Deficiency in service: what it means for a doctor's clinic The 2019 Act's definition, why a paid consultation is a "service", and where the 2024 lawyers' case left doctors.

Deficiency in service, under section 2(11) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (No. 35 of 2019, 9 August 2019), means "any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of performance which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or has been undertaken to be performed by a person in pursuance of a contract or otherwise in relation to any service". The definition then adds two things it 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". A patient who paid for a consultation and complains to a consumer commission pleads this section.

Is a doctor's consultation a "service" under the Act?

Yes, when it is paid for. Section 2(42) defines service as "service of any description which is made available to potential users", and excludes only "the rendering of any service free of charge or under a contract of personal service". Whether doctors fall inside was settled under the identical 1986 definition in Indian Medical Association v. V.P. Shantha. The Court's first conclusion: service rendered to a patient by a medical practitioner "by way of consultation, diagnosis and treatment, both medicinal and surgical, would fall within the ambit of 'service'", except where the doctor renders service free of charge to every patient or under a contract of personal service. Being under a medical council's discipline does not take doctors out of the Act. Section 2(7)(ii) makes the person who "hires or avails of any service for a consideration" a consumer, and includes any beneficiary of that service.

What about patients treated free?

V.P. Shantha drew the lines. A hospital or doctor who charges no one is outside the Act. One that charges every patient is inside. One that charges those who can pay and treats others free is inside for all of them: the service is "service" "irrespective of the fact that the service is rendered free of charge to persons who are not in a position to pay", and the free patient is also a consumer. Treatment paid by an insurer or by an employer under a condition of service is not free service. So a clinic that waives its fee for some patients is still answerable to all of them.

Did the 2024 lawyers' case take doctors out?

No. On 14 May 2024, in Bar of Indian Lawyers v. D.K. Gandhi, a two-judge bench held that a complaint alleging deficiency in service against advocates "would not be maintainable under the CP Act, 2019", because an advocate's service is under "a contract of personal service", and said V.P. Shantha "deserves to be revisited and considered by a larger bench". A three-judge bench answered that reference on 7 November 2024: since the Court had already held the legal profession outside the Act, "irrespective of the finding in the case of Indian Medical Association (Supra), the reference to a larger Bench was not necessary". Whether other professionals can be covered "can be considered in an appropriate case, having a factual foundation". V.P. Shantha stands. The fora, limits and defences are in our post on the Consumer Protection Act and medical negligence.

What does a deficiency complaint look like at a small OPD?

The second limb of section 2(11) is the one a front desk can do something about. "Deliberate withholding of relevant information" is pleaded when a patient says the fee, the risk of a procedure or the need for a referral was never told. A clinic that announces the fee before the consultation, records what was explained and takes consent in writing where a procedure is done, and hands over records when asked within the 72 hours the conduct regulations allow, has an answer on paper. The negligence limb is for the doctor and the indemnity insurer; the standard of care is a clinical and legal question, not one this entry answers.