The Tenth Schedule

(See section 65)

In the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (35 of 2019),—

1. in section 2, clauses (25) and (26) shall be omitted;
2. for section 37, the following sections shall be substituted, namely:—
   37A. Settlement through mediation

   The District Commission or State Commission or the National Commission, as the case may be, may at any stage of proceedings refer the disputes for settlement by mediation under the Mediation Act, 2023.

   37A. Settlement through mediation

   1. Pursuant to mediation, if an agreement is reached between the parties with respect to all of the issues involved in the consumer dispute or with respect to only some of the issues, the terms of such agreement shall be reduced to writing accordingly, and signed by the parties to such dispute or their authorised representatives.
   2. The mediator shall prepare a settlement report of the settlement and forward the signed agreement along with such report to the concerned Commission.
   3. Where no agreement is reached between the parties within the specified time or the mediator is of the opinion that settlement is not possible, he shall prepare his report accordingly and submit the same to the concerned Commission.
   37B. Recording settlement and passing of order

   1. The District Commission or the State Commission or the National Commission, as the case may be, shall, within seven days of the receipt of the settlement report, pass suitable order recording such settlement of consumer dispute and dispose of the matter accordingly.
   2. Where the consumer dispute is settled only in part, the District Commission or the State Commission or the National Commission, as the case may be, shall record settlement of the issues which have been so settled and continue to hear other issues involved in such consumer dispute.
   3. Where the consumer dispute could not be settled by mediation, the District Commission or the State Commission or the National Commission, as the case may be, shall continue to hear all the issues involved in such consumer dispute.";
3. in section 38, in sub-section (1), the words “or in respect of cases referred for mediation on failure of settlement by mediation,” shall be omitted;
4. in section 41, the third proviso shall be omitted;
5. Chapter V shall be omitted;
6. in section 101, in sub-section (2),— 1. clause (r) shall be omitted; 2. clause (zf) shall be omitted;
7. in section 102, in sub-section (2), clause (p) shall be omitted;
8. in section 103, in sub-section (2), clauses (c) to (h) shall be omitted.