Lok Sabha Question No. 75 (STARRED), answered on 2024-02-07
Subject: National Consumer Helpline
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Kanakmal Katara, Chandra Prakash Joshi

## Government of India

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

LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *75 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2024

## NATIONAL CONSUMER HELPLINE

## *75. SHRI KANAKMAL KATARA: SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

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

- (a) the details of the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) as an alternative dispute redressal mechanism, with  particular  focus  on  the  number  of  grievances  addressed,  languages  supported  and  modes  of complaint registration;
- (b) the technological advancements that have been incorporated into the Centralized Consumer Grievance Redressal System to improve its efficiency and responsiveness; and
- (c) the manner in which the Ministry has ensured that complaints are addressed in a timely and effective manner?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h ¼Jh ih;w"k xks;y½

THE MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (c)  :   A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*75 FOR 07.02.2024 REGARDING NATIONAL CONSUMER HELPLINE.

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(a) to (c): The Department has revamped, the National Consumer Helpline(NCH) which has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country for grievance redressal at pre-litigation stage. Consumers can register  their  grievances  from  all  over  the  country  in  17  languages  (i.e.  Hindi,  English,  Kashmiri,  Punjabi, Nepali,  Gujarati,  Marathi,  Kannada,  Telugu,  Tamil,  Malayalam, Maithali, Santhali,  Bengali,  Odia,  Assamese, Manipuri)  through  a  toll-free  number  1915.  These  grievances  can  be  registered  on  Integrated  Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omni- channel IT enabled central portal, through various channels- Whats App, SMS, mail, NCH app, web portal, Umang app as  per their convenience.

This helpline works in a dedicated manner from 8 AM to 8 PM on all seven days of the week except national  holidays.  For  this  purpose,  an  exclusive  call  centre  has  been  established  and  to  facilitate  increase  of access to our consumers, callback facility is also available from 8 PM to 8 AM. Further, NCH has also partnered with prominent stakeholders, namely- private companies, regulators, ombudsman, government agencies to bring them altogether on a single online IT platform wherein all grievances are collated in a central repository with unique  docket  numbers.  Currently  877  convergence  partners  are  in  collaboration  with  NCH  to  offer  speedy resolution to consumer grievances.

Transformative changes and technological upgradation of the NCH has led to an exponential increase in the call handling facility of National Consumer Helpline. Number of calls received at NCH has exponentially increased by around 10 times from 14,795 in January, 2015 to 1,41,817 in January,2024.  These initiatives taken by the Department have also encouraged consumers to register their grievances on the NCH which is manifested with an increase in the number of grievances registered at NCH.

The time frame for disposal of grievances received on the National Consumer Helpline is 45 days.

Department of Consumer Affairs is continuously working for consumer protection and empowerment of consumers by enactment of progressive legislations.  With  a  view  to  modernize  the  framework  governing  the consumer  protection  in  the  new  era  of  globalization,  technologies,  e-commerce  markets  etc.  Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was repealed and Consumer Protection Act 2019 was enacted.

The  Consumer  Protection  Act,  2019  provides  for  redressal  of  the  grievances  of  consumer  through specialized three-tier quasi-judicial agencies, now commonly known as 'National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (NCDRC)' at National level, 'State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC)' at State level,  and 'District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission(DCDRC)' at District level.

The  Act  also  provides  for,  inter-alia,  simplification  of  the  adjudication  process  in  the  Consumer Commissions; filing of a complaint by a consumer in the Consumer Commission having jurisdiction with respect to  his  place  of  work/residence  irrespective  of  place  of  transaction  and  place  of  business  or  residence  of  the opposite parties, e-filing and e-payment, video conferencing for hearing, deemed admissibility of complaints if admissibility is not decided within 21 days of filing; court monitored mediation to facilitate early disposal of cases; provision of product liability.

Provision  for  filing  cases  online  through  e-Daakhil  has  been  introduced  in  NCDRC  and  Consumer Commissions of 35 States/UTs at the district and state level for speedy and hassle-free resolution of cases.

Section 38(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 prescribes that every complaint shall be disposed of as  expeditiously  as  possible  and  endeavour  shall  be  made  to  decide  the  complaint  within  a  period  of  three months from the date of receipt of notice by opposite party where the complaint does not require analysis or testing of commodities and within five months if it requires analysis or testing of commodities.

Department of Consumer Affairs has notified 17 Rules and 6 Regulations under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 for the protection of rights and interests of consumers which, inter-alia, includes E-Commerce Rules, Direct  Selling)  Rules,  Mediation  Rules,  Search  and  Seizure  and  Compounding  of  offences  by  the  Central Authority and Crediting of Penalty Rules etc.

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