Several countries around the globe have put a stop to unfair terms in consumer contracts through specific laws aimed at protecting consumers, but not India. As a result, consumers continue to be victims of one-sided, highly exploitative contractual terms drawn up by manufacturers and service providers.

A recent case decided by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission illustrates this point best. The case also underscores the urgent need for the government to take immediate steps to prevent this kind of exploitation of consumers through appropriate laws. In this case, the complainant and her sister planned a visit to the US and sought the services of a travel agency. Accordingly, at the rate of Rs 1,97,000 per person, they paid Rs 3,94,000. However, since one of the two sisters was denied the visa, they requested the travel agency to either arrange a tour to some other foreign country or refund the entire amount. This was not agreed to by the travel agency and eventually, it refunded only Rs 2,62,000, forcing one of the sisters to file a complaint with the consumer court for recovering the rest of the money. The district forum, in its ex-parte order directed the travel agency to return Rs 1,12,000, after deducting Rs 20,000 for the services rendered by it. It also directed the agency to pay 10 per cent interest on the amount and pay Rs 1,000 as costs.

The state consumer disputes redressal commission too upheld this order. In its revision petition before the national commission, the travel agency argued that the contract signed by the consumers clearly stated that once the visa was obtained, cancellation of the tour for any reason whatsoever would attract cancellation charges to the extent of 100 per cent of the amount paid. Therefore, the sister who had got the visa was not entitled to any refund on cancellation of the trip, yet, they had refunded some part of the money.

The national commission, however, dismissed this petition and asked the agency to pay (M/s Cox and Kings (I) Pvt Ltd vs Jagadambika T.G., RP No. 1979 of 2007, decided on May 18, 2011). In the UK, for example, the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations, ensure that terms that are unfair to consumers are not included in the contract at all. The regulations also provide for consumers to complain against any such unfair term, if any, to the Office of Fair Trading, which enforces the regulations. Why can’t we have such regulations?