Lok Sabha Question No. 1897 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-14
Subject: Pending Cases with Consumer Fora
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: SONA RAM CHOUDHARY, P. KUMAR

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1897

TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.03.2017

## PENDING CASES WITH CONSUMER FORA

1897. COL. SONARAM CHOUDHARY: SHRI P. KUMAR:

(OIH)

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

- (a) whether  the  total  number  of  cases  pending  before  the  consumer  fora  in  the  country  is increasing if so, the details of the number of cases pending in such fora/in various courts of the country;
- (b) the details of the fresh measures taken by the Government to reduce pendency along with the further steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) the main features of consumer protection laws in India;
- (d) whether the Government is taking/ proposes to take any concrete steps for carrying out digitization of public distribution system; and
- (e) if  so,  the  details  of  the  efforts  made  by  the  Government  for  carrying  out  digitization  of public distribution system?

## 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)  : The details of the number of cases pending in various consumer Fora in  the country are given in the Annexure.
- (b) : With a view to modernise the existing consumer protection legislation, the Government has  already  introduced  the  Consumer  Protection  Bill,  2015  in  Parliament.    The  Bill  seeks  to provide, among others, measures for simplification of the adjudication process in the Consumer Fora.
- (c) : The  Consumer  Protection  Act  has  been  enacted  to  better  protect  the  interests  of  the consumers. The main features of the Act are:-
1. It enshrines six rights of consumers namely, Right to Safety; Right to be informed; Right to choose; Right to be heard; Right to seek redressal & Right to consumer education.
2. The provisions of the Act are in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force.
3. It covers all goods & services, and all modes of transaction.
4. It  provides  for  setting  up  of  Consumer  Protection  Councils  at  the  Central,  State,  and District  levels,  which  are  advisory  bodies  to  promote  and  protect  the  rights  of  the consumers.

## ORIGINAL IN HINDI

5. The Act provides for establishing a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism at the National, State and District levels, commonly known as the National Commission, State Commissions and District Fora, to provide for simple, inexpensive and speedy justice to the consumer disputes.
6. A consumer can seek redressal of his grievance in the appropriate Consumer Fora against any defective product or deficient service or any unfair trade practice, so long as the goods purchased or service availed of was for a consideration.
7. The provisions  of  the  Act  are  not  only  compensatory  in  nature  but  also  preventive  and punitive in character.
4. (d) & (e) : The Department of Food & Public Distribution of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public  Distribution,  implements  a    plan  scheme  on  '  End-to-end  computerisation  of TPDS operations' in all states/UTs in the Twelfth Five Year Plan on cost sharing basis, which comprises digitization of beneficiary database, online allocation of food grains, computerisation of  supply  chain  management,  grievance  redressal  mechanism  and  transparency  portal.    As  for progress  of  the  scheme,  digitization  of  ration  cards  under  NFSA  has  been  completed  in  all states/UTs,  ration  card  details  are  available  on  transparency  portal  of  all  states/UTs,  online allocation  has  been  implemented  in  29  states/UTs,  Supply  chain  has  been  computerised  in  20 states/UTs, transparency portal are implemented  in all States/UTs and online grievance registration system/toll-free helpline numbers are available in all States/UTs.

*****

## STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.1897 FOR 14.03.2017 REGARDING PENDING CASES WITH CONSUMER FORA .

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## Statement of Cases Pending in the National Commission and State Commissions.

| Sl. No.   | Name of State       | Cases Pending   | As On      |
|-----------|---------------------|-----------------|------------|
|           | National Commission | 12420           | 31.01.2017 |
|           | State Commissions   |                 |            |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh      | 886             | 31.12.2016 |
| 2         | A &NIslands         | 5               | 30.06.2015 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh   | 9               | 31.12.2016 |
| 4         | Assam               | 420             | 31.01.2017 |
| 5         | Bihar               | 3352            | 31.10.2016 |
| 6         | Chandigarh          | 552             | 31.12.2016 |
| 7         | Chattisgarh         | 424             | 31.01.2017 |
| 8         | Daman &Diu and DNH  | 5               | 31.03.2011 |
| 9         | Delhi               | 6173            | 31.01.2017 |
| 10        | Goa                 | 107             | 31.01.2017 |
| 11        | Gujarat             | 4935            | 31.01.2017 |
| 12        | Haryana             | 1473            | 31.12.2016 |
| 13        | Himachal Pradesh    | 183             | 31.01.2017 |
| 14        | Jammu &Kashmir      | 1489            | 31.05.2016 |
| 15        | Jharkhand           | 517             | 31.12.2016 |
| 16        | Karnataka           | 7964            | 31.01.2017 |
| 17        | Kerala              | 2078            | 31.12.2016 |
| 18        | Lakshadweep         | 2               | 31.12.2016 |
| 19        | Madhya Pradesh      | 8698            | 31.01.2017 |
| 20        | Maharashtra         | 15204           | 31.01.2017 |
| 21        | Manipur             | 6               | 31.12.2015 |
| 22        | Meghalaya           | 15              | 31.03.2015 |
| 23        | Mizoram             | 10              | 31.01.2017 |
| 24        | Nagaland            | 29              | 30.09.2015 |
| 25        | Odisha              | 6774            | 31.10.2016 |
| 26        | Puducherry          | 54              | 31.01.2017 |
| 27        | Punjab              | 1416            | 31.12.2016 |
| 28        | Rajasthan           | 6939            | 31.12.2016 |
| 29        | Sikkim              | 3               | 31.03.2015 |
| 30        | Tamil Nadu          | 3225            | 31.12.2016 |
| 31        | Telangana           | 1881            | 31.12.2016 |
| 32        | Tripura             | 38              | 31.12.2016 |
| 33        | Uttar Pradesh       | 26144           | 30.11.2016 |
| 34        | Uttarakhand         | 1026            | 31.01.2017 |
| 35        | West Bengal         | 4462            | 31.12.2016 |
|           | TOTAL               | 106498          |            |

## Statement of Cases pending in District Fora

| Sl. No.   | Name of State      |   Cases Pending | As On      |
|-----------|--------------------|-----------------|------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh     |            2010 | 31.12.2016 |
| 2         | A &NIslands        |              47 | 30.06.2015 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh  |              29 | 31.12.2016 |
| 4         | Assam              |            1421 | 30.06.2016 |
| 5         | Bihar              |           14417 | 31.10.2016 |
| 6         | Chandigarh         |            1670 | 31.12.2016 |
| 7         | Chattisgarh        |            5343 | 31.01.2017 |
| 8         | Daman &Diu and DNH |              18 | 31.03.2011 |
| 9         | Delhi              |           17579 | 31.03.2015 |
| 10        | Goa                |             402 | 31.01.2017 |
| 11        | Gujarat            |           16135 | 31.01.2017 |
| 12        | Haryana            |           11187 | 31.12.2016 |
| 13        | Himachal Pradesh   |            2713 | 31.01.2017 |
| 14        | Jammu &Kashmir     |            1937 | 31.12.2007 |
| 15        | Jharkhand          |            4154 | 31.12.2016 |
| 16        | Karnataka          |            9678 | 31.01.2017 |
| 17        | Kerala             |           10739 | 31.12.2016 |
| 18        | Lakshadweep        |              17 | 31.12.2016 |
| 19        | Madhya Pradesh     |           16678 | 31.01.2017 |
| 20        | Maharashtra        |           37874 | 31.01.2017 |
| 21        | Manipur            |              57 | 31.12.2015 |
| 22        | Meghalaya          |              80 | 31.03.2015 |
| 23        | Mizoram            |              38 | 30.06.2015 |
| 24        | Nagaland           |              54 | 30.09.2015 |
| 25        | Odisha             |            8213 | 31.10.2016 |
| 26        | Puducherry         |             195 | 31.01.2017 |
| 27        | Punjab             |            5322 | 31.12.2016 |
| 28        | Rajasthan          |           34638 | 31.12.2016 |
| 29        | Sikkim             |              14 | 31.03.2015 |
| 30        | Tamil Nadu         |            8721 | 31.12.2016 |
| 31        | Telangana          |            4497 | 31.12.2016 |
| 32        | Tripura            |             136 | 31.12.2016 |
| 33        | Uttar Pradesh      |           74533 | 30.11.2016 |
| 34        | Uttarakhand        |            2885 | 31.01.2017 |
| 35        | West Bengal        |            7475 | 31.12.2016 |
|           | TOTAL              |          300906 |            |