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1.
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Short title,
extent, commencement and application.
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(1
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This Act may be called
the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
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(2)
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It extends to the whole of India except
the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
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(3)
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It shall come into force on such date as
the Central Government may, by notification, appoint and different dates may
be appointed for different States and for different provisions of this Act.
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(4)
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Save as otherwise expressly provided by
the Central Government by notification, this Act shall apply to all goods and
services.
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2.
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Definitions.
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(1)
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In this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires,—
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(a)
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"appropriate laboratory" means
a laboratory or organisation—
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(i)
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recognised by the Central Government;
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(ii)
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recognised by a State Government, subject
to such guidelines as may be prescribed by the Central Government in this
behalf; or
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(iii)
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any such laboratory or organisation
established by or under any law for the time being in force, which is
maintained, financed or aided by the Central Government or a State Government
for carrying out analysis or test of any goods with a view to determining
whether such goods suffer from any defect;
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(aa)
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"branch office" means—
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(i)
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any establishment described as a branch
by the opposite party; or
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(ii)
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any establishment carrying on either the
same or substantially the same activity as that carried on by the head
office of the establishment;
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(b)
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"complainant" means—
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(i)
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a consumer; or
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(ii)
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any voluntary consumer association
registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1of 1956)or under any other law for
the time being in force; or
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(iii)
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the Central Government or any State
Government,
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(iv)
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one or more consumers, where there are
numerous consumers having the same interest;
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(v)
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in case of death of a consumer, his legal
heir or representative; who or which makes a complaint;
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(c)
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"complaint" means any
allegation in writing made by a complainant that—
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(i)
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an unfair trade practice or a restrictive
trade practice has been adopted by any trader or service provider;
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(ii)
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the goods bought by him or agreed to be
bought by him; suffer from one or more defects;
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(iii)
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the services hired or availed of or
agreed to be hired or availed of by him suffer from deficiency in any
respect;
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(iv)
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a trader or
service provider, as the case may be, has charged for the goods or for
the service mentioned in the complaint a price in excess of the price –
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(a)
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fixed by or under any law for the time being in force
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(b)
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displayed on the goods or any package containing such goods ;
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(c)
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displayed on the price list exhibited by him by or under any law for
the time being in force;
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(d)
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agreed between the parties;
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(v)
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goods which
will be hazardous to life and safety when used or being offered for sale to
the public,--
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(A)
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in contravention of any standards relating to safety of such
goods as required to be complied with, by or under any law for the time being
in force;
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(B)
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if the trader could have known with due diligence that the goods so
offered are unsafe to the public;
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(vi)
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services which are hazardous or likely to
be hazardous to life and safety of the public when used, are being offered by
the service provider which such person could have known with due diligence to
be injurious to life and safety;
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(d)
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"consumer" means any person
who—
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(i)
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buys any goods for a consideration which
has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any
system 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; or
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(ii)
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hires or avails of any services for a
consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised,
or under any system of deferred payment and includes any beneficiary of such
services other than the person who 'hires or avails of the services for
consideration paid or promised, or partly paid and partly promised, or under
any system of deferred payment, when such services are availed of with the
approval of the first mentioned person but does not include a person who avails of
such services for any commercial purposes;
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Explanation.—
For the purposes of this clause, “commercial purpose” does not include use by
a person of goods bought and used by him and services availed by him
exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of
self-employment;
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(e)
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"Consumer dispute" means a
dispute where the person against whom a complaint has been made, denies or
disputes the allegations contained in the complaint.
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(f)
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"defect" means any fault,
imperfection or shortcoming in the quality, quantity, potency, purity or
standard which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time
being in force under any contract, express or implied or as is claimed by the
trader in any manner whatsoever in relation to any goods;
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(g)
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"deficiency" means any fault,
imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of
performance which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the
time being in force or has been undertaken to be performed by a person in
pursuance of a contract or otherwise in relation to any service;
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(h)
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"District Forum"
means a Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum established
under clause (a) of section 9;
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(i)
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"goods" means goods as defined
in the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 (3 of 1930);
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(j)
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“manufacturer” means a person who—
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(i)
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makes or manufactures any goods or part thereof; or
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(ii)
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does not make or manufacture any goods but assembles parts thereof
made or manufactured by others; or
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(iii)
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puts or causes to be put his own mark on
any goods made or manufactured by any other manufacturer;
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Explanation. —
Where
a manufacturer dispatches any goods or part thereof to any branch office
maintained by him, such branch office shall not be deemed to be the
manufacturer even though the parts so dispatched to it are assembled at such
branch office and are sold or distributed from such branch office;
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(jj)
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"member" includes the President
and a member of the National Commission or a State Commission or a District
Forum, as the case may be;
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(k)
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"National Commission" means the
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established under clause (c)
of section 9;
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(l)
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"notification" means a
notification published in the Official Gazette;
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(m)
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"person" includes,—
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(i)
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a firm whether registered or not;
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(ii)
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a Hindu undivided family;
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(iii)
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a co-operative society;
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(iv)
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every other association of persons
whether registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860) or
not;
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(n)
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"prescribed" means prescribed
by rules made by the State Government, or as the case may be, by the Central
Government under this Act;
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(nn)
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“regulation” means the regulations made by the National Commission
under this Act;
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(nnn)
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“restrictive trade practice” means a trade practice which tends to
bring about manipulation of price or conditions of delivery or to affect flow
of supplies in the market relating to goods or services in such a manner as
to impose on the consumers unjustified costs or restrictions and shall
include—
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(a)
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delay beyond the period agreed to by a trader in supply of such goods
or in providing the services which has led or is likely to lead to rise in
the price;
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(b)
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any trade practice which requires a
consumer to buy, hire or avail of any goods or, as the case may be, services
as condition precedent to buying, hiring or availing of other goods or
services;
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(o)
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"service" means service of any
description which is made available to potential users and includes, but not
limited to, the provision of facilities in connection with banking,
financing insurance, transport, processing, supply of electrical or other
energy, board or lodging or both, housing construction, entertainment,
amusement or the purveying of news or other information, but does not include
the rendering of any service free of charge or under a contract of personal
service;
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(oo)
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“spurious goods and services” mean such goods and services which are
claimed to be genuine but they are actually not so;
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(p)
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"State Commission" means a
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established in a State under clause
(b) of section 9;
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(q)
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"trader" in relation to any
goods means a person who sells or distributes any goods for sale and includes
the manufacturer thereof, and where such goods are sold or distributed in
package form, includes the packer thereof;
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(r)
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"unfair trade practice" means a
trade practice which, for the purpose of promoting the sale, use or supply of
any goods or for the provision of any service, adopts any unfair method or
unfair or deceptive practice including any of the following practices,
namely;—
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(1)
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the practice of making any statement,
whether orally or in writing or by visible representation which,—
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(i)
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falsely represents that the goods are of
a particular standard, quality, quantity, grade, composition, style or model;
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(ii)
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falsely represents that the services are
of a particular standard, quality or grade;
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(iii)
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falsely represents any re-built,
second-hand, renovated, reconditioned or old goods as new goods;
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(iv)
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represents that the goods or services
have sponsorship, approval, performance, characteristics, accessories, uses
or benefits which such goods or services do not have;
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(v)
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represents that the seller or the
supplier has a sponsorship or approval or affiliation which such seller or
supplier does not have;
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(vi)
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makes a false or misleading
representation concerning the need for, or the usefulness of, any goods or
services;
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(vii)
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gives to the public any warranty or
guarantee of the performance, efficacy or length of life of a product or of
any goods that is not based on an adequate or proper test thereof;
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Provided that where a defence is raised
to the effect that such warranty or guarantee is based on adequate or proper
test, the burden of proof of such defence shall lie on the person raising
such defence;
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(viii)
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makes to the public a representation in a
form that purports to be—
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(i)
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a warranty or guarantee of a product or
of any goods or services; or
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(ii)
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a promise to replace, maintain or repair
an article or any part thereof or to repeat or continue a service until it
has achieved a specified result, if such purported warranty or guarantee or
promise is materially misleading or if there is no reasonable prospect that
such warranty, guarantee or promise will be carried out;
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(ix)
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materially misleads the public concerning
the price at which a product or like products or goods or services, have been
or are, ordinarily sold or provided, and, for this purpose, a representation
as to price shall be deemed to refer to the price at which the product or
goods or services has or have been sold by sellers or provided by suppliers
generally in the relevant market unless it is clearly specified to be the
price at which the product has been sold or services have been provided by
the person by whom or on whose behalf the representation is made;
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(x)
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gives false or misleading facts
disparaging the goods, services or trade of another person.
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Explanation. -
For
the purposes of clause (1), a statement that is—
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(a)
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expressed on an article offered or
displayed for sale, or on its wrapper or container; or
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(b)
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expressed on anything attached to,
inserted in, or accompanying, an article offered or displayed for sale, or on
anything on which the article is mounted for display or sale; or
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(c)
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contained in or on anything that is sold,
sent, delivered, transmitted or in any other manner whatsoever made
available to a member of the public,
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shall be deemed to be a statement made to
the public by, and only by, the person who had caused the statement to be so
expressed, made or contained;
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(2)
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permits the publication of any
advertisement whether in any newspaper or otherwise, for the sale or supply
at a bargain price, of goods or services that are not intended to be offered
for sale or supply at the bargain price, or for a period that is, and in
quantities that are, reasonable, having regard to the nature of the market in
which the business is carried on, the nature and size of business, and the
nature of the advertisement.
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Explanation .—For
the purpose of clause (2), "bargaining price" means—
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(a)
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a price that is stated
in any advertisement to be a bargain price, by reference to an ordinary price
or otherwise, or
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(b)
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a price that a person
who reads, hears or sees the advertisement, would reasonably understand to be
a bargain price having regard to the prices at which the product advertised
or like products are ordinarily sold;
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(3)
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permits—
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(a)
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the offering of gifts,
prizes or other items with the intention of not providing them as offered or
creating impression that something is being given or offered free of charge
when it is fully or partly covered by the amount charged in the transaction
as a whole;
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(b)
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the conduct of any
contest, lottery, game of chance or skill, for the purpose of promoting,
directly or indirectly, the sale, use or supply of any product or any business
interest;
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(3A)
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Withholding from the participants of any scheme offering gifts,
prizes or other items free of charge, on its closure the information about
final results of the scheme.
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Explanation. — For the purposes of this sub-clause, the participants
of a scheme shall be deemed to have been informed of the final results of the
scheme where such results are within a reasonable time, published,
prominently in the same newspapers in which the scheme was originally
advertised;
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(4)
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permits the sale or supply of goods
intended to be used, or are of a kind likely to be used, by consumers,
knowing or having reason to believe that the goods do not comply with the
standards prescribed by competent authority relating to performance,
composition, contents, design, constructions, finishing or packaging as are
necessary to prevent or reduce the risk of injury to the person using the
goods;
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(5)
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permits the hoarding or destruction of
goods, or refuses to sell the goods or to make them available for sale or to
provide any service, if such hoarding or destruction or refusal raises or
tends to raise or is intended to raise, the cost of those or other similar
goods or services.
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(6)
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Manufacture of
spurious goods or offering such goods for sale or adopts deceptive
practices in the provision of services.
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(2)
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Any reference in this Act to any other
Act or provision thereof which is not in force in any area to which this Act
applies shall be construed to have a reference to the corresponding Act or
provision thereof in force in such area.
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3.
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Act not in
derogation of any other law:-
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The provisions of this Act shall be in
addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the
time being in force.
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