The Supreme Court has ruled that a company is deemed to be a “consumer” under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and hence entitled to approach the consumer fora to seek remedy in cases of deficiency in services by insurers and others.

A bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta rejected the argument of SBI General Insurance Company that an insurance policy taken for commercial purposes cannot be treated as a consumer dispute.

The bench said the definition of ‘person’ as provided in the Act of 1986 is inclusive and not exhaustive. Consumer Protection Act is a beneficial legislation, a liberal interpretation has to be given.

“The very fact that in the Act of 2019, a body corporate has been brought within the definition of ‘person’, by itself indicates that the legislature realised the incongruity in the unamended provision and has rectified the anomaly by including the word ‘company’ in the definition of ‘person’.”

The first objection raised by respondent (SBI) regarding ‘company’ not being covered by the definition of ‘person’ deserves to be rejected, the bench said.