Chapter-1 Preliminary
- Short Title and Commencement: (1) This Act may be cited as the “Consumer Protection Act, 2075 (2018).”
(2) This Act shall commence immediately.
- Definition: Unless the subject or the context otherwise requires, in this Act,-
(a) “Court” means the Consumer Court referred to in Section 41.
(b) “Unfair trade and business” means any activity referred to in Section 16.
(c) “Production” means the process of producing, preparing, refining, changing, mixing, packaging or repackaging, assembling or labeling, or any or all the processes to be adopted in this regard
(d) “Consumer” means a person or institution that consumes or uses any goods or services.
(e) “Consumer association” means the institution established under the prevailing law with the objective of protecting and promoting the rights and welfare of the consumers.
(f) “Central Monitoring Committee” means the Central Market Monitoring Committee referred to in Section 25.
(g) “Sub-standard goods” means consumer goods of any of the following conditions:
(1) Goods the quality of which falls short of the standards determined under Section 6 or in which the quantity of an essential ingredient has been lowered, or any other material has been mixed.
(2) Goods which are stale, rotten or stored or prepared in dirty or toxic conditions or in which any chemical, colour or flavour has been used, so that they become harmful to human health,
(3) Goods which are fully or partly made of any diseased or disease-generating animals or birds or harmful vegetation,
(4) Goods which are produced, transported, hoarded, stored or sold without meeting the standard prescribed,
(5) Goods which have no quality of consumable goods if it is prescribed, and as mentioned by the producer, if it is not prescribed,
(6) Goods the quality of which falls short of the minimum necessary standards or exceeds the maximum standards prescribed, if any, in this Act or in the rules framed under this Act.
(h) “Prescribed” or “as prescribed” means prescribed or as prescribed in the rules framed under this Act.
(i) “Inspection Officer” means the Inspection Officer appointed or designated pursuant to Section 32.
(j) “Council” means the Consumer Protection Council to be formed pursuant to sub-section (1) of Section 22.
(k) “Laboratory” means the body established with the objective of testing the purity, perfection or quality of the goods and recognized by the Government of Nepal.
(l) “Ministry” means the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply of the Government of Nepal.
(m) “Label” means a tag, sign, picture or other descriptive thing written, printed, lithographed, signed, embossed, included or displayed in any other manner, in or on the goods or the container containing such goods.
(m) “Goods” means the substance which the consumers consume or use or the materials made of the mixture of goods which do not inflict harm and injury or any kind of side effect to health, and this term also includes the raw material, colour, fragrance or chemical to be used in the production of such goods.
(n) “Price of goods” means the price the price labeled at the time of production, maximum retail price (M.R.P.), the price fixed in the import declaration form or the price fixed at the source by the producer.
(o) “Seller” means the person, firm, company or institution that sells and distributes goods or services.
(p) “Department” means the Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Welfare Protection Department.
(q) “Service” means electricity, drinking water supply, telephone, information technology, health, education and consultation, transport, drainage, banking or other services of similar nature, and this term also includes legal, medical or engineering services.
(r) “Defective product” means any goods or services that do not contain such minimum safety measures due to any of the following as are reasonably expected by the general people while using any product:
(1) defective design, construction, refinement, mixture or installation,
(2) defective packaging, protection or storage,
(3) defective presentation,
(4) lack of sufficient measure or precaution to control the potential risk or hazard as per the nature of the produced goods or services,
(5) product which is different or pirated or imitated from the product produced by the manufacturing company possessing the intellectual property right.