(a) whether it is a fact that the number of consumer complaints have been increasing rapidly every year;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of such consumer complaints received during the last three years, year-wise and State- wise including West Bengal; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to resolve the complaints and redress the grievances of consumers?
THE MINISTER OF STATE
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI DANVE RAOSAHEB DADARAO)
(a) & (b) : Details of consumer complaints filed in the consumer commissions across the country during the last three years 2018, 2019 and 2020 are given at Annexure.
(c) : Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, consumers can file complaints against any defect in goods purchased or deficiencies in any services availed including any unfair/restrictive trade practices adopted, through specialized quasi-judicial agencies, commonly known as ‘Consumer Commissions’, that have been established at the District level (District Commission), State level (State Commission) and National level (National Commission). These Consumer Commissions have been mandated by the law to render simple, inexpensive and speedy adjudication of consumer complaints.
The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which has come in to force with effect from the 20th July, 2020, provides for a number of measures for simplification of the adjudication process in the Consumer Commissions such as filing of complaints electronically and filing complaint in a Consumer Commission that has jurisdiction over the place of residence/work of the consumer, review of their own orders by the Consumer Commissions in the case of error apparent on the face of records, provision of videoconferencing for hearing, deemed admissibility of complaints if not admitted within the prescribed time limit of 21 days etc. To facilitate early disposal of consumer complaints, court annexed mediation has also been provided in the Act.
In addition to the legislative measures, a National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has been set up, which serves as a pre-litigation alternate dispute resolution mechanism, with toll free number 1800-11- 4000 or short code 14404 to handle the consumer grievances. Further, to cater to the needs of consumers of different regions, six Zonal Consumer Helplines have been set up each at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jaipur, Guwahati & Patna to attend to consumer grievances in regional languages.
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ANNEXURE
ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1359 FOR 09.02.2021 REGARDING INCREASING CONSUMER COMPLAINTS.
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CASES FILED IN DISTRICT COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2018-20
Year States/ UTs 2018 2019 2020
1. Andaman & Nicobar Islands (UT) 24 34 29
2. Andhra Pradesh 1935 1987 1082
3. Arunachal Pradesh 26 27 5
4. Assam 406 354 220
5. Bihar 3023 3242 1635
6. Chandigarh (UT) 1424 2346 1346
7. Chhattisgarh 4531 4248 3267
8. Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman & Diu (UT) 8 3 0
9. Delhi (UT) 4362 4255 2485
10. Goa 169 182 131
11. Gujarat 8222 11545 8461
12. Haryana 7507 11387 8485
13. Himachal Pradesh 1411 1494 478
14. Jammu & Kashmir (UT) 413 189 0
15. Jharkhand 1224 948 352
16. Karnataka 8911 8888 5594
17. Kerala 4729 4937 4174
18. Ladakh (UT) 0 0 0
19. Lakshadweep (UT) 0 0 0
20. Madhya Pradesh 8466 12315 10400
21. Maharashtra 14963 16689 11698
22. Manipur 18 25 12
23. Meghalaya 48 39 20
24. Mizoram 67 49 34
25. Nagaland 12 1 1 0
26. Odisha 2934 3372 2834
27. Puducherry (UT) 41 54 28
28. Punjab 8524 9667 7540
29. Rajasthan 10682 9817 9355
30. Sikkim 25 27 6
31. Tamil Nadu 2826 3107 1729
32. Telangana 2176 2262 1524
33. Tripura 109 149 118
34. Uttar Pradesh 16856 18037 13013
35. Uttrakhand 1172 1358 1523
36. West Bengal 5088 5517 3409
TOTAL 1,22,332 1,38,550 1,00,987
CASES FILED IN STATE COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2018-20
Year States/ UTs 2018 2019 2020
1. Andaman & Nicobar Islands (UT) 2 8 2
2. Andhra Pradesh 739 540 99
3. Arunachal Pradesh 1 1 3 0
4. Assam 127 72 12
5. Bihar 168 87 39
6. Chandigarh (UT) 887 646 303
7. Chhattisgarh 1190 1090 386
8. Dadra and Nagar Haveli (UT) & Daman & Diu (UT) 0 0 0
9. Delhi (UT) 2357 1864 471
10. Goa 194 129 44
11. Gujarat 1297 1143 826
12. Haryana 2236 1624 659
13. Himachal Pradesh 459 536 195
14. Jammu & Kashmir 715 172 0
15. Jharkhand 332 139 37
16. Karnataka 1692 1930 1298
17. Kerala 990 616 341
18. Ladakh (UT) 0 0 0
19. Lakshadweep (UT) 1 0 0
20. Madhya Pradesh 829 2831 842
21. Maharashtra 4433 5869 2140
22. Manipur 14 10 5
23. Meghalaya 3 0 0
24. Mizoram 1 1 3 2
25. Nagaland 10 6 1
26. Odisha 700 542 285
27. Puducherry (UT) 17 7 66
28. Punjab 1817 1874 608
29. Rajasthan 2042 2102 799
30. Sikkim 5 7 0
31. Tamil Nadu 862 808 208
32. Telangana 1029 1100 1091
33. Tripura 47 52 16
34. Uttar Pradesh 2904 1984 660
35. Uttrakhand 331 508 188
36. West Bengal 2293 2321 703
TOTAL 15,304 13,829 5,401
CASES FILED IN NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2018-20
Year FILED
2018 8992
2019 7800
2020 3111
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