MCQ 30 Nov 2023

Daily Static MCQs for CLAT Prelims Exams - (30 November 2023)



Consumers can cheer as the /Consumer Protection Act, 2019/ (the CPA) has replaced the three- decade old /Consumer Protection Act. 1986/ Under the CPA, a consumer (that is, anyone who has bought a good or availed a service), can file a complaint against the seller or provider of the goods or services if there is any deficiency in the goods or services. One crucial change is that now the money spent on buying the product will determine the value of the case as opposed to the previous parameter of the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of the purchased goods/service. Say something is bought on discount, is only fair that the amount the consumer has paid is the determiner in place of the MRP, says the expert. In another change, the CPA allows consumers to file their complaint with a consumer court from anywhere. This comes as a big relief as earlier they were required to file complaint in the area where the seller or service provider was located. This is a fitting move considering the rise in e-commerce purchases, where the seller could be located anywhere. The CPA has provisions for product liability under which a manufacturer or a service provider has to compensate a consumer if their good/service causes injury or loss to the consumer due to manufacturing defect or poor service. For instance, if a pressure cooker explodes due to a manufacturing defect and harms the consumer, the manufacturer is liable to compensate the consumer for the injury. E-commerce will now be governed by all the laws that apply to direct selling. The CPA says that platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal etc. will have to disclose seller’s details, such as their address, website, email, etc and other conditions related to refund, exchange, terms of contract and warranty on their website to increase transparency. The responsibility of ensuring that no counterfeit or fraudulent products are sold on these platforms will also be with the e commerce companies, in failure of which they hold accountability.

Question1:-Assume, in a similar case, that the website Manan discovered was selling counterfeit items, such as dupes and rejected luxury bags, shoes, outfits, and accessories. Generally, all of the items offered on the website are rejected products with manufacturing defects, bought from the manufacturer and are consequently sold at a significantly cheaper price than an original. Manan was unaware of the situation and had purchased two Luci Vitten purses for her sister, each costing 20,000/-originally, but he only paid 3000 for the pair on the website, thinking he got a great deal. When the delivery arrived, Manan discovered that the bag had various manufacturing flaws, such as not being correctly stitched and having insufficient place for the front zip. In this circumstance, can Manan submit a direct complaint with the manufacturer regarding such defects and claim compensation?
  • A. Manan cannot file any complaints with that of the manufacturer as the websites sold the rejected counterfeits products.
  • B. Manan can also file a complaint against the manufacturer as E-commerce will now be governed by all the laws that apply to direct selling.
  • C. Manan cannot claim damages for inadequate or defective service, as everyone but Manan is aware that all of the things sold on the website are rejected products and thus are consequently sold at a significantly cheaper price than an original.
  • D. Manan can file a complaint directly with that of the manufacturer of Luci Vitten as the CPA has provisions for product liability under which a manufacturer has to compensate a consumer
Answer is D is correct. The passage states that The CPA has provisions for product liability under which a manufacturer or a service provider has to compensate a consumer if their good/service causes injury or loss to the consumer due to-manufacturing defect or poor service. Here the essential is loss caused to the consumer. Hence, in the present case, Manal can submit his complaint directly to the manufacturer citing manufacturing defect. Thus, option D is correct. Option B will be incorrect as it states can also file a case against manufacturer, but the passage states can directly file against manufacturer and not also file. Option C is not correct as the facts do not suggests that Manal was aware about the fact that all of the things sold on the website are rejected products and thus are consequently sold at o significantly cheaper price than an original. Option A is not correct as even if the website sold defected manufactured product Manal as a consumer has all rights under CPA to file a complaint against the manufacture in case of product received with manufacturing defect.
Question2:-Manan, who knew nothing about baking, and randomly purchased a less expensive home baking set out of several options available on the website, for his recently retired mother so that she could spend her time doing what she enjoys the most, baking. Upon using, Shalini, as an experienced baker, quickly recognized that all the products were of low quality and were very cheap. Manan submitted an exchange request on the website shipmart.com, where customer service declined his request, stating that we do have good quality things on our website as well, which is not cheap but pricey. You had the option of purchasing that item, but you chose a cheaper alternative. As a result, we are unable to accept requests for exchange of seal damaged and used products. Decide
  • A. Manan's exchange request is rightfully denied since there was defect in the service or the items received.
  • B. Manan himself chose such items and hence cannot make a guarantee for the exchange of used products
  • C. Manan's request should be granted since he was disappointed with the quality of the items.
  • D. Manan's request cannot be approved because the website provided transparency across all items offered.
Answer is D is correct. Option A is not correct as E-commerce will now be governed by all the laws that apply to direct selling. The CPA says that platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal etc. will have to disclose sellers' details, such as their address, website, email, etc. and other conditions related to refund, exchange, terms of contract and warranty on their website to increase transparency. The case is not one of counterfeit products rather consumer dissatisfied with the low quality products that he chooses himself even when the website had other good quality products. For this reason, not A but option D is correct. Option B is not correct as the given statement is one of suggestive nature, moreover this could have been a valid request if there was any manufacturing defect or the product delivered was of poor quality that resulted in injury or loss to the consumer. Hence, option C is also rejected as a complaint cannot be made in case the consumer is himself dissatisfied with the product ordered from a website where all the information regarding the product has been given.
Question3:-In continuation of previous question, assume Manan's mother was not fully aware of the poor quality of the goods obtained, but as she baked the item, she detected a bad odour emanating from the baked food. She subsequently delivered the baked goodies to her daughter-in-law, who became ill after eating the rotten food. Can her daughter-in-law submit a complaint about the bad food made using the E-commerce website’s products? Decide
  • A. The daughter-in-law has no claim in this case since she is not the consumer of the products purchased
  • B. Daughter may make a claim for the poor quality of the items she got, from which she fell ill.
  • C. Daughter in law has no claim here since, despite suspecting something was amiss with the food, Manan's mother delivered it to her daughter in law for consumption.
  • D. Manan and the daughter-in-law will have a legitimate claim against the poor quality of products provided from the e-commerce website.
Answer is A is correct. The passage defines consumer as anyone who has bought a good or a service, can file a complaint against the seller or provider of the goods or services if there is any deficiency in the goods or services. In the present case, the factual query asks whether daughter in law can file a complaint. The answer will be no as Manal will be the consumer here as per CPA and he can only file a complaint. But option D is incorrect as the factual question asks for daughter in law, that whether she can file a complaint and having said so option A is correct and Option B is not correct. Option C is incorrect because the rationale offered is factual and lack a reasoning in answering the issue of why the daughter in law cannot submit a complaint here as a customer.
Question4:-Surya bought the latest Lesla car which comes with inbuilt autopilot mode of driving. Autopilot is a hands-on driver assistance system that is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver. Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta has all the features of a self-driving system, but they often fail, which is why it requires a driver behind the wheel at all-time to be attentive and ready to take control. This disclaimer is always advised to the drivers by all the manufacturers. Surya allegedly lost control of the vehicle before crashing into other vehicles and killing 2. The incident took place in China on November 5 in the southern province of Guangdong. Lesla has denied malfunctioning to blame the deadly crash. The US automaker on Sunday said that it will assist Chinese police investigating the crash, but the incident wasn't caused by malfunction. According to the investigation the data taken from the car showed no proof that the brake pedal had been applied by Surya before the crash. Surya sued the manufacturer for the damages and injury caused. Decide manufacturer's liability.
  • A. The manufacturers should accept full responsibility in this case because the accident occurred due to faulty manufacturing, which resulted in two deaths and Surya's injury.
  • B. Both the manufacturer and Surya should be held accountable because it was Surya's irresponsibility while driving and the manufacturer’s fault that caused the accident.
  • C. The manufacturer will be held solely responsible because the automobile caused Surya harm and loss due to a manufacturing flaw and poor servicing
  • D. The manufacturer will not be held accountable since the accident was not caused by a manufacturing defect.
Answer is D is correct. Option B is eliminated as the factual question only asks for the responsibility of the Manufacturer and not Surya. The CPA has provisions for product liability under which a manufacturer or a service provider has to compensate a consumer if their good/service causes injury or loss to the consumer due to manufacturing defect or poor service. In the present case, after investigation it was found that there was no defect in the manufacturing and thus option A is incorrect and option D is correct as the manufacturer will not be held accountable since the accident that killed two persons was not caused by a manufacturing defect but was due to non- application of break by the driver. Since there were no manufacturing defects, Surya cannot claim any damage from the manufacturer in the present case. For similar reasoning option C is not correct.

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