A person receives MEDICAL treatment FREE of cost at a government hospital (with no consideration charged). Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, such a person:

The definition of 'consumer' under Section 2(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 requires that the goods are bought or the services are HIRED OR AVAILED OF against CONSIDERATION - paid, promised or partly paid and partly promised. Where services are rendered FREE of cost, there is no consideration and the recipient does not qualify as a 'consumer' under the Act. However, even a NOMINAL fee or a consideration paid on behalf of a patient (e.g. by a relative) brings the services within the Act. The consideration element is thus decisive. Free-service recipients accordingly fall outside the Act's consumer definition.