A meeting between Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) and electronic appliance manufacturing companies was held to discuss the issue of commencement of warranty period from date of installation instead of date of purchase informed PIB Kohima.

Issue has been raised that there is a shortfall in the warranty period since the warranty period as per the policies set by manufacturers commences from purchase date, and not date of installation. Hence, consumers can only begin using the product after it has been installed on their premises.

The meeting began with an address by Khare, Chief Commissioner highlighting three key points on the issue,

Firstly, consumer should be clearly informed about the starting point of warranty period. It should not be the case that consumer comes to know about the details of the warranty after she/he has purchased the product.

Secondly, companies should ensure that global best practices are followed in India.

Thirdly, consumer grievances relating to warranty period must be addressed in a proactive and prompt manner.

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Under Section 2(9) of the Act, consumers have the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods, products or services, as the case may be, so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices. Hence, measures are to be explored to prevent abuse of the mechanism and to ensure that consumer interest is adequately safeguarded.

During the course of the meeting, it was deliberated that electronic appliances are generally of two categories –

‘plug-n-play’ products such as iron press, microwave etc. which do not require any installation and,

products requiring installation such as air conditioners, refrigerators etc.

There was a general consensus among the companies to address the issue in a proactive manner keeping in view concerns of consumers. All the companies were requested to send their views within 15 days.

Nidhi Khare, Chief Commissioner, CCPA chaired the program and was attended by representatives from major electronic appliance companies including Reliance Retail, L.G., Panasonic, Haier, Croma and Bosch.