Consumer Forums

The consumer affairs ministry will release guidelines next month to tackle unsolicited commercial communications or pesky calls, a senior government official said on Tuesday. Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said the department has prepared draft guidelines in consultation with stakeholders, which will be harmonized with upcoming regulations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). "We are ready with the draft guidelines on pesky calls. We will harmonise it with their (Trai) norms and issue it next month," Khare told reporters on the sidelines of a National Consumer Day event. Trai Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti, who was also at the event, said the consumer affairs ministry is focusing on guidelines for business entities' roles, responsibilities and conduct, while the telecom regulator will separately introduce stricter norms in response to growing consumer complaints. The initiative stems from a joint committee of Indian regulators, led by Trai, which decided to strength

The complaint mentioned that despite regular use of the fairness cream, as per the instructions on the packaging, it did not lead to fairer skin as advertised

The Union government on Friday directed states to accelerate the appointment process for 663 vacant positions across state and district consumer commissions, expressing concern over mounting vacancies that threaten to undermine consumer rights protection. Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare, who reviewed the situation with state government officials, expressed "deep concern" about increasing vacancies in consumer commissions compared to previous years. According to official data, 18 posts of President and 56 posts of members are lying vacant in state commissions as of October 2024. At district level, 162 posts of President and 427 posts of members are vacant across the country, the consumer affairs ministry said in a statement. "It is imperative that vacancies are filled up at the earliest possible to ensure that consumer disputes/cases are handled promptly and efficiently," Khare said during the meeting. The secretary urged state representatives to prioritize these appointment

The central Delhi consumer disputes redressal forum has directed the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to pay a claim amount of Rs 4.8 lakh to the wife and daughter of a deceased cleaning staff of the civic body, along with a compensation of Rs 40,000, for causing them sufferings, harassment and mental agony. Rejecting the LIC's argument that the policies had lapsed, the forum also observed that the contract to deduct the premium amount from the salary and then remit it to the insurer was between the MCD and the LIC and the employee was unaware of the non-deduction of the said amount. The forum comprising President Inder Jeet Singh and member Rashmi Bansal was hearing a complaint filed by the wife and daughter of a deceased safai karamchari, who alleged deficiency in service by the LIC for rejecting their claims. In an order dated October 14, the forum noted that the employee, appointed in the Karol Bagh zone in May 2005, had opted for the ...

The customer sought Rs 10,000 as compensation and an additional Rs 7,500 in litigation expenses from Swiggy for its failure to deliver the ice cream and subsequent refusal of a refund

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has decided to hear the consumer dispute cases on a hybrid mode on a pilot basis from April 15 onwards. In its latest practice direction issued on April 10, the NCDRC said that the national commission will conduct the hybrid mode hearings (physical/video conferencing) of the cases from its premise. The consumer affairs ministry in a post on X said that it is a significant step towards easing consumers' experience in seeking resolution of their consumer cases. The VC/hybrid hearing links for all the benches will be provided on NCDRC cause list for the convenience of the counsel and parties. "Hence, there is no need to send a VC link to the counsel/parties by the national commission," the commission said. It added that the counsel and parties should have a minimum internet connection of 2 Mbps. The counsel representing the case and parties appearing in person can join the VC/hybrid hearing of the concerned bench at the ite

A consumer disputes redressal commission here found Flipkart guilty of adopting unfair trade practices and ordered it to pay a customer Rs 10,000 for the mental harassment he suffered after it cancelled his iPhone order. The cancellation was intentional to make extra profit, which amounts to a deficiency in service and unfair and restrictive trade practice adopted by the online platform, said the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Central Mumbai, in the order passed last month. The detailed order was available on Sunday. The commission noted that though the customer had received a refund, he needed to be compensated for the mental harassment and agony he suffered because of the unilateral cancellation of his order. As per the complainant, a Dadar resident, he ordered an iPhone from Flipkart on July, 10 2022 and paid Rs 39,628 using his credit card. The phone was supposed to be delivered on July 12, but six days later he received an SMS from the e-commerce company tha

In case, the complaint is not resolved within two weeks or if you are not satisfied with their resolution, You can directly register your grievance on Bima Bharosa System

Ikea will have to pay Sangeetha Bohra a sum of Rs 20 with interest, Rs 1,000 towards damages and Rs 2,000 towards litigation expenses

Empanelled mediators in consumer cases will now be paid a fee in the range of Rs 3,000-5,000 by the government which will lead to the settlement of more complaints through mediation cells, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said on Friday. The ministry took a decision in this regard after a series of consultations with various stakeholders, and during regional workshops held in northeastern and northern states, an official release said. It was observed that a substantial number of cases are not resolved through mediation because the parties in the disputes are observed to be reluctant in paying the fee of the mediator. Based on the suggestions, the ministry has "decided to pay the fees of the empanelled mediator from the Consumer Welfare Fund," the release said. According to the consumer affairs ministry release, the amount of dispute, or the fee of the mediator as set by the President of the Commission, or the fees prescribed below, whichever is least, will be paid to the mediator. A

The forum ordered that the complainant be refunded Rs 28,68,483 with 9% interest per annum from the date of deposit and along with a compensation of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 55,000 as litigation expenses

The Supreme Court Friday said lawyers and professionals with 10 years of experience will be eligible for appointment as President and member of the state consumer commission and district forums. The apex court said the Central government and the state governments concerned have to come with an amendment in the Consumer Protection (Qualification for appointment, method of recruitment, procedure of appointment, term of office, resignation and removal of President and Members of State Commission and District Commission) Rules, 2020 to provide for 10 years' experience to become eligible for appointment as President and member of the state commission and district forums instead of 20 years and 15 years respectively. A bench of Justices M R Shah and M M Sundresh, in exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice, directed that till suitable amendments are made, a person with bachelor's degree from a recognised university and having ability, integrity and ..

While pendency rates in consumer courts are better than the usual courts, an analysis found that one in five of the 2.5 million cases across consumer forums were pending

NCDRC said that the borrowers have already agreed to such fluctuations while executing loan agreements

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum here has fined online trade platform Amazon for selling knives above the maximum retail price. The Forum directed Amazon to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to the complainant. The complainant approached the Forum saying he had purchased knife-set for Rs 215 after getting a discount of 45 per cent when the actual price listed was Rs 410. The complainant alleged that the knife cost only Rs 191.96 including tax. The Forum found that Amazon had violated the Consumer Protection Act and gave a fake advertisement. It said the online platform violated the provisions of the Act and was liable to pay compensation for unfair trade practice. V S Manu Lal, R Bindu and K M Anto of the Forum directed the online platform to repay the consumer excess amount of Rs 23.04 and nine per cent interest apart from the compensation.

The BIS wants it make it obvious when reviews are based on rewards and easier to verify if the reviewer is 'real'

If a restaurant is forcing customers to pay extra money in the name of service charges, customers can lodge a complaint with the CCPA

The Supreme Court has held that an individual facing any deficiency in telecom services can approach consumer forums directly with his complaint against the company. The fact that the remedy of arbitration under the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 is of a statutory nature would not oust the jurisdiction of the consumer forum in such matters, a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath said. "It would be open to a consumer to opt for the remedy of arbitration, but there is no compulsion in law to do so and it would be open to a consumer to seek recourse to the remedies which are provided under the (Consumer Protection) Act of 1986, now replaced by the Act of 2019, the bench said. The top court passed the verdict on an appeal of Vodafone by which the company had challenged an order of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) by which it had affirmed the view of SCDRC that Section 7B of the Act of 1885 would not be applicable to a private service provider

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed displeasure over delay in appointments in the Districts and State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

In the pilot, which looked at a few hundred cases, Snapdeal and Sama helped settle a 100, with an overall success rate of 50 per cent