One of the most important milestones in the consumer movement in the country has been the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. This Act was necessitated because the well-organized sectors of manufacturers, traders and service providers, armed with knowledge of the market and manipulative skills, often attempt to exploit the gullible consumers, despite the existence of provisions in different laws protecting their interest. Various factors including increase in the population resulted in enormous pendency and delay in disposal of cases in the civil courts. Moreover, consumers cannot be asked to wait for years for settlement of even small claims. Hence, the Consumer Protection Act was enacted to better protect the interest of the consumers. The importance of the Act is now felt much more than ever before in view of the increase in consumerism and opening up of the economy. The Act is one of the most progressive and comprehensive pieces of legislation, which covers all goods and services.

The Consumer Awareness in Kerala has gained momentum during the last few years, as a result of which, consumers at large have become more vigilant about their grievances to the consumer courts and they expect quick redressal of their disputes through the simple and cheep quasi-judicial machinery of consumer disputes redressal agencies. Hence, to strive for an alert consumer is the need of the hour to develop a performance oriented/revamped consumer affairs mechanism.