Most consumer complainants represent themselves- only about 10 percent of victims- most others either contend with their loss/ damage or the damage is too small to be worth a litigation or there is a settlement.
Compensation by Indian courts is extremely low, so not much can be charged even if there was a lawyer

The answer is in s. 73 and s.74 of contract law.

Courts will award only 'reasonable damages.'

So if you choked on a snail in a beverage bottle, reasonable damages for you would be just a replacement of that purchase + any medical expenses suffered + legal expenses (not always). That would be at max some 20-30K rupees.

So the poor who don't know the law won't even know what rights they have.
The rich would rather raise their voice, shout down, and then forget it because they'd be earning 20-30K rupees on an hourly basis, and so they are not going to run from pillar to post for recovery of that much amount.
The middle class gets their vengeance by leaving a negative feedback online.

Sir, you seem rather ignorant. Many seminal judgments have been passed under COPA on the rights of several categories of service recipients, such as flat purchasers for instance. The NCDRC is a very pro consumer forum. The backlog in the system means that justice shall be received, albeit very delayed. The litigant who has the mindset and pocket to undertake siege warfare, will many times get a fantastic order. On what basis have you thus foolishly opined that COPA is not a developed field of law in India?

None of the answers given here is true. There are only two reasons why consumer law is bigger in the west - karens and Infrastructure. The karens in America will go to extreme ends to protect their rights against businesses which includes consumer courts. Infrastructure is important because filing a consumer complaint requires travelling and unlike the west, in india, you'll spend 3-4 hours a day on commuting if you were brave enough to file a consumer complaint.

Consumerism Law can never be big in India or even Europe/China. It is a big deal in America because -

(1) Class Action Law Suits - even if it's a Rs. 10'000 phone malfunctioning. In America they don't sue for one person. They sue for a million times people. Law firms take a cut in the settlements.

In India for technically class actions exist, but I have never seen one in reality.

(2) Tort Law : In India tort law doesn't exist (except on your law textbooks) when was the last time you saw a court give a big award?

Most tort law contents are codified in India. Because of which there is no scope for tort Litigation.

Apart from that tort lawsuits in India - who would go for a lawsuit for Rs. 200? When the lawyer themselves charges more?

(3) Judicial Proceedings - In foreign countries, in 2 years you can get a settlement.

In India a civil lawsuit can minimum take 15 to 20 years.

Any verdict of any court is unlimitedly appealable.

Our civil justice system is a joke. It will take half a decade. Imagine going to court around 30 times just to get a meager compensation.

In essence, it is not feasible for an average student person to sue under consumer laws in India.