Q.Explain the key features of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

The 2019 Act modernised consumer law with a new regulator, product liability, e-commerce coverage and mediation.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (in force from 2020, replacing the 1986 Act) has the following key features:

1. Wider, e-commerce-inclusive definition of 'consumer' — expressly covering purchases made offline or online, through electronic means, teleshopping, direct selling or multi-level marketing, in addition to the traditional purchase-for-consideration test.
2. Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) — a dedicated regulator to protect consumer rights as a class, with powers to investigate (including suo motu), order product recalls and refunds, and penalise false/misleading advertisements and their endorsers.
3. Product liability — for the first time, a clear statutory basis for a manufacturer, product service provider or seller to be made liable to compensate a consumer for injury, damage or death caused by a defective product or a deficient product-related service.
4. E-commerce rules — the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 apply to inventory-based and marketplace-based e-commerce entities alike, requiring disclosure of seller details, country of origin and return/refund policy, a grievance officer, and a ban on manipulating prices/rankings or running misleading advertisements.
5. Mediation — with the consent of both parties, a dispute can be referred at any stage to a consumer mediation cell attached to a Commission, for a faster, amicable settlement instead of a full hearing.
6. Easier filing — a consumer may file a complaint electronically and from the place where they themselves reside or work, not only from the seller's location, in contrast with the more restrictive 1986 Act procedure.
7. Revised, enlarged pecuniary jurisdiction for the three-tier Commissions (District/State/National), letting far more, and far larger, disputes use this faster route instead of an ordinary civil suit.

Describing only the OLD 1986 Act's three-tier Forum structure as if it were the whole of the 2019 Act's contribution — the CCPA, product liability, e-commerce rules and mediation are the genuinely new 2019 features and must be covered for full marks.