Consumer Protection Act: Right to a Refund

The recent enactment of the Consumer Protection Act has seemed to cause a feverish level of excitement amongst businesses, the media and the general public.

Mumbai (I-Newswire) February 11, 2013 - The attention of the general public has primarily been focused around the provision which allows a buyer to return goods and limits the ability of retailers to institute a no refunds policy.

With the contents of the Consumer Protection Act in mind I have found it to be a curious development that despite the enactment of the Act, retailers still have sign and display boards that indicate a " no refund" policy.

On a recent venture to a local cellular network store, to purchase a gift for a family member, I again encountered a "no refund" signage inside the store and politely enquired with the staff why such signage was on display after the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The response I received was both surprising and instructive as a staff member replied to my enquiry by stating that the Consumer Protection Act's provisions that allow for the return of goods and a claim for a refund does not apply to all goods.

On exiting the local cellular network store I soon found myself examining the necessary provisions of the Consumer Protection Act so as to establish whether the statement of the staff member at the store was correct.

The result of my examination of the Consumer Protection Act was enlightening and I will discuss them in the following paragraphs.

The Act does provide consumers with a right to a cooling period; however, this cooling-off period would seem only to apply after direct marketing with certain exclusions. Direct marketing has been defined in the Act as

"approaching a person, either in person or by mail or electronic communication, for the direct or indirect purpose of promoting or offering to supply, in the ordinary course of business, any goods or services to the person, or requesting to make a donation of any kind for any reason"

This definition basically means that I, as a consumer who had walked into the cellular network store to purchase a gift for a family member without having received e-mail, internet, post or personal advertisements relating to the goods that I wished to purchase, would not be able to utilise the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act relating to the right to cooling-off periods, simply because I had not been a recipient of direct marketing in respect of the goods that I was purchasing at the cellular phone network store.

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