Emphasizing speedy and affordable justice by Consumer Commissions across the country, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday urged all commissions to see how digital media such as WhatsApp and e-mail can be generously used to issue notices, replies, and other documents.
Shri Goyal inaugurated the National Workshop on ‘Effective and Speedy Consumer Disputes Redressal’ with the President and Members of the National Commission, the President and Members of State Commissions, and the Presidents of selected District Commissions, along with Principal Secretaries of the State, organized by the Department of Consumer Affairs.
He said that the Consumer Commissions should religiously follow the timelines as per the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 for expediting the disposal of cases. He said that the commissions should be able to dispose of cases within 3-5 months of filing which will provide speedy justice to consumers.
Shri Goyal said that to provide a faster and amicable mode of settlement of consumer disputes, the new Act (Consumer Protection Act 2019 which came into effect from July 2020) also introduces reference of consumer disputes to Mediation, with the consent of both parties.
This will not only save time and money involved in litigating the dispute, but it will also help in reducing the pendency of cases. The Government is also taking proactive steps in encouraging the use of electronic mediation (e-mediation).
This will help in ensuring that location and distance do not act as barriers whenever parties wish to opt for mediation for the settlement of cases. So far 153 District Commissions, 11 State Commissions along with National Commission have established mediation centers. I would like to request all States and UTs to expedite setting up mediation centers and appointing mediators.
He further highlighted the importance of digitization of all documents that are required to be submitted and urged all the Commissions to implement e-documentation and facilitate all documents and processes to be online mode to enable hassle-free procedures for consumers. He emphasized that simplification of processes leads to a more effective and affordable justice system.
He added that delayed disposal and huge pendency remain a major challenge toward redressal of Consumer Grievances.
Pointing out, he mentioned that as per the data on 14th June 2022, the pendency in the National Commission was 22,608; State Commission was 1,49,608, and District Commission was 4,66,034. He said that those seeking repeated adjournments should also be dealt with. He suggested that pendency can be reduced by bunching similar cases and disposing of it together.
Highlighting ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ he expressed that like e-filing, importance should also be provided for e-disposal.
He applauded the progress of the e-daakhil portal which enables online filing of consumer complaints and urged the authorities to facilitate virtual hearings in all cases.
To expedite the disposal of cases, the Act of 2019 provides that the District Commission shall send a copy of the admitted complaint within 21 days from the date of its admission to the opposite party.
The opposite has to furnish its reply within 30 days which may be extended by a maximum of 15 days. These initiatives are expected to reduce the pendency and achieve speedier redressal of cases.
It is expected from the Commissions that they will work to their full potential in the interest of consumers and dispose of the oldest pending cases on priority.
He pressed that Consumer is King and Consumer is the center of all the activities of the Government of India. Therefore, the State Commissions should strengthen infrastructure for which the Centre will extend support.
He further stressed it should be the moral responsibility of everyone working in Consumer Commissions to consider their work not just as any job but as a service to citizens.
The Union Minister was optimistic that 6 months from now during the National Consumer Day in December 2022, the Commissions would be able to review their work towards speedy disposal of complaints.
He further proposed services of BIS and NABL accredited laboratories may be utilized by consumer commissions for timely resolution of consumer grievances that require product testing and analysis.
The Union Minister of State for Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Rural Development Ms. Sadhvi Nirajan Jyoti in her keynote address underlined that we are all consumers in our day-to-day life and would definitely expect speedy redressal of our grievances.
Further, she quoted that “Jaisa hamara Kathan ho vaisa hi hamara Chintan hona chahiye” with respect to finding solutions to deliver speedy justice to consumers.
She also pointed out that in today’s digital world the consumer gets stuck in the vicious loop of online marketing and suffer losses and even manufacturers and business also suffer due to such practices she was hopeful that today’s workshop will come up with innovative suggestions for the way forward.
President NCDRC Hon’ble Mr. Justice, R.K Agrawal in his keynote address highlighted that “Delay in Justice is a denial of justice”.
He further said that the right to speedy justice is enshrined in our constitution and has been universally recognized and iterated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court that timely justice and a speedy trial is a facet of the right to life under the constitution.
It was further pointed out that there are about cumulative 6 lakh cases pending in the National, State, and District commission with a disposal rate of 89%.
While, pointing out the reasons for the delay in the disposal of cases, he mentioned that there are not enough judges as judges to population ratio is 21:1 million.
He called for judicial impact assessment, case and court management, classification, and assignment of cases in a scientific manner. He further added, that more thrust on Alternate Dispute Redressal methods i.e., Lok Adalat, Arbitration, and mediation should be provided.
Shri Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs highlighted the 4 steps of Information and Technology which include Information, interaction, transaction, and transformation, and stressed that these 4 steps should be inculcated in the process of IT-enabled grievance redressal systems such as e filing, online hearing, e-court, e mediation, and e disposal.
He further emphasized that even with necessary procedures and IT enablement, ‘Determination’ is the key motivator, and quoting ‘sabka saath, sabka prayaas’ urged all the participants to put collective efforts to achieve speedy and timely redressal.
Following the inaugural event, technical sessions were organized with the objective to deliberate on core issues faced by various consumer commissions and to address such concerns with the support of legal provisions and technology.
Some key issues that were discussed in the technical sessions were: Deliberations with Voluntary Consumer Organisations, Present Status of Vacancies and Pending cases in State and District Commissions and prescribing a framework for the effective and speedy redressal of consumer grievances, Present status of E-filing in State and District Commissions, Popularising mediation as a pre-litigation measure in the redressal of consumer and suggestions for making e filing the preferred option for consumers, Present Status of mediation in State and District Commissions and suggestions for putting in place an effective mechanism for mediation as prescribed in Consumer Protection Act 2019, the present state of Infrastructure in State and District Commissions and suggestions for improving the same and others.
Format requesting to provide details of present availability of infrastructure and the future requirements was circulated amongst State and District Commissions. Based on the response received, DoCA will look into the gaps and provide facilities as per requirement.