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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Tuesday issued notices to the government and the National Medical Commission on a public interest litigation seeking the exclusion of medical professionals such as doctors from the purview of The Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The court will hear Association of Health Care Providers (India)'s petition against the government on Apr. 6.

 

The petitioner said bringing doctors under the 2019 Act weakens the trust at the heart of the doctor-patient relationship. "The inclusion of medical professionals under The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, undermines the trust-based, fiduciary nature of the doctor-patient relationship and erodes the moral foundation of medical practice," it said.

 

In 2025, the court had rejected a review petition filed by the Medico-Legal Society of India against its order in 2024 refusing to reconsider its 1995 verdict that medical practitioners can be held liable under the Act for deficiency in services. In 1995, the court had ruled that the word 'services' under The Consumer Protection Act, 1986, would include service rendered to a patient by a medical practitioner by way of consultation, diagnosis, and treatment, both medicinal and surgical. However, where the doctor renders service free to every patient, or under a contract of personal service, such service would not comprise 'services' under the Act, it had said. 

 

According to the petitioner, treating medical care like an ordinary consumer service does not reflect the unique nature of the profession. "Unlike some other professions, where problems may have more straightforward solutions, doctors often face ambiguity and uncertainty in their work, making control over outcomes elusive," the association said.

 

It said the threat of cases being filed in consumer courts has reshaped medical practice across the country. Consequently, doctors are now ordering additional tests or procedures mainly to shield themselves from potential lawsuits rather than for medical necessity.

 

"While the Consumer Protection Act was enacted with noble intentions, its application to healthcare is structurally and philosophically incompatible with the practice of medicine," the association further said. "The fear of litigation has fostered defensive medicine, inflated costs, and weakened communication." Consumer fora, in deciding disputes, have shown delays, lack of medical expertise among adjudicators, and inconsistent compensation decisions, the petitioner further said.

 

It said most patients do not seek litigation, only acknowledgment, explanation, and reassurance. Prolonged adversarial proceedings rarely deliver these outcomes and instead erode mutual trust and professional morale, the petitioner said. Moreover, medical professionals are subject to multiple regulatory and legal mechanisms outside the consumer law framework, including disciplinary proceedings before regulatory bodies such as the National Medical Commission as well as civil courts and criminal processes where allegations of negligence can be examined in detail, it said.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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