.