Question : Consumer Redressal Forum

(a) the average number of complaints received by the Consumer Redressal Forum related to the consumer grievances during each of the last three years and the current year;
(b) the average number of such complaints disposed of by the Consumer Redressal Forum during the said period;
(c) the average time taken by the Consumer Redressal Forum in disposing of each of such complaints during the said period;
(d) whether the Government has received any suggestions/held consultations with various quarters to improve the functioning of Consumer Redressal Forum during the said period, if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the other corrective steps taken/ being taken by the Government to improve the functioning of Consumer Redressal Forum across the country?

THE MINISTER OF STATE
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI DANVE RAOSAHEB DADARAO)

(a) to (c) : As per the CONFONET portal, the details of complaints received, disposed and average time taken for disposal of complaints by Consumer Redressal Fora across the country during the last three years and current year are given below:

Year Complaints Received Complaints Disposed Avg. Time for Disposal of a Case
2016 173605 143683 636 Days
2017 169886 141500 683 Days
2018 159524 129152 719 Days
2019 152973 114262 721 Days

(d) & (e) : In March 2018, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission issued regulations for monitoring and supervision of the functioning of the State Commissions and the District Fora. A conference was held on 27th October, 2018 by the Department with the representatives from the State Governments/UTs, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions regarding functioning of the Consumer Fora





To meet the infrastructure requirement of the Consumer Fora, the Central Government has been providing financial assistance to the States/UTs for construction of buildings of the Consumer Fora and also for acquiring non-building assets such as furniture, equipment etc. Also, computer hardware/software and technical manpower are provided to the Consumer Fora for computerisation of their functioning.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was notified on 9th August, 2019 to replace the old Consumer Protection Act, 1986. For improvement of the functioning of the Consumer Fora, the new Act contains several provisions with regard to simplification of the adjudication process in the Consumer Commissions such as enhancement of the pecuniary jurisdiction of the Consumer Commissions, filing of complaints from a Consumer Commission having jurisdiction over the place of residence/work of the consumer, review of own orders by the State Commission and the District Commission in the case of error apparent on the face of record, e-filing, video conferencing for hearing, deemed admissibility of complaints if not admitted within twenty-one days, mediation as an alternate consumer dispute resolution mechanism, provision for second appeal only on questions of law, no appeal in cases settled through mediation etc.

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