Person availing services of bank for commercial purpose is not consumer says SC
New Delhi Feb 23 PTI A person availing the services of a bank for commercial purpose is not a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act the Supreme Court has saidThe apex court stated that to come within the ambit of the consumer a person will have to establish that the services were availed exclusively for earning his livelihood by means of self employmentA bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said there cannot be any straitjacket formula and such a question will have to be decided in the facts of each case depending upon the evidence placed on recordWhen a person avails a service for a commercial purpose to come within the meaning of consumer as defined in the said Act he will have to establish that the services were availed exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employment the bench saidThe apex court said the Consumer Protection Amendment Act 2002 clearly shows that the legislative intent is to keep the commercial transactions out of the purview of the said ActIt said that at the same time the intent of the Act is also to give benefit to a person who enters into such commercial transactions when he uses such goods or avails such services exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employmentThe top court was hearing an appeal filed by Shrikant G Mantri Ghar challenging the judgment and order passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal CommissionThe NCDRC had held that the complainant was not a consumer as envisaged under Section 21d of The Consumer Protection Act 1986The complainant a stock broker had filed a complaint against Punjab National Bank which had granted him overdraft facilityThe apex court said the relations between the appellant and the respondent is purely business to business relationshipAs such the transactions would clearly come within the ambit of commercial purpose the bench said in its judgement delivered on TuesdayIt cannot be said that the services were availed exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employmentIf the interpretation as sought to be placed by the appellant is to be accepted then the business to business disputes would also have to be construed as consumer disputes thereby defeating the very purpose of providing speedy and simple redressal to consumer disputesWe therefore find no error with the findings of the Commission In any case the Commission has already granted liberty to the appellant to avail of his remedy by approaching the appropriate forum having jurisdiction In the result the appeal is dismissed the bench said PTI PKS SA
New Delhi Feb 23 PTI A person availing the services of a bank for commercial purpose is not a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act the Supreme Court has saidThe apex court stated that to come within the ambit of the consumer a person will have to establish that the services were availed exclusively for earning his livelihood by means of self employmentA bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said there cannot be any straitjacket formula and such a question will have to be decided in the facts of each case depending upon the evidence placed on recordWhen a person avails a service for a commercial purpose to come within the meaning of consumer as defined in the said Act he will have to establish that the services were availed exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employment the bench saidThe apex court said the Consumer Protection Amendment Act 2002 clearly shows that the legislative intent is to keep the commercial transactions out of the purview of the said ActIt said that at the same time the intent of the Act is also to give benefit to a person who enters into such commercial transactions when he uses such goods or avails such services exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employmentThe top court was hearing an appeal filed by Shrikant G Mantri Ghar challenging the judgment and order passed by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal CommissionThe NCDRC had held that the complainant was not a consumer as envisaged under Section 21d of The Consumer Protection Act 1986The complainant a stock broker had filed a complaint against Punjab National Bank which had granted him overdraft facilityThe apex court said the relations between the appellant and the respondent is purely business to business relationshipAs such the transactions would clearly come within the ambit of commercial purpose the bench said in its judgement delivered on TuesdayIt cannot be said that the services were availed exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of self employmentIf the interpretation as sought to be placed by the appellant is to be accepted then the business to business disputes would also have to be construed as consumer disputes thereby defeating the very purpose of providing speedy and simple redressal to consumer disputesWe therefore find no error with the findings of the Commission In any case the Commission has already granted liberty to the appellant to avail of his remedy by approaching the appropriate forum having jurisdiction In the result the appeal is dismissed the bench said PTI PKS SA
