Lok Sabha Question No. 1899 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-11
Subject: Strengthen Consumer Justice Delivery Mechanisms
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Anurag Sharma

## Government of India

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1899

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026

## STRENGTHEN CONSUMER JUSTICE DELIVERY MECHANISMS

## 1899.  SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

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

- (a) the details of technology-enabled and digital initiatives undertaken by the Government to strengthen consumer  justice  delivery,  including  e-Daakhil,  virtual  consumer  courts  and  helpline  mechanisms, with specific reference to their implementation and accessibility in the Jhansi and Lalitpur districts of Uttar Pradesh;
- (b) the  achievements  recorded  under  these  initiatives  during  the  last  year  in  Jhansi -Lalitpur  and  the Bundelkhand region, in terms of the number of consumer cases filed and disposed, virtual hearings conducted, refunds facilitated and grievances resolved through online platforms;
- (c) the regulatory and enforcement actions taken by the Central Consumer Protection Authority to curb unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements and overpricing affecting consumers in semi-urban and rural areas of Jhansi and Lalitpur; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  further  strengthen  digital  infrastructure,  consumer  awareness programmes and district-level consumer commissions in Bundelkhand to ensure redressal; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE

## CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## (SHRI B.L.VERMA)

(a) & (b)  : 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.  The  details  regarding  the  number  of  consumer  cases  filed  and  disposed  in  the  consumer commissions of Bundelkhand region during 2025 are at Annexure .

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.    1,185 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 ₹46 crore to consumers between 25th April 2025 and 31st December 2025. This significant redressal was achieved across 31 sectors, effectively addressing 69,058 consumer grievances related to refund claims.

The details of complaints registered and complaints disposed on NCH during the last year in the States of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh is as under:

|   S. No. |   Year | State                                                        | Total no. of complaints registered   | Total no. of complaints disposed   |
|----------|--------|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|        1 |   2025 | Uttar Pradesh (including 7 districts of Bundelkhand region)  | 2,72,248                             | 2,64,945                           |
|        2 |   2025 | Madhya Pradesh (including 6 districts of Bundelkhand region) | 85,967                               | 83,414                             |

(c) : Under  the  provisions  of  the  Consumer  Protection  Act,  2019,  the  Central  Consumer  Protection Authority  (CCPA) is  empowered to intervene for preventing consumer detriment arising from unfair trade practices through issuance of guidelines and class action(s), including   the   enforcement   of recalls, refunds and return of products. It has the mandate to prevent and regulate false or misleading advertisements which are prejudicial to the public interest.

The CCPA  has notified the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 on 9 th June, 2022. These guidelines inter-alia provide for; (a) conditions for an advertisement to be non-misleading and valid; (b) certain stipulations in respect of bait advertisements and free claim advertisements; and, (c) duties of manufacturer, service provider, advertiser and advertising agency.

Central  Consumer  Protection  Authority,  in  exercise  of  the  powers  conferred  by  Section  18  of  the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, issued 'Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023' on 30th November, 2023, listing 13 specified dark patterns identified in e-Commerce sector. These dark patterns include  false  urgency,  Basket  Sneaking,  Confirm  shaming,  forced  action,  Subscription  trap,  Interface Interference, Bait and switch, Drip Pricing, Disguised Advertisements, Nagging, Trick Wording, Saas Billing and Rogue Malwares.

An 'Advisory in terms of Consumer Protection Act, 2019 on Self-Audit by E-Commerce Platforms for detecting the Dark Patterns on their platforms to create a fair, ethical and consumer centric digital ecosystem' was issued by Central Consumer Protection Authority on 5th June, 2025.  All E-Commerce platforms have been advised to conduct self-audits to identify dark patterns, within three months of the issue of the advisory and give self-declarations that their platform is not indulging in any dark patterns. 28 leading e-commerce platforms have voluntarily submitted their self-declaration letters confirming compliance with the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.

Section  19  (2)  of  the  Consumer  Protection  Act,  2019  provides  that  if  the  Central  Authority,  upon determining that a particular matter falls within the jurisdiction of a Regulator established under any other law for the time being in force, may refer the matter to the respective Regulator, accompanied by its report. The CCPA's  role  is  to  complement  sector  regulators  in  a  way  that  it  avoids  duplication,  overlap  or  potential conflict.  As  such,  the  matters  relating  to  other  Ministries/Regulators/Authorities  are  forwarded  to  the concerned by the Central Authority for appropriate action in the matter, as per their mandate and extant rules.

## Guidelines issued by CCPA

- (i) Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 were issued on 09 th June, 2022
- (ii) Guidelines that hotels and restaurants shall not levy service charge issued on 4 th July, 2022.
- (iii) Guidelines on Prevention of Dark Pattern 2023 were issued on 30 th  November, 2023
- (iv) Guidelines for the Prevention and Regulation of Greenwashing, 2024 were issued 15 th October, 2024
- (v) Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Misleading Advertisement in Coaching Sector 2024 were issued 13 th  November, 2024
- (vi) Guidelines for the Prevention and Regulation of Illegal Listing and Sale of Radio Equipment including Walkie Talkies on E-Commerce Platforms, 2025 were issued on 27.05.2025.

## Advisories Issued by CCPA

- (i) CCPA Advisory in terms of Consumer Protection Act, 2019 on Self-Audit by E-Commerce Platforms for detecting the Dark Patterns on their platforms to create a fair, ethical, and consumer-centric digital ecosystem dated 05.06.2025.
- (ii) Advisory in terms of Consumer Protection Act, 2019, on risk to life & safety of consumers through sale of car seat belt alarm stopper.
- (iii) Advisory in terms of Consumer Protection Act, 2019 concerning sale of Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani Drugs containing ingredients listed in Schedule (E) (1) of the Drug and Cosmetic Rules, 1945 on ecommerce platforms.
- (iv) Advisory in terms of Consumer Protection Act 2019 concerning illegal facilitation and sale of wireless jammers on e-commerce platforms
- (v) Advisory  in  terms  of  Consumer  Protection  (E-commerce)  Rules,  2020  for  displaying  information provided by sellers to marketplace e-commerce platforms
- (vi) Advisory in terms of Consumer Protection, 2019 for resorting to misleading advertisements.

(d) & (e)  : The  responsibility  for  establishment  of  Consumer  Commissions  in  the  States  as  well  as providing  all  necessary  infrastructures  for  their  effective  functioning  rests  with  the  State  Governments. However,  the  Central  Government  has  been  extending  financial  assistance  under  the  Strengthening  of Consumer Commissions (SCC) Scheme to the State Governments to meet the gaps in resources for ensuring a basic minimum infrastructure (both building and non-building) required for the effective functioning of the Consumer Commissions and for honouring the shared responsibility of consumer protection.

Under the SCC scheme, the  Central Government's assistance for building purposes, is   limited to creation of built up area of 5,000 square feet in respect of a District Commission building and 11,000 square feet in respect of a State Commission building, which include 1000 square ft. for construction of a Mediation Centre (both for State Commission and District Commission).

Assistance  for  non-building  assets  is  released  within  the  overall  cost  ceiling  of  Rs.  25.00  lakh  in respect  of  a  State  Commission  and  Rs.  10.00 lakh  in  respect  of  a  District  Commission,  irrespective  of  the location of the Consumer Commission.

The Department of Consumer Affairs also administers a scheme titled 'Computerization & Computer Networking  of  Consumer  Commissions'  (CONFONET),  under  which,  IT  infrastructure  of  consumer commissions  is  strengthened  by  way  of  providing  computer  hardware,  software  and  technically  skilled manpower. Under this scheme, VC equipment for conducting hearing through video conferencing mode has been installed and made functional at 10 benches of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and 35 benches of State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (SCDRCs).

Department of Consumer Affairs has been generating country-wide multimedia consumer awareness campaign under the aegis of 'Jago Grahak Jago' through various media including electronic, outdoor and social media. The Department participates in prominent fairs/festivals/events where a large number of people may congregate. The Department also releases grants-in-aid to various States/UTs for generating awareness at local  level.    The  Department  in  2022-23  has  launched  "Jagriti",  a  mascot  for  empowering  consumers  and generating awareness if their rights. Jagriti is projected as an empowered young consumer. With the objective of  strengthening  consumer  awareness  at  the  village  and  Gram  Panchayat  level,  the  Department  has  also conducted a series of virtual capacity-building sessions for Gram Panchayats in States/UTs including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

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ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) & (b) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  1899  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  11.02.2026  REGARDING  STRENGTHEN CONSUMER JUSTICE DELIVERY MECHANISMS.

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| Sl No.   | Name of Commission   |   Number of Cases Filed |   Number of Cases Disposed (also includes the cases disposed which were filed in the previous years) |
|----------|----------------------|-------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Banda                |                      89 |                                                                                                   31 |
| 2        | Chitrakoot           |                      53 |                                                                                                    7 |
| 3        | Hamirpur             |                      80 |                                                                                                  123 |
| 4        | Jalaun               |                      72 |                                                                                                  134 |
| 5        | Jhansi               |                     341 |                                                                                                  373 |
| 6        | Lalitpur             |                     111 |                                                                                                  122 |
| 7        | Mahoba               |                      76 |                                                                                                  116 |
| 8        | Chhatarpur           |                     264 |                                                                                                  192 |
| 9        | Damoh                |                     192 |                                                                                                  193 |
| 10       | Datia                |                      96 |                                                                                                   49 |
| 11       | Panna                |                      48 |                                                                                                   44 |
| 12       | Sagar                |                     317 |                                                                                                  389 |
| 13       | Tikamgarh            |                     159 |                                                                                                  180 |
| Total    | Total                |                    1898 |                                                                                                 1953 |

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