The Central Government has notified that some provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 will come into force into July 20, 2020. Some of the salient features of this Act are:

1. Mediation – The Act mentions that the District Commissions may explore the possibility of settlement through mediation before adjudicating a complaint. However, some categories of complaints (such as cases of medical negligence, fraud, fabrication of documents, forgery, impersonation, coercion, etc.) have been exempted from the scope of this provision.
2. Liability of Endorsers – An endorser found guilty of false and misleading advertisements can be levied with a penalty of up to INR 10 lakhs.
3. Product Liability – The Act introduces the concept of ‘product liability’ which means that it is the responsibility of a product manufacturer or product seller to compensate for any harm caused to a consumer by a defective product manufactured or sold or by deficiency in services relating thereto.
4. Expansion of definition of ‘Deficiency’ – The expanded definition of deficiency now includes – (i) any act of negligence or omission or commission by such person which causes loss or injury to the consumer, and (ii) deliberate withholding of relevant information by such person to the consumer.

The Gazette notification can be accessed at – http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2020/220546.pdf

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has reportedly requested the Central Government of India to issue compulsory license under Section 92 of the Patents Act, 1970 for manufacture of generic versions of the drug ‘remdesivir’. Remdesivir, originally an anti-viral drug sold under the brand name Veklury by Gilead Sciences, has recently been found useful in treating COVID 19 patients.

Interestingly, Gilead Sciences has signed non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with various pharmaceutical companies to manufacture remdesivir for distribution in 127 countries. The voluntary licenses are royalty-free until the WHO declares the end of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding COVID-19, or until a pharmaceutical product other than remdesivir or a vaccine is approved to treat or prevent COVID-19, whichever is earlier. The press release by Gilead Sciences can be accessed at – https://www.gilead.com/purpose/advancing-global-health/covid-19/voluntary-licensing-agreements-for-remdesivir.

The High Court of Delhi has notified that owing to the prevailing situation of spread of COVID19, the functioning of the High Court of Delhi and the subordinate Courts thereunder shall stand extended until July 31, 2020. The Court has permitted filing of non-urgent/ordinary matters in the subordinate Courts but with the stipulation that these matters will be listed for hearing only after the normal functioning of the Courts is resumed.

The notifications can be accessed at – http://delhihighcourt.nic.in/writereaddata/Upload/PublicNotices/PublicNotice_BVH7ZYEANB5.PDF and http://delhihighcourt.nic.in/writereaddata/Upload/PublicNotices/PublicNotice_SJAEQSSRLL4.PDF.

The Supreme Court of India has issued Standard Operating Protocol for e-filing, mentioning, listing and hearing of matters through video conferencing/tele-conferencing mode. Some important points are:

1. Video-conferencing will take place exclusively through the Vidyo Desktop/Mobile Application.
2. Where the Advocate-on-Record requires a Senior Advocate or an arguing counsel to appear and conduct the hearing and/or a litigant to view the proceedings, he/she shall indicate the contact details of the Senior Advocate/Arguing Counsel and the litigant.
3. In all matters involving urgency, the Advocate-on-Record/ Party in-person is first required to file the petition/miscellaneous application, preferably through the e-filing mode available on the Supreme Court website.

The notification can be accessed at – https://main.sci.gov.in/pdf/LU/04072020_153040.pdf.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM),a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has made it mandatory for sellers to indicate Country of Origin while registering all new products on GeM. Further, sellers have also been asked to indicate the Country of Origin for their existing products on GeM. Non-compliance with this direction could result in products being removed from GeM.

GeM has taken this step to promote the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ objectives of the Government of India. In the new feature enabled by the GeM on its online portal, the Country of Origin as well as the local content percentage are visible in the marketplace for all items. Further, the ‘Make in India’ filter has also now been enabled on the portal.

The press release can be accessed at – https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1633511.