Lok Sabha Question No. 886 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: Functioning of Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Tangella Uday Srinivas

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## Government of India Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.886

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026

## FUNCTIONING OF CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSIONS

## 886. SHRI TANGELLA UDAY SRINIVAS:

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

- (a) the  number  of  District,  State  and  National  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commissions  presently functioning in the country, State-wise;
- (b) the  sanctioned  strength,  number  of  posts  filled  and  vacancies  of  Presidents  and  Members  at  each level, State-wise;
- (c) the number of consumer cases filed, disposed of and pending during the last five  years,  year and State-wise;
- (d) the average time taken for disposal of cases at each level and whether any time-bound targets or norms for disposal have been prescribed;
- (e) the details of financial assistance allocated, released and utilised for strengthening, digitisation and infrastructure development of these Commissions during the last five years, State-wise along with major infrastructure gaps identified; and
- (f) the  steps  taken  or  proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the  effectiveness  of Consumer  Commissions  including  timely  appointments,  digital  reforms,  capacity  building  and measures to enhance disposal rates and reduce pendency?

## ANSWER

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

(a) : At  present,  there  is  one  National  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commission  (NCDRC)  at  the national  level  and  thirty  five  State  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commissions  at  the  state  level.  The number of District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (State-wise) is at Annexure-I .

(b) : 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.

Also, the Central Government  has been continuously taking up the matter with the State Governments/UT  Administrations  for  expeditious  filling  up  of  the  existing  and  anticipated  vacancies  of President and Members of the Consumer Commissions.

At  present,  there  are  three  vacancies  of  members  in  National  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal Commission.  The  details  of  existing  vacancies  in  State  and  District  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal Commission are at Annexure-II .

(c) & (d) : As  per  Section  38  (7)  of  the  Consumer  Protection  Act,  2019,  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.

To serve the interest of speedy justice to the end consumers, Consumer Protection Act states that no adjournment shall ordinarily be granted by the consumer commissions unless sufficient cause is shown and the reasons for grant of adjournment have been recorded in writing by the Commission.

The details of the consumer cases filed and disposed by the consumer commissions since 2021, year and State-wise are at Annexure-III .

(e) & (f) : 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 details of funds released under the SCC scheme during the last 5 years are at Annexure-IV .

Additionally,  Department  has  also  been  implementing  a  Scheme  namely  CONFONET  with  the objective  to  set  up  Information  and  Communications  Technology  (ICT)  infrastructure  which  includes  eGovernance  solution  for  monitoring  the  consumer  cases  filed,  disposed  &  pending  with  the  Consumer Commissions at  National  Consumer  Disputes  Redressal  Commission  (NCDRC),  State  Commissions  and District Commissions. The scheme is being implemented through National Informatics Centre (NIC). NIC provides  hardware,  software  and  technical  manpower  to  the  Consumer  Commissions  through  National Informatics  Centre  Services  Inc.  (NICSI).  The  details  of  funds  released  under  the  CONFONET  scheme during the last 5 years are as follows:-

| Financial Year   |   Funds Released (Rs. in Crore) |
|------------------|---------------------------------|
| 2021-22          |                           32    |
| 2022-23          |                           29.26 |
| 2023-24          |                           36.21 |
| 2024-25          |                           70.75 |
| 2025-26(Current) |                           33.39 |

Besides  providing  VC  facilities  in  10  Benches  of  NCDRC  and  35  Benches  of  SCDRCs,  the Department has also launched a '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  system  streamlines grievance redressal processes with real-time data access, automated workflows and tools for stakeholders like  judges  and  advocates.  The  platform  offers  digital  case  filing,  document  exchange  and  automated SMS/email notifications. Features include a chatbot help system, voice-to-text capabilities and accessibility support for the visually challenged and elderly. 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.

## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  886  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  04.02.2026  REGARDING  FUNCTIONING  OF CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSIONS.

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| S. No.   | States/UTs              |   Number of District Commissions |
|----------|-------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1.       | A&N Island (UT)         |                                1 |
| 2.       | Andhra Pradesh          |                               17 |
| 3.       | Arunachal Pradesh       |                               18 |
| 4.       | Assam                   |                               23 |
| 5.       | Bihar                   |                               38 |
| 6.       | Chandigarh (UT)         |                                2 |
| 7.       | Chhattisgarh            |                               27 |
| 8.       | D&N Haveli and D&D (UT) |                                3 |
| 9.       | Delhi (UT)              |                               10 |
| 10.      | Goa                     |                                2 |
| 11.      | Gujarat                 |                               38 |
| 12.      | Haryana                 |                               22 |
| 13.      | Himachal Pradesh        |                               12 |
| 14.      | J&K (UT)                |                               10 |
| 15.      | Jharkhand               |                               24 |
| 16.      | Kerala                  |                               14 |
| 17.      | Ladakh (UT)             |                                0 |
| 18.      | Lakshadweep (UT)        |                                1 |
| 19.      | Karnataka               |                               30 |
| 20.      | Madhya Pradesh          |                               48 |
| 21.      | Maharashtra             |                               40 |
| 22.      | Manipur                 |                                3 |
| 23.      | Meghalaya               |                                7 |
| 24.      | Mizoram                 |                               11 |
| 25.      | Nagaland                |                               11 |
| 26.      | Odisha                  |                               30 |
| 27.      | Puducherry (UT)         |                                1 |
| 28.      | Punjab                  |                               23 |
| 29.      | Rajasthan               |                               37 |
| 30.      | Sikkim                  |                                6 |
| 31.      | Tamilnadu               |                               30 |
| 32.      | Telangana               |                               12 |
| 33.      | Tripura                 |                                4 |
| 34.      | Uttarakhand             |                               13 |
| 35.      | Uttar Pradesh           |                               79 |
| 36.      | West Bengal             |                               18 |
| Total    |                         |                              665 |

## ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  886  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  04.02.2026  REGARDING  FUNCTIONING  OF CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSIONS.

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(As on 31.12.2025)

| S. No.   | State                   | State Commission   | State Commission   | District Commission   | District Commission   |
|----------|-------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|
| S. No.   | State                   | President          | Member             | President             | Member                |
| S. No.   | State                   | Vacant Post        | Vacant Post        | Vacant Post           | Vacant Post           |
| 1        | A&N Island (UT)         | 1                  | 4                  | 0                     | 2                     |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh          | 1                  | 2                  | 4                     | 3                     |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh       | 1                  | 2                  | 0                     | 34                    |
| 4        | Assam                   | 1                  | 3                  | 0                     | 3                     |
| 5        | Bihar                   | 0                  | 0                  | 14                    | 36                    |
| 6        | Chandigarh (UT)         | 0                  | 1                  | 0                     | 2                     |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh            | 0                  | 3                  | 17                    | 20                    |
| 8        | D&N Haveli and D&D (UT) | 1                  | 3                  | 1                     | 1                     |
| 9        | Delhi (UT)              | 0                  | 0                  | 2                     | 2                     |
| 10       | Goa                     | 1                  | 2                  | 0                     | 0                     |
| 11       | Gujarat                 | 0                  | 3                  | 11                    | 28                    |
| 12       | J&K (UT)                | 1                  | 1                  | 6                     | 11                    |
| 13       | Kerala                  | 0                  | 2                  | 2                     | 5                     |
| 14       | Ladakh (UT)             | 1                  | 4                  | 2                     | 4                     |
| 15       | Lakshadweep (UT)        | 1                  | 0                  | 1                     | 0                     |
| 16       | Haryana                 | 0                  | 1                  | 2                     | 7                     |
| 17       | Himachal Pradesh        | 0                  | 0                  | 0                     | 9                     |
| 18       | Jharkhand               | 1                  | 3                  | 11                    | 17                    |
| 19       | Karnataka               | 0                  | 7                  | 15                    | 13                    |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh          | 0                  | 4                  | 6                     | 34                    |
| 21       | Maharashtra             | 0                  | 2                  | 9                     | 21                    |
| 22       | Manipur                 | 0                  | 0                  | 0                     | 0                     |
| 23       | Meghalaya               | 0                  | 2                  | 0                     | 1                     |
| 24       | Mizoram                 | 1                  | 0                  | 0                     | 3                     |
| 25       | Nagaland                | 0                  | 1                  | 0                     | 0                     |
| 26       | Odisha                  | 1                  | 0                  | 0                     | 0                     |
| 27       | Puducherry (UT)         | 1                  | 2                  | 0                     | 0                     |
| 28       | Punjab                  | 1                  | 3                  | 6                     | 14                    |
| 29       | Rajasthan               | 0                  | 0                  | 2                     | 21                    |
| 30       | Sikkim                  | 1                  | 2                  | 0                     | 4                     |
| 31       | Tamilnadu               | 0                  | 5                  | 7                     | 18                    |
| 32       | Telangana               | 1                  | 0                  | 3                     | 3                     |
| 33       | Tripura                 | 1                  | 0                  | 0                     | 2                     |
| 34       | Uttarakhand             | 1                  | 1                  | 9                     | 2                     |
| 35       | Uttar Pradesh           | 0                  | 7                  | 21                    | 36                    |
| 36       | West Bengal             | 0                  | 5                  | 18                    | 23                    |
| Total    | Total                   | 18                 | 75                 | 169                   | 379                   |

## ANNEXURE-III

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) & (d) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  886  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  04.02.2026  REGARDING  FUNCTIONING  OF  CONSUMER  DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSIONS.

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| Sl.   | Year                                     | 2021            | 2021                                                                               | 2022            | 2022                                                                               | 2023            | 2023                                                                               | 2024            | 2024                                                                               | 2025            | 2025                                                                               |
|-------|------------------------------------------|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| No.   | State Name                               | Number of Cases | Number of Cases                                                                    | Number of Cases | Number of Cases                                                                    | Number of Cases | Number of Cases                                                                    | Number of Cases | Number of Cases                                                                    | Number of Cases | Number of Cases                                                                    |
| No.   | State Name                               | Filed           | Disposed (also includes the cases disposed which were filed in the previous years) | Filed           | Disposed (also includes the cases disposed which were filed in the previous years) | Filed           | Disposed (also includes the cases disposed which were filed in the previous years) | Filed           | Disposed (also includes the cases disposed which were filed in the previous years) | Filed           | Disposed (also includes the cases disposed which were filed in the previous years) |
| 1.    | NCDRC                                    | 2697            | 1965                                                                               | 3655            | 4054                                                                               | 5816            | 6125                                                                               | 4546            | 6953                                                                               | 3402            | 4908                                                                               |
| 2.    | ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS              | 21              | 24                                                                                 | 23              | 36                                                                                 | 8               | 2                                                                                  | 11              | 1                                                                                  | 11              | 2                                                                                  |
| 3.    | ANDHRA PRADESH                           | 1648            | 471                                                                                | 2678            | 3372                                                                               | 3398            | 3942                                                                               | 3434            | 2672                                                                               | 3563            | 2618                                                                               |
| 4.    | ARUNACHAL PRADESH                        | 14              | 9                                                                                  | 25              | 19                                                                                 | 39              | 30                                                                                 | 40              | 26                                                                                 | 26              | 26                                                                                 |
| 5.    | ASSAM                                    | 335             | 213                                                                                | 554             | 608                                                                                | 553             | 511                                                                                | 552             | 552                                                                                | 513             | 408                                                                                |
| 6.    | BIHAR                                    | 2745            | 808                                                                                | 5277            | 3047                                                                               | 4279            | 4874                                                                               | 3928            | 3293                                                                               | 3268            | 3153                                                                               |
| 7.    | CHANDIGARH                               | 2149            | 1180                                                                               | 2135            | 1655                                                                               | 1782            | 2625                                                                               | 1741            | 1902                                                                               | 1406            | 1810                                                                               |
| 8.    | CHHATTISGARH                             | 3464            | 2147                                                                               | 2829            | 2356                                                                               | 3403            | 4662                                                                               | 3077            | 4817                                                                               | 2791            | 4032                                                                               |
| 9.    | DELHI                                    | 4053            | 1778                                                                               | 5031            | 5106                                                                               | 6063            | 8545                                                                               | 6418            | 6525                                                                               | 5574            | 5204                                                                               |
| 10.   | DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN AND DIU | 12              | 0                                                                                  | 19              | 2                                                                                  | 31              | 0                                                                                  | 19              | 0                                                                                  | 0               | 0                                                                                  |
| 11.   | GOA                                      | 271             | 183                                                                                | 177             | 178                                                                                | 219             | 365                                                                                | 285             | 231                                                                                | 288             | 213                                                                                |
| 12.   | GUJARAT                                  | 14944           | 9751                                                                               | 14676           | 16143                                                                              | 17634           | 17226                                                                              | 18152           | 12583                                                                              | 18280           | 12553                                                                              |
| 13.   | HARYANA                                  | 10364           | 4567                                                                               | 11959           | 9002                                                                               | 13251           | 11795                                                                              | 13214           | 9674                                                                               | 12385           | 9676                                                                               |
| 14.   | HIMACHAL PRADESH                         | 1038            | 811                                                                                | 2267            | 1796                                                                               | 2415            | 2104                                                                               | 2280            | 2154                                                                               | 2280            | 1845                                                                               |
| 15.   | JHARKHAND                                | 678             | 76                                                                                 | 1923            | 2106                                                                               | 1703            | 2028                                                                               | 1389            | 1387                                                                               | 1261            | 880                                                                                |
| 16.   | JAMMU & KASHMIR                          | 0               | 0                                                                                  | 12              | 0                                                                                  | 31              | 3                                                                                  | 46              | 160                                                                                | 317             | 84                                                                                 |
| 17.   | KARNATAKA                                | 7066            | 7968                                                                               | 9035            | 11939                                                                              | 10435           | 12538                                                                              | 11872           | 10244                                                                              | 10630           | 10923                                                                              |

| 18.   | KERALA         |   4974 |   3719 |   6121 |   7198 |   8473 |   6700 |   12003 |   6778 |   12018 |   8130 |
|-------|----------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|--------|---------|--------|
| 19.   | LAKSHADWEEP    |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      4 |      0 |       2 |      2 |       2 |      0 |
| 20.   | MADHYA PRADESH |  17449 |   9158 |  16340 |  21091 |  11976 |  18309 |   10624 |  14885 |   10548 |  13800 |
| 21.   | MAHARASHTRA    |  20987 |  13073 |  22607 |  16757 |  18523 |   7632 |   15918 |  14939 |   16434 |  14937 |
| 22.   | MANIPUR        |     30 |     18 |     74 |     60 |     50 |     62 |      91 |     35 |     127 |     91 |
| 23.   | MEGHALAYA      |     31 |     20 |     67 |    186 |     55 |     60 |      68 |     50 |      56 |     60 |
| 24.   | MIZORAM        |     56 |    113 |     67 |    108 |     64 |     53 |      99 |     67 |     125 |     55 |
| 25.   | NAGALAND       |     21 |      3 |     15 |     16 |     14 |     15 |      28 |      3 |      23 |     14 |
| 26.   | ODISHA         |   3426 |   2562 |   4105 |   5206 |   5924 |   7174 |    5844 |   4911 |    5631 |   3948 |
| 27.   | PUDUCHERRY     |     48 |      2 |     45 |     55 |     95 |    145 |     157 |    169 |     172 |    174 |
| 28.   | PUNJAB         |   8478 |   8821 |   8151 |   8173 |   6966 |   8652 |    8536 |   6815 |    6206 |   7280 |
| 29.   | RAJASTHAN      |  14775 |  11341 |  14812 |  11491 |  13662 |  12341 |   12397 |  10741 |   11975 |  12473 |
| 30.   | SIKKIM         |     16 |     19 |     27 |     10 |     56 |     26 |      87 |     29 |      20 |      1 |
| 31.   | TAMIL NADU     |   2485 |   1231 |   7086 |  10026 |   7348 |   9079 |    8224 |   7494 |    8356 |   7359 |
| 32.   | TELANGANA      |   3533 |   2566 |   4378 |   5390 |   3972 |   4571 |    4405 |   3974 |    3605 |   3300 |
| 33.   | TRIPURA        |    270 |    182 |    512 |    596 |    225 |    256 |     243 |    162 |     286 |    122 |
| 34.   | UTTARAKHAND    |   1659 |   1327 |   2217 |   2224 |   1102 |    929 |     709 |    548 |     939 |   1807 |
| 35.   | UTTAR PRADESH  |  14988 |  13414 |  20428 |  25782 |  19023 |  25657 |   17733 |  19630 |   16550 |  15751 |
| 36.   | WEST BENGAL    |   4687 |   2219 |   6353 |   7080 |   5692 |   6743 |    5009 |   3915 |    3828 |   2944 |
| Total | Total          | 149412 | 101739 | 175680 | 182868 | 174284 | 185779 |  173181 | 158321 |  162896 | 150581 |

## ANNEXURE-IV

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (e) & (f) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  886  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  04.02.2026  REGARDING  FUNCTIONING  OF CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSIONS.

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(₹ in lakh)

| Sl.No.   | State/UT          |   Total Funds Released (since 2021-22 till 30.01.2026) |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.       | Arunachal Pradesh |                                                 185    |
| 2.       | Assam             |                                                  29.91 |
| 3.       | Chhattisgarh      |                                                 125    |
| 4.       | Goa               |                                                  45    |
| 5.       | Gujarat           |                                                 238.98 |
| 6.       | Himachal Pradesh  |                                                 107.74 |
| 7.       | Karnataka         |                                                 554.4  |
| 8.       | Ladakh            |                                                  45    |
| 9.       | Madhya Pradesh    |                                                  95.96 |
| 10.      | Meghalaya         |                                                 145    |
| 11.      | Punjab            |                                                 175    |
| 12.      | Sikkim            |                                                  65    |
| 13.      | Tamil Nadu        |                                                  97.92 |
| 14.      | Tripura           |                                                  65    |
| 15.      | Uttar Pradesh     |                                                 551.75 |
| Total    | Total             |                                                2526.66 |

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