Commercial purpose exclusion in consumer law must be proved by the service provider before the burden shifts to the complainant.

A service provider who pleads that services were availed for a commercial purpose bears the burden of proving that exclusion on a preponderance of probabilities. The complainant must first establish hiring or availing of services for consideration, but the commercial-purpose objection is a special plea that the provider must substantiate. Only after that burden is discharged does the onus shift to the complainant to show exclusive self-employment for earning livelihood. On the facts, the provider merely asserted commercial purpose and led no evidence to make that plea probable, so the consumer-status objection failed.

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Issues: Whether the respondent could be excluded from the definition of consumer on the ground that the service was obtained for a commercial purpose, and whether the burden to prove such exclusion lay on the service provider.

Analysis: The definition of consumer was treated as having three parts: the initial jurisdictional requirement of hiring or availing services for consideration, the exclusion for services availed for a commercial purpose, and the exception relating to exclusive self-employment for earning livelihood. The first part had to be proved by the complainant. The commercial-purpose exclusion, being a matter specially pleaded by the service provider, had to be established by that party on a preponderance of probabilities. The principle that one who pleads must prove was applied with reference to the Evidence Act. Only if the service provider discharged that burden would the onus shift to the complainant to show that the services were availed exclusively for earning livelihood by self-employment. On the facts, the appellant had only asserted commercial purpose and had not led evidence to probabilise that plea.

Conclusion: The respondent was not shown to be outside the definition of consumer on the ground of commercial purpose, and the maintainability objection failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A service provider who asserts that services were availed for a commercial purpose bears the burden of proving that exclusion, and the complainant is not required to prove self-employment unless that burden is first discharged.

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