Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and its implications for the medical profession and health care services in India

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 passed to address e-commerce and online trade challenges, product liability, and safety and dispensing consumer justice in alternative dispute redressal mechanism. The amending law had a seminal bearing on the medical profession and health care system as apparent from the express verbis exclusion of healthcare from the purview of ‘service. ’This provision exonerates the doctors from liability for defective services, and negligence of duty is a moot question to be examined. A careful perusal of the law reveals that it means service of any description made available to potential users to encompass the medical profession and health care service as well. The statutory interpretation and judicial enunciations are wide open in the context of the Indian Medical Association v. V.P. Shantha Case decided by the Supreme Court in 1996 also necessitated to be interpreted de novo. Under this backdrop, the paper takes a legal stance on the impact of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 on the medical profession and health care delivery system in India.