Lok Sabha Question No. 1359 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-09
Subject: Increasing Consumer Complaints
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Subhas Sarkar

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1359 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.02.2021

## INCREASING CONSUMER COMPLAINTS

## 1359.  DR. SUBHAS SARKAR:

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 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?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ¼Jh nkuos jkolkgsc nknkjko½

## 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 20 th 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.

## 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  | 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  | TOTAL                                        | 15,304 | 13,829 | 5,401  |

## CASES FILED IN NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 2018-20

|   Year |   FILED |
|--------|---------|
|   2018 |    8992 |
|   7800 |    2019 |
|   2020 |    3111 |