Sections 26 and 27 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986: Frivolous Complaints and Penalties
Sections 26 and 27 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 dealt respectively with dismissal of frivolous or vexatious complaints and punishment for failure to comply with orders of the consumer fora. The 1986 Act has since been repealed by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, so these provisions are mainly relevant to the earlier statutory scheme and proceedings governed by it.
Section 26 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986
Dismissal of frivolous or vexatious complaints
Under Section 26 of the 1986 Act, when a complaint before the District Forum, State Commission or National Commission was found to be frivolous or vexatious, the forum was required to record reasons in writing, dismiss the complaint, and could direct the complainant to pay costs to the opposite party. The statutory ceiling on such costs was Rs. 10,000.
A frivolous complaint is generally understood as one lacking a serious or reasonable basis. A vexatious complaint generally refers to a proceeding pursued in a manner that improperly troubles or harasses the opposite party. Under old Section 26, the statutory consequence depended on a finding by the consumer forum and reasons recorded in writing.
Section 27 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986
Penalty for failure to comply with an order
Section 27 of the 1986 Act applied where a trader, a person against whom a complaint was made, or the complainant failed or omitted to comply with an order of the District Forum, State Commission or National Commission. It provided imprisonment from one month up to three years, or a fine from Rs. 2,000 up to Rs. 10,000, or both.
The provision also conferred powers of a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class on the consumer fora for trial of offences under the Act and provided for summary trial of offences.
Current provision: Section 72 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019
Section 72 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 is the current provision dealing with penalty for non-compliance of an order. A person who fails to comply with an order of a District Commission, State Commission or National Commission may be punished with imprisonment for not less than one month and up to three years, or a fine of not less than Rs. 25,000 and up to Rs. 1,00,000, or both.
Section 72 also gives the concerned Consumer Commission the powers of a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class for trial of the offence under Section 72(1), and, save as otherwise provided, such offences are tried summarily.
Old law and current law at a glance
| Issue | Consumer Protection Act 1986 | Consumer Protection Act 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Frivolous or vexatious complaint | Section 26 expressly provided for dismissal with recorded reasons and costs up to Rs. 10,000. | The 1986 Act has been repealed; old Section 26 should not be cited as the governing provision for a new complaint under the 2019 Act. |
| Non-compliance with Commission order | Section 27: imprisonment from one month to three years, or fine from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 10,000, or both. | Section 72: imprisonment from one month to three years, or fine from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 1,00,000, or both. |
| Consumer adjudicatory bodies | District Forum, State Commission and National Commission. | District Commission, State Commission and National Commission. |
Official legal resources
For the authoritative statutory text, see the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 on India Code. The Department of Consumer Affairs consumer protection page provides the Act, commencement notifications, rules and regulations. For historical reference, see the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 on India Code.
This article distinguishes the repealed 1986 provisions from the present statutory framework so that historical section numbers are not mistaken for current law.