Supreme Court issues notice on PIL for consumers' right to know about shop owners' name, address etc

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Central and state governments on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a declaration that consumers have a right to know not just the quality of goods and services, but also information on the distributor or shop owner [Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India and Ors].

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a plea which argued that the lack of such information hinders consumers from effectively availing remedies under the Consumer Protection Act.

The plea sought directions to the Central and state governments to mandate that shop owners prominently display their registration details including name, address, employee strength and contact number on a display board at the entry gate, clearly visible to an ordinary person.

The matter is posted for hearing next on August 18.

"Issue notice returnable within four weeks," the Court ordered.

The PIL was filed by lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. Appearing for him, Advocate Eklavya Dwivedi argued that there exists an asymmetry as consumers have the right to know about the quality of goods but not the details of the distributor or shop owner, thereby preventing them from effectively availing remedies under the Consumer Protection Act.

The petitioner contended that consumers have the right to know whether distributors, dealers, traders, sellers and shop owners are registered licensees. It was argued that if a consumer faces issues with a product or service, access to distributor and shop owner details becomes essential for filing complaints under Section 2(6) [right to information of consumers] and seeking redressal before consumer forums.

The plea stressed that the “right to know” would help consumers avoid falling prey to fraudulent or deceptive distributors and shop owners.

"Right to Know’ about Distributer, Dealer, Trader, Seller and Shop Owner is secured under the Consumer Protection Act read with Article 19. Therefore, every Consumers has right to access details of Product, Service as well as Distributor, Dealer, Trader, Seller and Shop Owner before making a purchase," the petition reads.

The petition was filed through Advocate-on-Record Ashwani Kumar Dubey.

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