Centre To Make Online Filing As Only Way To Lodge Consumer Complaints

SUMMARY

A government official said that the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) is currently working on finalising the plans

Considering people who do not have access to the internet and smartphones, the Centre will form provisions for them

The Centre has started organising mega Lok Adalats and equipping the national consumer helpline with AI to resolve pending consumer disputes faster

The Centre looks to introduce online filing as the sole way for lodging consumer complaints in Consumer Redressal Commissions beginning from 1st April, 2023.

The Economic Times report quoted a government official saying the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) is currently working on finalising the above plans. “This move will help resolve cases faster,” the government official added.

Considering people who do not have access to the internet and smartphones, the Centre will form provisions for them. Such individuals will lodge complaints from consumer support centres set up across India.

It is one of the initiatives developed to reduce the time taken by consumer courts to resolve cases. Besides, the Centre has also started organising mega Lok Adalats, an alternative dispute redressal mechanism, and equipping the national consumer helpline with AI to resolve pending consumer disputes faster.

It is prudent to note that DoCA’s secretary Rohit Kumar Singh earlier said that about 6 Lakh consumer complaints are not resolved by the courts.

Of these, nearly 4.5 Lakh complaints are pending in district courts while 1.4 Lakh complaints are not resolved in state courts. Besides, more than 22K cases are pending in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

Notably, a total of 2.42 Lakh pending cases were related to the banking and finance sector of India (BFSI). However, DoCA’s dashboard showcased that about 89% of consumer complaints were already resolved by the courts.

In September, the DoCA stated that the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) received around 1,83,403 complaints between January and August this year related to ecommerce companies.

Meanwhile, 11.7% of these complaints were general enquiries made by consumers with the National Consumer Helpline. Additionally, more than 10K complaints were lodged related to nine other segments during the said period.

Importantly, the Centre received 5,00,767 consumer complaints in aggregate between January and August 2022. Most of these complaints were about refunds and inefficient services and were registered in three states–Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi.

According to an Inc42 report, more than 5,000 ecommerce players are currently operating in India. Of these, about 700 ecommerce startups are backed by investors. It is important to note that the ecommerce industry has produced 23 unicorns so far.