3-Aug-2022: 728 Consumer Commissions established at State and District level, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established at national level

The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that At present, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is established at national level and 728 Consumer Commissions have been established at State and District level in the country.

 Under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, a consumer can file consumer complaint in Consumer Commission of appropriate jurisdiction offline or online using e-Daakhil portal (www.edaakhil.nic.in). As per the revised pecuniary jurisdiction, a District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission has jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed Rupees Fifty Lakh. The State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission and the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission have jurisdiction where such consideration is above Rupees Fifty Lakh &upto Rupees Two Crore and above Rupees Two Crore respectively.

Department of Consumer Affairs has generated consumer awareness under "Jago Grahak Jago" Campaign among all the consumers of the country through video spots and other material on issues like salient features of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, packaged commodities, weights and measures, hallmark, consumer grievance redressal mechanism through departmental website, State / UT Governments, VCOs, TV, Radio, CSCs. Regular messages on these issues are being posted on social media to harness its potential to create consumer awareness. State / UT Governments have been involved to spread consumer awareness in rural and remote areas.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has recently launched “Jagriti”, a mascot for empowering consumers and generating awareness of their rights. “Jagriti” is projected as an empowered young consumer.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 provides for, inter-alia, simplification of the adjudication process in the Consumer Commissions; filing of a complaint by a consumer in the Consumer Commission having jurisdiction with respect  to his place of work/residence irrespective of place of transaction and place of business or residence of the opposite parties, e-filing and e-payment, video conferencing for hearing, deemed admissibility of complaints if admissibility is not decided within 21 days of filing; court monitored mediation to facilitate early disposal of cases; provision of product liability

The Consumer Protection (Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions) Rules, 2020 notified under the ibid Act provides that no fees is required for registering cases in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions involving value of goods or services paid as consideration upto 5 lakhs.

Further, Section 38(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 prescribes that every complaint shall be disposed of as expeditiously as possible and endeavour shall be made to decide the complaint within a period of three months from the date of receipt of notice by opposite party where the complaint does not require analysis or testing of commodities and within five months if it requires analysis or testing of commodities.

26-Feb-2021: E-Daakhil portal, launched by National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on 7th September, 2020,  for online redressal of consumer grievances now operational in 15 States/UT's

E-Daakhil portal for Consumer grievance redressal is now operational in 15 States/UTs. Department of Consumer Affairs is now proactively following up with the states to launch e-filing portal at their ends.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which has come into force from 20th July, 2020, has provision for e-filing of consumer complaints in the Consumer Commissions and online payment of the fees for filing a complaint. A web application for E-filing of consumer complaints named “edaakhil.nic.in” has been developed by NIC for the purpose. This digital software for filing consumer complaints has the many features like e-Notice, case document download link & VC hearing link, filing written response by opposite party, fling rejoinder by complainant and alerts via SMS/Email.

The e-Daakhil portal empowers the consumer and their advocates to file the consumer complaints along with payment of requisite fees online from anywhere for the redressal of their complaints. It also facilitates the consumer commissions to scrutinize the complaints online to accept, reject or forward the complaint to the concerned commission for further processing.

To facilitate the rural consumers for e-filing, it has been decided to integrate the Common Service Centres (CSC) with the e-Daakhil portal. As many consumers at Gram Panchayat level may either not have access to electronic modes of communication or unable to use the tools, they may avail the services of CSCs in filing their complaints in the Consumer Commission. The work for integration of this portal with CSC is in under process.

E-filing was launched by National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on 7th September, 2020. Delhi was the first state to implement it on 8th September, 2020.  Later Maharashtra, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka & Haryana implemented facility of e-filling in their respective States/UTs. 

Department of Consumer Affairs had been proactively following up with the States/UTs to launch e-filing. Total 444 locations are covered including NCDRC, State Commissions and District Commissions.

20-Sep-2020: Adjournment in consumer complaints by NCDRC

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the Consumer Protection (Consumer Commission Procedure) Regulations, 2020 provide for expeditious disposal of cases. To ensure timely disposal of cases it has been provided that adjournment shall be entertained in exceptional circumstances and the reason for the same to be recorded in writing. It has been further provided that in case of a prayer for adjournment under any other circumstances, the Consumer Commission may, unless sufficient cause is shown, impose such cost, as it deems necessary, for granting such adjournment.

As per data available on CONFONET portal, the details of consumer complaints filed in and disposed of by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission during the last three years is as under:

The details of the origin of the number of consumer complaints filed in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, State/UT-wise, is not being maintained.

As per available information, at present, 534 Presidents and 1140 members are in position in the National Commission, State Commissions and all District Commissions.

27-Oct-2018: Department of Consumer Affairs & NCDRC organizes conference to review functioning of State Commissions and District Fora

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India along with National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) jointly organized a Conference at Vigyan Bhawan New Delhi to review the functioning of the State Commissions and District Fora. The Conference was attended by Presidents of State Commissions and Secretaries in charge of Consumer Affairs of States and UTs. The Conference was presided over by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food, Public Distribution & Commerce and Industry, Shri C.R. Chaudhary, and President, NCDRC, Justice R. K. Agarwal. The Conference is being held at a crucial time, when the Government has introduced a new Consumer Protection Bill, 2018 in the Lok Sabha repealing the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 with substantial changes for meeting the emerging challenges faced by consumers in the new markets.

The Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Shri Avinash K. Srivastava, while welcoming the delegates mentioned that the Conference is being held to discuss the issues relating to the functioning of the Consumer Fora such as pendency of case and filling up of vacancies in the post of President and Members of the Commissions. Shri Srivastava also drew attention to the alternate ways of redressal of consumer complaints, computerization of consumer fora and notification of Model Rules by the States.

President NCDRC, Justice R. K. Agarwal, in his address mentioned about increasing pendency of cases in various consumer fora including national commission and suggested that the vacancies in these commissions should be filled up expeditiously. Shri Agarwal emphasized that the number of adjournment and appeals should be restricted according to the monetary value of the cases. He welcomed the introduction of Mediation in the Consumer Protection Bill and mentioned that this will also help in reducing the pendency of cases.

The Minister of State of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri C.R Chaudhary, in his address mentioned that enforcement of Consumer Protection Act and allied laws are the joint responsibility of the Centre and the States. Shri C.R Chaudhary stated that Model Rules relating to appointment, salary/remuneration and other conditions of service of President/ Members in the State Commission/District Fora framed by this Ministry in consultation with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has been circulated to the States and UTs. The Minister requested all States and UTs to issue notifications adopting these rules as early as possible.

Shri Chaudhary also mentioned that the District Fora should avoid giving any adjournments and should be encouraged to decide cases on the first hearing itself and requested State Commissions to monitor this aspect. The Minister further invited suggestions from the States for strengthening the redressal mechanism and the support required from the Centre for this purpose. He asserted that the Government has already strengthened the National Consumer Helpline as the alternate system for resolving consumer complaints so that the consumers need not approach the consumer fora for resolving their grievances. The Minister expected that this Conference will come out with a future action plan for better strengthening the existing consumer disputes redressal mechanisms.

The Conference had two Technical Sessions. In Session I the functioning of the Consumer Fora, steps to be taken to reduce the pendency of the cases, and implementation of the Model Rules etc. were discussed. In the Session II the matters discussed included progress of the implementation of computerization and networking of Consumer Fora, utilization of funds release under various schemes such as strengthening  and Swachh Bharat Action Plan.