Arbitration pact doesn’t bar consumer plaint: Supreme Court

Noting that the existence of an arbitration agreement does not automatically bar a consumer complaint, the Supreme Court had ruled that once a complaint has been admitted by a consumer court/forum, it cannot be transferred to another court, tribunal or authority.

A Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath also clarified that a homebuyer could seek adjudication of his claim for compensation for delay in delivery of flats even after getting possession of the same.

Describing the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, (now replaced by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019,) as a beneficial piece of legislation intended to provide a simple, inexpensive and expeditious remedy to a consumer aggrieved by defect in goods or deficiency in service, the SC said Section 3 of the 1986 Act made the position explicit by providing that the remedy under the Act was in addition to and not in derogation of any other remedy available under law. It overturned the concurrent findings of the District Consumer Forum, the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, which had refused to adjudicate the complaint of TKA Padmanabhan.