Court :
Supreme Court of India
Brief :
A Person involved in buying goods or availing services for the purpose of earning his livelihood through self-employment would be within the scope of the definition of consumer.
Citation :
CIVIL APPEAL NO.11397 OF 2016
MR. SHRIKANT G. MANTR VS. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK
DATE: 22ND FEBRUARY,2022
A Person involved in buying goods or availing services for the purpose of earning his livelihood through self-employment would be within the scope of the definition of consumer.
An appeal was filed before Apex Court against the order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) where the Commission had held that the appellant was not a consumer of the respondent bank.
SECTION 2(1)(D) IN THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 1986
(d) “consumer” means any person who,—
(i) 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
(ii) 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 purpose.
SECTION 2(7) OF THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT,2019 - "CONSUMER" means any person who—
(i) 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
(ii) hires or avails of any service 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 service 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 service for any commercial purpose.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause,—
(a) the expression "commercial purpose" does not include use by a person of goods bought and used by him exclusively for the purpose of earning his livelihood, by means of self-employment;
(b) the expressions "buys any goods" and "hires or avails any services" includes offline or online transactions through electronic means or by teleshopping or direct selling or multi-level marketing;
The Apex Court in deciding the case clearly said that a person purchasing goods or availailing services exclusively for the purpose of his livelihood by means of self-employment is a “ Consumer”. On the other hand a person purchasing goods or availing services for commercial purpose or earning profits is not a consumer under definition of consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986( as amended by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019).
DISCLAIMER: the case law presented here is only for sharing information and knowledge with readers. The views are personal and should not be taken as professional advice. In case of necessity do consult with professionals.