Lok Sabha Question No. 3170 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-11
Subject: Lack of Functional State and District Consumer Forums in Ladakh
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Mohmad Haneefa

## Government of India

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3170 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026

## LACK OF FUNCTIONAL STATE AND DISTRICT CONSUMER FORUMS IN LADAKH

## 3170.  SHRI MOHMAD HANEEFA:

## Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  State  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commission  and  District  Consumer  Disputes Redressal Commissions have been established and are functional in the Union Territory of Ladakh as mandated under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019;
- (b) if not, the reasons for the non-establishment or non-functioning of these forums;
- (c) whether the Government has formulated a timeline for setting up these commissions in Ladakh and making them fully operational;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and steps taken by the Government to expedite their establishment including recruitment and infrastructure development; and
- (e) the  details  of  measures  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  effective  consumer  grievance redressal until these forums are functional?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI B.L. VERMA)

(a) to (e): Under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, it is the responsibility of the State Governments to fill  up the vacancies of President and Members in the State  Commissions and District Commissions. Further, as per Rule 6(4) of the Consumer Protection (Qualification for appointment, method of  recruitment,  procedure  of  appointment,  term  of  office,  resignation  and  removal  of  the  President  and members of the State Commission and District Commission) Rules, 2020, the process of appointments shall be initiated by the State Government atleast 6 months before the vacancy arises.

As per Section 32 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, if, at any time, there is a vacancy in the office of the President or Member of the District Commission, the State Government may, by notification, direct -

- a) any other District Commission specified in that notification to exercise the jurisdiction in respect of that district also; or
- b) the  President  or  a  member  of  any  other  District  Commission  specified  in  that  notification  to exercise  the  powers  and  discharge  the  functions  of  the  President  or  member  of  that  District Commission also.

State  and  District  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commission  have  been  established  in  the  Union Territory of Ladakh. Further, one member is appointed in the Leh District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country for their grievance redressal at a prelitigation stage. Consumers can register their grievances from all over the country in 17 languages including Hindi,  English,  Kashmiri,  Punjabi,  Nepali,  Gujarati,  Marathi,  Kannada,  Telugu,  Tamil,  Malayalam, Maithili,  Santhali,  Bengali,  Odia,  Assamese  and  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- WhatsApp (8800001915), SMS (8800001915), email (nch-ca@gov.in), the NCH app, the web portal (consumerhelpline.gov.in) and the Umang app, as per their convenience. 1,398 companies, who have voluntarily partnered with NCH as part of the 'Convergence' programme directly respond to these grievances according to their redressal process and revert by providing a feedback to the complainant on the portal.

The  National  Consumer  Helpline  (NCH)  has  successfully  facilitated  refund  of  ₹52  crore  to consumers between 25th April 2025 and 31st January 2026. This significant redressal was achieved across 31 sectors, effectively addressing 79,521 consumer grievances related to refund claims.

The  Department  has  launched  'e-Jagriti'  portal  on  1st  January,  2025,  which  aims  to  enhance consumer  grievance  redressal  through  a  micro-service  architecture,  Artificial  Intelligence  /  Machine Learning integration and modern features like faceless onboarding and role-based dashboards. It unifies existing applications  (OCMS,  e-Daakhil, NCDRC CMS, CONFONET) into a single, scalable platform, allowing  users  to  file  complaints  seamlessly  from  anywhere  with  multilingual  support.  The  portal  is designed  to  provide  a  convenient,  transparent  and  efficient  means  for  consumers  to  seek  redressal  by enabling online complaint filing, digital submission of documents, online payment of fees and also supports virtual  courtrooms,  enabling  the  hearing  of  cases  remotely  and  ensuring  faster  disposal  while  reducing dependency  on  physical  infrastructure.  These  features  address  bottlenecks  like  geographical  barriers, scheduling conflicts and manual interventions and has reduced reliance on physical proceedings and has accelerated justice delivery.

*****