From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has held that a person availing services of a bank for “commercial purpose” is not a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act unless he establishes for the services were availed exclusively for livelihood by means of self-employment.
A Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Bhushan R Gavai dismissed an appeal in a judgment on Tuesday, saying that the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002, clearly shows the legislative intent of keeping the commercial transactions out of its purview.
It was hearing an appeal by Karnataka’s Shrikant G Mantri Ghar, a stock broker, challenging the ruling of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in favour of the Punjab National Bank which had granted him the overdraft facility. It said the relations between him and the bank were purely “business to business” relationship and so the transactions clearly come within the ambit of “commercial purpose.”
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