Swastik Ayurved Pharma Limited is one of the largest producers of Herbal and Ayurvedic products in India. To expand its market share, Swastik regularly advertised the claimed benefits of its products. These advertisement

CS Executive · Economic, Commercial and Intellectual Property Laws · PYQS · June 2025
Swastik Ayurved Pharma Limited is one of the largest producers of Herbal and Ayurvedic products in India. To expand its market share, Swastik regularly advertised the claimed benefits of its products. These advertisements promoted the products as having medicinal properties and the ability to cure ailments without side effects. However, the advertisements lacked any scientific evidence to support such claims. Relying upon these advertisements, Rajeev, a consumer, purchased the products. The products, however, turned out to be ineffective and did not match the claims made in the advertisements. Rajeev, the complainant, lodged a complaint with the Secretary, Ministry of Health, Government of India, alleging that the advertisements released by the company were misleading, false, and deceptive, intended to misguide the general public, and in violation of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which mandates that advertisements must be truthful and not misleading. Further, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) also found the advertisements to be misleading and in violation of its regulations. It was contended that the company and its directors should be held liable for such misleading and deceptive advertisements. The case was ultimately referred to the Supreme Court under Article 136 of the Constitution of India by way of a special leave to appeal. From the above case study, answer the following questions as per the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Who is a "consumer" under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019? Can Rajeev be considered a consumer in this case ?

Answer & Explanation:

According to Section 2(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, Consumer means any person who- Buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes any user of such goods other than the person who buys such goods for consideration paid or promised or partly paid or partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment, when such use is made with the approval of such person, but does not include a person who obtains such goods for resale or for any commercial purpose; or Hires or avails of any service for a consideration which has been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment and includes any beneficiary of such service other than the person who hires or avails of the services for consideration paid or promised, or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment, when such services are availed of with the approval of the first mentioned person, but does not include a person who avails of such service for any commercial purpose. Explanation. - For the purposes of this clause, - the expression "commercial purpose" does not include use by a person of goods bought and used by him exclusively for the purpose of earning his livelihood, by means of self-employment; The expressions "buys any goods" and "hires or avails any services" includes offline or online transactions through electronic means or by teleshopping or direct selling or multi-level marketing. Looking to the provision of Section 2(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, Mr. Rajeev who purchased the advertised products relying upon the advertisements of Swastik Ayurved Pharma Ltd. is a consumer.

Topics: Consumer Protection Act, 2019

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