Product Liability Claims in Hyderabad: Defective Products, Injury and Compensation

A pressure cooker that bursts, an e-bike battery that catches fire, a contaminated food product that makes a family ill, a faulty gas fitting that damages a kitchen: when a defective product causes injury or damage beyond itself, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 gives a specific remedy called a product liability action. It is set out in Chapter VI of the Act (sections 82 to 87) and lets you claim compensation from the manufacturer, the seller or the service provider.

This guide explains when a claim is a product liability claim, whom you can claim against, the defences they can raise, how online purchases fit in, and how to file in Hyderabad.

What counts · Against whom · Defences · Online purchases · Filing · What can be ordered · Evidence

Is your claim a product liability claim?

The Act separates two kinds of problem, and the difference decides which provisions apply.

The key is the definition of harm in section 2(22). Harm includes:

• damage to any property other than the product itself;
• personal injury, illness or death;
• mental agony or emotional distress attending such injury, illness or damage;
• any loss of consortium or services, or other loss, resulting from any of the above.

Harm does not include harm to the product itself, damage to property on account of breach of warranty conditions, or any commercial or economic loss, whether direct, incidental or consequential. So a phone that stops working is a defect complaint; a phone battery that catches fire and burns your furniture or injures you is a product liability matter. The two can be raised together in one complaint where both apply.

A product, for this purpose, is any article, goods, substance or raw material produced for introduction to trade or commerce. Human tissues, blood, blood products and organs are excluded (section 2(33)).

Whom you can claim against

Section 83 allows a product liability action against the product manufacturer, the product service provider, or the product seller. Each is liable on different grounds.

The manufacturer (section 84)

“Product manufacturer” is defined widely in section 2(36). It includes a person who makes or assembles the product, a person who puts their own brand mark on a product made by someone else, a person who designs or re-manufactures it, and others listed in that section. A manufacturer is liable if the product:

1. contains a manufacturing defect;
2. is defective in design;
3. deviates from manufacturing specifications;
4. does not conform to the express warranty; or
5. fails to contain adequate instructions for correct usage to prevent harm, or a warning about improper or incorrect usage.

Section 84(2) adds that a manufacturer is liable in a product liability action even if it proves that it was not negligent or fraudulent in making the express warranty.

The service provider (section 85)

A person who provides a service in respect of the product, such as installation, repair or maintenance, is liable if:

• the service was faulty, imperfect, deficient or inadequate in quality, nature or manner of performance;
• there was an act of omission or commission, negligence, or conscious withholding of information that caused harm;
• the service provider did not issue adequate instructions or warnings to prevent harm; or
• the service did not conform to the express warranty or the terms of the contract.

The seller (section 86)

A seller who is not the manufacturer is liable under section 86 if the seller:

• exercised substantial control over the designing, testing, manufacturing, packaging or labelling of the product that caused harm;
• altered or modified the product, and that was the substantial factor in causing the harm;
• made its own express warranty, independent of the manufacturer’s, and the product failed to conform to it, which caused the harm;
• sold a product whose manufacturer is not known, cannot be served with notice or process, is not subject to Indian law, or against whom an order cannot be enforced; or
• failed to exercise reasonable care in assembling, inspecting or maintaining the product, or did not pass on the manufacturer’s warnings or instructions, and that failure was the proximate cause of the harm.

The fourth ground matters for imported and unbranded goods: where the manufacturer cannot be reached through Indian law, the seller can be made liable.

“Product seller” in section 2(37) covers a person who, in the course of business, imports, sells, distributes, leases, installs, prepares, packages, labels, markets, repairs or maintains the product. It does not include a seller of immovable property, unless that person sells constructed houses or builds homes or flats, among other exclusions in that section.

Defences the other side can raise (section 87)

• Misuse, alteration or modification: a product liability action cannot be brought against the seller if, at the time of harm, the product was misused, altered or modified (section 87(1)).
• Failure-to-warn exceptions for the manufacturer (section 87(2)): the manufacturer is not liable for failing to instruct or warn where the product was bought by an employer for use at the workplace and the employer was warned; where it was sold as a component for use in another product, the buyer was warned and the harm came from use of the end product; where it was legally meant to be used only by or under the supervision of an expert and the manufacturer took reasonable means to warn or instruct the expert; or where the complainant was under the influence of alcohol or a prescription drug that had not been prescribed by a medical practitioner while using it.
• Obvious dangers: a manufacturer is not liable for failing to warn about a danger that is obvious or commonly known to the user, or that the user ought to have known about, taking into account the characteristics of the product (section 87(3)).

These defences are specific. Section 87(2) and (3) apply only to claims based on inadequate warnings or instructions. Section 87(1) bars actions against the product seller, a term which section 2(37) defines to include a manufacturer who is also a seller and a service provider; the question in each case is which ground of liability is relied on and which defence answers it.

If you bought the product online

The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 add duties that help when a defective product was bought online:

• Grievance officer: every e-commerce entity must have a grievance officer who acknowledges a consumer complaint within 48 hours and redresses it within one month (rules 4(4) and 4(5)). A marketplace seller must appoint its own grievance officer on the same timelines (rule 6(4)(b)).
• Ticket number: the marketplace must give a ticket number for each complaint so you can track it (rule 5(3)(b)).
• Seller’s details: on a written request after purchase, the marketplace must give you the seller’s address and contact details (proviso to rule 5(3)(a)). You need these to name the seller correctly in a complaint.
• No refusal of return or refund: a marketplace seller, and an inventory e-commerce entity, cannot refuse to take back goods or refund the price if the goods are defective, deficient, spurious, not as described, or delivered late, except for delay due to force majeure (rules 6(3) and 7(4)).

A violation of these Rules attracts the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (rule 8).

How to file in Hyderabad

A product liability claim is a “complaint” under section 2(6)(vii) of the Act, so it follows the ordinary consumer complaint route: the same District, State and National Commissions, the same value-based tiers, the two-year limitation period, the same fee table, and filing on e-Jagriti. All of this is explained step by step in our guide to filing a consumer complaint in Hyderabad.

Who can file. Section 2(5) allows a complaint by the consumer, a registered consumer association, the Central or State Government, the Central Consumer Protection Authority, one or more consumers with the same interest, the legal heir or legal representative where the consumer has died, and a parent or legal guardian where the consumer is a minor. Where the person who died was a consumer of the product (the buyer, or a user with the buyer’s approval), the legal heir or legal representative can bring the claim (section 2(5)(vi)).

Naming the parties. Because liability differs between manufacturer, seller and service provider, it is common to name each one that may be responsible, with the ground of liability against each.

What the Commission can order

Section 39(1)(e) empowers the Commission to award compensation in a product liability action. Other orders under section 39(1) include replacing the goods, refunding the price with interest, removing the defects, not offering, or withdrawing, hazardous goods, and, where many consumers are harmed and cannot conveniently be identified, a sum the Commission determines, of at least 25 percent of the value of the defective goods sold or service provided to those consumers. The proviso to section 39(1)(d) gives the Commission power to grant punitive damages in such circumstances as it deems fit.

Recall. Separately, the Central Consumer Protection Authority can, after investigation and a hearing, order the recall of goods that are dangerous, hazardous or unsafe, reimbursement to buyers, and discontinuation of practices that are unfair and prejudicial to consumers (section 20). Not complying with its direction is punishable under section 88.

Criminal provisions. The Act also creates offences, prosecuted separately from your compensation claim:

• manufacturing, storing, selling, distributing or importing a product containing an adulterant (section 90) or spurious goods (section 91), with punishment rising with the harm caused, up to imprisonment for life where death results;
• false or misleading advertisement by a manufacturer or service provider that is prejudicial to consumers (section 89), punishable with imprisonment up to two years and fine up to Rs 10 lakh, more for repeat offences; courts take cognizance of this offence only on a complaint by the Central Authority or an authorised officer (section 92).

Evidence to keep

• Keep the product. Do not repair, discard or return the defective item if it caused harm; it may need to be examined or tested.
• The invoice, warranty card, packaging, labels, instruction manual and any advertisement relied on.
• Photographs and video of the product, the damage and any injury, taken as soon as possible.
• Medical records, bills and certificates for any injury or illness; a death certificate and post-mortem report where relevant.
• Repair estimates or bills for damage to other property.
• Any fire, police or electrical inspection report.
• Your complaints to the seller, marketplace or manufacturer, with ticket numbers and replies.
• For online purchases, the order details and the seller information obtained from the marketplace.

For a discussion about a defective product claim with Musab Hashmi & Associates, call +91 89771 24916 or send an enquiry with the product, where and when it was bought, what happened, and any deadline. Do not include identity numbers or full bank details in the first message.

General legal information for public awareness, not legal advice. Provisions checked against the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (gazette text) and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 (G.S.R. 462(E)) on 22 October 2026. Rules and procedures are revised by notification; verify the current position before filing.