Consumer Protection Act: Upholding Consumer Rights in the Food Industry

Every time you pick up a packaged food item, order a meal online, or trust a health claim on an advertisement, you’re relying on laws designed to protect you from harm, deception, and exploitation. In India, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 serves as the primary legal framework safeguarding your interests in the food industry. This legislation addresses everything from misleading advertisements to food adulteration, ensuring you have clear avenues for seeking justice when things go wrong.

What is the Consumer Protection Act, 2019? 🔗

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 replaces the earlier Consumer Protection Act of 1986 and was enacted to address modern marketplace challenges. The legislation came into effect on July 20, 2020, bringing significant enhancements to consumer rights protection. One crucial change for the food industry is the explicit inclusion of “food” under the definition of goods, borrowing its definition from the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. This makes food business operators directly accountable under consumer protection law.

The Act covers transactions through all modes-offline, online, teleshopping, multi-level marketing, and direct selling. This comprehensive scope ensures that whether you purchase groceries from a local store or order food through an app, your rights remain protected.

Six fundamental consumer rights 🔗

The Act guarantees six essential consumer rights that are particularly relevant to food products:

Right to safety protects you against goods and services that are hazardous to life and property. For food products, this means protection against contaminated or adulterated items that could harm your health.

Right to be informed ensures you receive accurate information about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard, and price of goods or services. Food labels must therefore contain truthful and adequate details about ingredients, nutritional content, and allergens.

Right to choose guarantees access to a variety of goods at competitive prices, preventing artificial monopolies in the food market.

Right to be heard means your interests should receive full and sympathetic consideration in appropriate forums-critical when raising food safety concerns.

Right to seek redressal allows you to pursue fair settlement of genuine grievances, including compensation for illness caused by contaminated products.

Right to consumer awareness promotes education about consumer rights through various government initiatives and awareness campaigns.

Addressing unfair trade practices in food 🔗

The Act defines unfair trade practices broadly, including deceptive practices such as false advertising, misleading product claims, and disparaging competitors. In the food industry, this covers situations like:

Misrepresenting the quality or nature of food products, making false health claims on packaging, selling expired or near-expiry items without disclosure, and using deceptive pricing strategies. The legislation also introduces the concept of “unfair contracts,” protecting consumers from exploitative terms imposed by food businesses or delivery platforms.

Food adulteration under the Act 🔗

Food adulteration represents one of the most serious threats to consumer health and safety. The Act recognizes various forms of adulteration including substituting essential ingredients with inferior alternatives, adding non-permitted colors or preservatives, removing valuable nutrients while maintaining appearance, and selling one food item disguised as another more expensive product.

While the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 imposes penalties up to ₹10 lakh for misleading food advertisements, the Consumer Protection Act provides an additional layer of protection, allowing consumers to seek compensation for damages caused by adulterated products through consumer forums.

Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) 🔗

A landmark innovation of the 2019 Act is the establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) under the Department of Consumer Affairs. This regulatory body was set up in July 2020 to promote, protect, and enforce consumer rights at a national level.

Powers and functions 🔗

The CCPA has significant authority to address food industry violations. It can investigate consumer rights violations and unfair trade practices, order the recall of unsafe or hazardous food products from the market, issue directions to discontinue or modify false or misleading advertisements, impose penalties on manufacturers and endorsers, and issue safety notices to consumers about dangerous food products.

The authority has issued 325 notices for violations and levied penalties totaling ₹1.19 crore since its formation, demonstrating active enforcement of consumer protection laws.

Guidelines on misleading advertisements 🔗

In June 2022, the CCPA notified the “Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements” to further protect consumers from baseless claims and exaggerated promises. These guidelines specifically prohibit making health or nutritional claims without adequate scientific substantiation from recognized bodies. They also ban advertisements for junk foods-including chips, carbonated beverages, and snacks-during programs meant for children or on channels exclusively targeting young audiences.

Penalties for violations 🔗

The Act imposes stringent penalties to deter violations in the food sector. For misleading advertisements, the CCPA may impose penalties up to ₹10 lakh and imprisonment up to two years for the first offense. Subsequent violations can attract fines up to ₹50 lakh and imprisonment up to five years.

Celebrity endorsers face additional consequences. The CCPA can prohibit endorsers from making any endorsement for up to one year for the first offense, extending to three years for repeat violations. This holds food influencers and celebrities accountable for the products they promote.

Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions 🔗

The Act establishes a three-tier quasi-judicial system for resolving consumer complaints efficiently. These commissions operate at district, state, and national levels:

District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission handles complaints where the value of goods or services and compensation claimed is up to ₹1 crore.

State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission addresses complaints valued between ₹1 crore and ₹10 crore, and also hears appeals against District Commission orders.

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission manages complaints exceeding ₹10 crore and appeals against State Commission orders. Final appeals lie before the Supreme Court.

Filing a complaint 🔗

The process for filing complaints has been simplified significantly. Consumers can now file complaints electronically from their place of residence or work through the E-Daakhil portal, rather than being restricted to filing where the seller is located. No advocate is required-consumers can represent themselves or through a representative. Complaints must be filed within two years of the cause of action arising.

For complaints up to ₹5 lakh, no court fee is required. The fee structure increases progressively based on the claim value, remaining accessible for most consumers.

Mediation option 🔗

The Act also introduces mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. Either at the first hearing after admission or at a later stage, the Commission can refer the complaint to mediation with consent of both parties. No fee is charged for mediation, and no appeal lies after settlement through this process.

Product liability provisions 🔗

The 2019 Act introduces comprehensive product liability provisions making manufacturers, service providers, and sellers accountable for harm caused by defective products. In the food context, this means if you suffer illness or injury from a contaminated or defective food product, you can claim compensation by proving any of the specified conditions for defect or deficiency.

Manufacturers are liable if the product contains manufacturing defects, has design defects, deviates from specifications, fails to conform to express warranties, or lacks adequate instructions or warnings. Food delivery services and platforms can also be held liable for issues like serving wrong orders, improper food handling during delivery, or failing to disclose allergen information.

E-commerce and food aggregators 🔗

The Act specifically addresses e-commerce transactions, recognizing the growing importance of online food ordering. Food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato fall under the Act’s jurisdiction. These platforms must ensure that contracts with consumers are not “unfair contracts” that violate consumer interests through excessive penalties, one-sided termination clauses, or disproportionate security deposits.

Notable cases have already emerged-food delivery platforms have faced penalties for serving vegetarian customers non-vegetarian food, classified as deficiency in service. This establishes that the legislature intends to impose liabilities on all entities involved in online food transactions.

Challenges and the path forward 🔗

Despite the comprehensive legal framework, enforcement faces challenges. Many consumers remain unaware of their rights and available redressal mechanisms. Consumer forums sometimes experience backlogs, resulting in prolonged resolution processes. Implementation varies across different states and territories.

However, the government continues working to improve consumer awareness through initiatives like the “Jago Grahak Jago” campaign and the National Consumer Helpline. The CCPA has also issued additional guidelines in 2024 addressing dark patterns in e-commerce and greenwashing in environmental claims, showing evolving responsiveness to marketplace changes.

What do you think? Have you ever encountered a situation where you needed to exercise your consumer rights regarding food products? How aware do you feel about the mechanisms available to seek redressal if a food product or service fails to meet expected standards?

References

1. https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-consumer-protection-bill-2019
2. https://www.mondaq.com/india/dodd-frank-consumer-protection-act/860250/impact-of-the-consumer-protection-act-2019-on-the-food-industry-and-food-aggregators
3. https://consumerhelpline.gov.in/public/knowledgebasedetails/Consumer%20Protection%20Act%202019
4. https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/ccpa-issues-325-notices-for-violation-of-consumer-rights-misleading-ads-imposes-penalties-of-rs-1-19-crore-50910.htm
5. https://corporate.cyrilamarchandblogs.com/2025/05/understanding-regulatory-safeguards-for-influencer-marketing-of-nutraceuticals-in-india/
6. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1832906
7. https://www.cag.org.in/newsletters/public-newsense/ccpas-guidelines-prevention-misleading-advertisements-and-endorsements