Lok Sabha Question No. 2223 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-31
Subject: Consumer Movement
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, SANJAY SHAMRAO DHOTRE, BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB

## Government of India Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2223

TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.07.2018

## CONSUMER MOVEMENT

2223.   SHRI RAHUL SHEWALE: SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE: SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

## Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  started  consumer  movement  to  protect  the  interests  of  the consumers and speedy redressal of their grievances in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of consumers benefited from this movement across the country during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  set  up  Consumer  Welfare  Fund  to  strengthen  the  consumer movement in the country, if so, the details thereof along with achievements made from setting up of such fund so far;
- (d) the  details  of  the  funds  provided  to  States/UTs  for  strengthening  the  consumer  movement along with its utilisation during the said period, State/UTwise; and
- (e) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to protect the interests of the consumers across the country?

## ANSWER

miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ¼Jh lh- vkj- pkS/kjh½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

(a) & (b) :  Yes, Madam. The enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had set in motion a veritable consumer movement in the country. Consumers have been able to redress their grievances/ 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 Fora', that have been established at the District  level  (District  Forum),  State level (State Commission) and National level (National Commission). These consumer fora have been mandated by the law to render simple, inexpensive and speedy adjudication of   consumer complaints. The cases filed and disposed of by the Consumer Fora in the last three years 2015, 2016, 2017 and current year, as on CONFONET are at Annexure-I .

(c) & (d) : The Consumer Welfare Fund was created in 1992 with the objective of providing financial assistance  to  promote  and  protect  the  welfare  of  the  consumers,  create  consumer  awareness  and strengthen  consumer  movement  in  the  country.  Financial  assistance  is  provided  to  Voluntary Consumer  Organisations/Institutions  for  undertaking  consumer  advocacy/awareness,  State  Govt. /UTs for setting up State Consumer Welfare Fund. The details of funds provided to States/UTs for strengthening  the  consumer  movement  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year, State/UT-wise is at Annexure-II.

(e) :  To protect the interests of the consumers, the Govt. has launched the 'Jago Grahak Jago' campaign through electronic and print media for consumer awareness and joint awareness campaigns on consumer rights and responsibilities in key sectors - Health, Food, Financial Services and other Departments for greater consumer awareness. The Government set up a National Consumer Helpline and provides financial support to the State Governments to set up State Consumer Helplines. To cater to the needs of consumers regional languages, six Zonal Consumer Helplines have also been set up at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jaipur, Guwahati & Patna.

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## ANNEXURE-I  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  &  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2223 FOR 31.07.2018 REGARDING CONSUMER MOVEMENT.

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## NATIONAL COMMISSION

|            | 2015   | 2015     | 2016   | 2016     | 2017   | 2017     | 2018   | 2018     |
|------------|--------|----------|--------|----------|--------|----------|--------|----------|
| National   | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed |
| Commission | 5941   | 7676     | 7733   | 6070     | 10806  | 5890     | 5082   | 3550     |

## STATE COMMISSIONS

|                       | 2015   | 2015     | 2016   | 2016     | 2017   | 2017     | 2018   | 2018     |
|-----------------------|--------|----------|--------|----------|--------|----------|--------|----------|
|                       | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed |
| 1. Bihar              | 475    | 1        | 453    | 11       | 288    | 93       | 79     | 12       |
| 2. Jharkhand          | 205    | 206      | 252    | 76       | 353    | 56       | 205    | 27       |
| 3. Orissa             | 783    | 143      | 778    | 126      | 960    | 243      | 446    | 31       |
| 4. West Bengal        | 2058   | 1606     | 2119   | 1804     | 2641   | 2162     | 1357   | 1597     |
| 5. Assam              | 77     | 7        | 103    | 16       | 119    | 14       | 56     | 9        |
| 6. Chandigarh         | 730    | 640      | 1382   | 1111     | 1236   | 1191     | 531    | 603      |
| 7. Andaman Nicobar    | 6      | 4        | 4      | 2        | 4      | 6        | 1      | 2        |
| 8. Delhi              | 2049   | 954      | 2531   | 1705     | 2965   | 2173     | 1355   | 883      |
| 9. Haryana            | 1417   | 459      | 1876   | 1184     | 2620   | 1422     | 1471   | 612      |
| 10. Himachal Pradesh  | 339    | 479      | 473    | 414      | 414    | 274      | 254    | 193      |
| 11. Jammu and Kashmir | 147    | 6        | 108    | 8        | 47     | 29       | 17     | 2        |
| 12. Punjab            | 1678   | 2864     | 1474   | 2353     | 2072   | 2483     | 1078   | 1163     |
| 13. Rajasthan         | 1749   | 1269     | 1814   | 2437     | 1678   | 2116     | 696    | 1014     |
| 14. Uttar Pradesh     | 3177   | 3110     | 3176   | 2870     | 3096   | 3764     | 1765   | 1236     |
| 15. Uttaranchal       | 311    | 297      | 301    | 346      | 212    | 294      | 137    | 130      |
| 16. Andhra Pradesh    | 575    | 353      | 672    | 420      | 405    | 464      | 71     | 130      |
| 17. Kerala            | 1223   | 605      | 1092   | 815      | 1185   | 421      | 577    | 236      |
| 18. Karnataka         |        |          | 103    | 0        |        |          | 6      | 0        |
| 19. Tamil Nadu        | 1021   | 426      | 728    | 1        | 511    | 332      | 272    | 110      |
| 20. Gujarat           | 1489   | 1123     | 994    | 709      | 1045   | 1189     | 805    | 697      |
| 21. Maharashtra       | 2704   | 959      | 4747   | 743      | 3480   | 927      | 1254   | 623      |
| 22. Madhya Pradesh    | 2180   | 1041     | 2463   | 1104     | 2519   | 576      | 222    | 614      |
| 23. Chhattisgarh      | 744    | 923      | 903    | 1038     | 1096   | 1133     | 712    | 761      |
| 24. Sikkim            | 13     | 7        | 5      | 2        | 4      | 4        | 2      | 1        |
| 25. Arunachal Pradesh | 9      | 4        | 17     | 13       | 4      | 1        | 3      | 0        |
| 26. Nagaland          | 5      | 7        | 3      | 4        |        |          | 2      | 1        |
| 27. Mizoram           | 4      | 1        | 6      | 0        | 8      | 0        | 6      | 0        |
| 28. Manipur           | 4      | 28       | 28     | 11       | 11     | 14       | 8      | 3        |
| 29. Tripura           | 37     | 48       | 58     | 33       | 68     | 77       | 31     | 34       |
| 30. Meghalaya         | 4      | 8        | 1      | 3        | 5      | 2        | 2      | 0        |
| 31. Goa               | 133    | 168      | 176    | 88       | 240    | 165      | 111    | 86       |
| 32. Lakshadweep       | 1      | 0        | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0        | 0      | 0        |
| 33. Pondicherry       | 43     | 21       | 42     | 41       | 41     | 31       | 15     | 26       |

| 34. Circuit Bench Aurangabad   |   574 |   704 |   682 | 137   |   1049 |    97 |   332 |    57 |
|--------------------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|--------|-------|-------|-------|
| 35. Circuit Bench Nagpur       |   882 |  1290 |   460 | 1141  |    742 |   965 |   394 |   381 |
| 36. Circuit Bench Madurai      |   231 |   287 |   151 | 0     |    248 |    36 |   101 |    16 |
| 37. Circuit Bench Jodhpur      |   499 |   197 |   289 | 201   |    235 |   535 |   107 |   199 |
| 38. Circuit Bench Udaipur      |   208 |   104 |   202 | 141   |    277 |   414 |    75 |   148 |
| 39. Circuit Bench Bikaner      |   194 |    23 |   246 | 132   |   1024 |   892 |    96 |  1037 |
| 40. Circuit Bench Kota         |   132 |     9 |   240 | 119   |    228 |   153 |    68 |    80 |
| 41. Telangana                  |   561 |    43 |   628 | 286   |    885 |  1022 |   382 |   381 |
| 42. Circuit Bench Amravati     |    99 |     0 |   308 | 5     |    224 |     0 |   102 |     0 |
| 43. Srinagar Bench             |   179 |     0 |    78 | 0     |    113 |     0 |   229 |     0 |
| 44. Circuit Bench Pune         |     0 |     0 |     0 | 0     |     11 |     0 |     0 |     0 |
| 45. Circuit Bench Nashik       |     0 |     0 |     0 | 0     |      4 |     0 |     0 |     0 |
| 46. Circuit Bench Asansol      |     0 |     0 |     0 |       |      0 |     0 |     2 |     0 |
| 47. Circuit Bench Siliguri     |     0 |     0 |     0 | 0     |      0 |     0 |    10 |     0 |
| Total                          | 28950 | 20424 | 32166 | 21650 |  34367 | 25770 | 15445 | 13135 |

## DISTRICT FORUMS

|                            | 2015   | 2015     | 2016   | 2016     | 2017   | 2017     | 2018   | 2018     |
|----------------------------|--------|----------|--------|----------|--------|----------|--------|----------|
| State                      | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed | Filed  | Disposed |
| 1. Bihar                   | 1680   | 80       | 1672   | 424      | 1415   | 424      | 741    | 499      |
| 2. Jharkhand               | 313    | 51       | 619    | 91       | 1180   | 289      | 607    | 286      |
| 3. Orissa                  | 3862   | 1681     | 3241   | 1919     | 3275   | 2214     | 1574   | 1050     |
| 4. West Bengal             | 5066   | 4048     | 5348   | 4967     | 5439   | 5427     | 2966   | 2723     |
| 5. Assam                   | 376    | 107      | 454    | 181      | 456    | 344      | 198    | 123      |
| 6. Chandigarh              | 1626   | 1508     | 2158   | 1916     | 1844   | 2053     | 768    | 845      |
| 7. Andaman Nicobar         | 28     | 38       | 31     | 28       | 32     | 28       | 13     | 12       |
| 8. Delhi                   | 6908   | 3580     | 6231   | 3668     | 5261   | 3665     | 2346   | 2460     |
| 9. Haryana                 | 7135   | 5469     | 7918   | 8275     | 7467   | 8330     | 3827   | 3700     |
| 10. Himachal Pradesh       | 1563   | 1677     | 1534   | 1888     | 1461   | 1581     | 731    | 940      |
| 11. Jammu and Kashmir      | 86     | 0        | 273    | 0        | 421    | 100      | 216    | 153      |
| 12. Punjab                 | 10984  | 7109     | 8082   | 10050    | 7910   | 6644     | 4510   | 3427     |
| 13. Rajasthan              | 18162  | 13106    | 17770  | 15381    | 14887  | 14161    | 6282   | 6414     |
| 14. Uttar Pradesh          | 17071  | 8437     | 16852  | 9908     | 16489  | 9210     | 8692   | 5174     |
| 15. Uttaranchal            | 1157   | 556      | 1358   | 838      | 1046   | 772      | 611    | 539      |
| 16. Andhra Pradesh         | 1741   | 2590     | 1912   | 2098     | 1750   | 2202     | 916    | 1044     |
| 17. Kerala                 | 6304   | 5057     | 6257   | 5473     | 5317   | 4975     | 2517   | 2707     |
| 18. Karnataka              | 7868   | 7144     | 7818   | 9905     | 8055   | 9478     | 4844   | 4109     |
| 19. Tamil Nadu             | 2762   | 2241     | 2692   | 2221     | 2720   | 2170     | 1477   | 1722     |
| 20. Gujarat                | 7997   | 6166     | 7928   | 5014     | 7686   | 6424     | 4218   | 3627     |
| 21. Maharashtra            | 15461  | 14460    | 16331  | 14179    | 12266  | 13596    | 7725   | 5542     |
| 22. Madhya Pradesh         | 10355  | 6587     | 9232   | 9554     | 9240   | 7125     | 3583   | 808      |
| 23. Chhattisgarh           | 2887   | 1681     | 3440   | 2632     | 3217   | 2411     | 2007   | 2157     |
| 24. Sikkim                 | 19     | 18       | 23     | 4        | 17     | 8        | 13     | 7        |
| 25. Arunachal Pradesh      | 21     | 27       | 24     | 50       | 13     | 19       | 4      | 0        |
| 26. Nagaland               | 11     | 0        | 27     | 7        | 10     | 0        | 6      | 0        |
| 27. Mizoram                | 74     | 62       | 43     | 37       | 47     | 21       | 25     | 1        |
| 28. Manipur                | 24     | 13       | 32     | 22       | 24     | 16       | 10     | 8        |
| 29. Tripura                | 152    | 137      | 152    | 185      | 182    | 178      | 55     | 85       |
| 30. Meghalaya              | 56     | 15       | 58     | 23       | 51     | 26       | 25     | 18       |
| 31. Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 1      | 0        | 9      | 5        | 8      | 4        |        |          |
| 32. Goa                    | 196    | 205      | 182    | 200      | 190    | 444      | 94     | 106      |
| 33. Lakshadweep            | 8      | 0        | 9      | 5        | 4      | 3        | 0      | 1        |
| 34. Pondicherry            | 70     | 86       | 52     | 72       | 59     | 57       | 32     | 42       |
| 35. Telangana              | 2066   | 1647     | 1903   | 1312     | 1727   | 1506     | 1070   | 838      |
| Total                      | 134090 | 95583    | 131665 | 112532   | 121166 | 105905   | 62703  | 51167    |

ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE-II REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) & (d) OF LOK SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2223 FOR 31.07.2018 REGARDING CONSUMER MOVEMENT.

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GRANTS RELEASED TO STATE GOVERNMENTS UNDER CONSUMER WELFARE FUND

- Financial Year 2015-16
- Financial Year 2016-17
- Financial Year 2017-18

| S.No.   | State/UT       | Amount Released   |
|---------|----------------|-------------------|
| 01.     | Haryana        | Rs.486.00 lakh    |
| 02.     | Andhra Pradesh | Rs.100.00 lakh    |
| 03.     | Nagaland       | Rs.100.00 lakh    |
|         | Total          | Rs.686.00 lakh    |

| S.No.   | State/UT   | Amount Released   |
|---------|------------|-------------------|
| 1.      | Jharkhand  | Rs.400.00 lakh    |
| 2.      | Nagaland   | Rs.239.00 lakh    |
|         | Total      | Rs.639.00 lakh    |

| S.No.   | State/UT   | Amount Released   |
|---------|------------|-------------------|
| 1       | Jharkhand  | Rs.313.47 lakh    |
| 2.      | Nagaland   | Rs.60.00 lakh     |
| 3.      | Telangana  | Rs.479.00 lakh    |
|         | Total      | RS. 852.47 lakh   |

Current   Financial Year 2018-19: Nil

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