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approaching a
Consumer Court
Akosha Consumer Guidebooks
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Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Chapter 1: The basics 5
Chapter 2: How to? 7
Chapter 3: The devilish details 14
Chapter 4: A photo tour 19
About Akosha 25
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About this e-book
We get 1000s of consumer complaints every day.
Often a lot of these customers are very angry and want to seek legal
help. In several sectors, the behavior of the company leaves them with
little choice – companies in real estate and insurance sector are
notoriously bad at listening to and resolving complaints.
This guide is written for such tormented customers – so that they can
understand what it might practically mean to approach the consumer
forum and get their complaint resolved.
The actual reality on the ground might be slightly different from that
depicted in this e-book – please allow for variations.
This e-book can be shared freely provided it is attributed to Akosha, not used for commercial
purposes and shared as it is.
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Introduction
“Consumer forums” are unofficially known as “consumer courts”. We
have used these terms interchangeably.
The whole idea behind having consumer forums and consumer courts as
separate limbs of the otherwise uniform judiciary is to ensure that
consumer issues are resolved promptly and efficiently, without being
trapped by the backlog of regular cases and complicated procedures.
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Chapter 1: The basics
This chapter covers some of the basics of approaching the consumer
forum. Some aspects might vary from one State to another.
Even if someone has paid only a part of the amount for the goods or
services, he can still file a complaint against the seller or service provider
in a consumer court in case of a deficiency.
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2. Alternatively, you can register your complaint on online forums like
Akosha (which escalates your complaint to the company) or tweet
about it on Twitter. Several brands are active on online forums and
social media and you might get a prompt response with this
method.
Don’t confuse online complaint forums with the actual real world
consumer courts. These forums trick you into believing that you are
filing the complaint with a government sanctioned consumer court.
The main point is that consumer forums are a consumer‘s last resort, and
should be approached after every other source and method of redressal
is exhausted.
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Chapter 2: How to?
How long will it take for my complaint to get
resolved?
The estimate of time for granting relief given by the district consumer
courts is generally between six months to 18 months.
The time taken for resolution of a complaint can vary a great deal
depending on:
Send a notice
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You should send a letter to the company informing that if they are
unable to resolve your complaint, you‘d be forced to approach a
consumer forum. It is ideal to specify a time limit within which you‘d like
them to settle your grievance (usually 15 days is considered adequate).
Don’t threaten or abuse and state what you would like them to do
exactly. Everybody loves compensation but be practical – in India, no
one will any real compensation.
To approach the consumer court, you need to take the following steps:
While all this seems fairly legalistic and scary, don’t despair – you don’t
need a lawyer to approach a consumer forum. Hundreds of consumers
approach consumer courts themselves or with some assistance from us
at Akosha.
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6. Submit the complaint and court fee to the receiving clerk in the
consumer court who will give you a date for the admission hearing,
and a complaint reference number.
8. The court will send a notice with a copy of your complaint to the
opposite party, stating that the opposite party must reply within 30
days, and asking them to attend the hearing.
10. The court‘s final order will be sent to all the parties by
registered post.
The court fee is fixed according to the value of goods or services which
form the core of the dispute and the compensation claimed. The court
fee is generally nominal and affordable.
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Total value of goods or services and the Fee
compensation claimed payable
District Forum
State Commission
National Commission
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The Consumer Protection Rules, 1987 provides for two ways of payment
of court fees but the situation in the forums across the country varies in
terms of practice.
For example, the Central Delhi District Forum insists that customers pay
only using a Postal Order (so if you went in there with a DD, there is a
high chance you‘d be disappointed – even though the law gives you the
right to pay using a DD).
Some courts may even allow the payment of court fees in form of
a challan available at the forum or even cash. So, before preparing a
draft or postal order, do check on the payments accepted by the
consumer forum where you are filing your complaint.
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Stage Checklist
I DRAFTING OF COMPLAINT
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Check that the Annexures are page numbered
While it is true that drafting a complaint is not technical and can be done
by a consumer without professional assistance, a professional lawyer or
someone on the team at Akosha may be more adept and efficient at
drafting such a complaint - this may be a good option if you want to
save yourself some hassle and time.
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Chapter 3: The devilish
details
The previous chapter answers some of the basic questions that will arise
when you want to file a complaint at a consumer forum.
However, there are a few more technical questions that you need to
know about.
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usually refers to the amount involved in dispute. This jurisdiction is
decided as follows:
If the company you want to complain against is situated in your city, that
would make matters simple – you would have to file your complaint at
the District Forum under whom the company‘s office falls.
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What do I do if the company has no branch office
or related entity in my city?
Despair not!
This is where the second criteria for jurisdiction comes to your rescue:
―the cause of action‖. Cause of action simply means the actual event
which has lead to you to having a complaint, i.e., which has given you
the ―cause‖ to take legal action (i.e. file a complaint) against the
company. Wherever the ―cause of action‖ wholly or partly arose – that
area‘s District Consumer Forum would have valid jurisdiction.
Even though the law clearly provides the option for you to file a
complaint where the “cause of action” arose, on a practical level,
sometimes district consumer forums refuse to admit the complaint if the
company’s office is not within their area. You should fight and escalate
the matter at the district forum if this happens.
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What if a complaint is against more than one
parties?
If you are filing your complaint against more than one person (or
company), then you can file this complaint in the forum of the place
where ALL the opposite parties (companies) reside, or carry on business,
or have a branch office, or personally work for gain.
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What is the time period within which a complaint
can be filed in a consumer forum?
As per the Consumer Protection Act, the District Forum, the State
Commission or the National Commission cannot admit a complaint
unless it is filed within two years from the date on which the cause of
action has arisen. Otherwise, a complaint is barred by limitation and
cannot be filed in a consumer forum.
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Chapter 4: A photo tour
To get a real flavor of what it is like, we sent an intern out to the K G
Marg District Consumer Forum in New Delhi.
http://info.akosha.com/consumer-complaints/consumer-protection/a-
day-at-the-k-g-marg-new-delhi-district-consumer-forum/
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Chapter 5: The e-
commerce complaints
problem
This chapter first appeared as “Make consumer law e-com-friendly”,
The Hindu Business Line, May 7, 2013. We’ve included it in this e-book
to give you a sense of the challenges you might face if you have a
problem against an ecommerce player.
The rise and fall of Timtara, culminating in the arrest of its founder and
CEO just over a month ago, has opened a can of worms as far as the e-
commerce sector is concerned. It has even generated a debate on all
what is wrong with this ecosystem.
However, amidst all this, there is one major concern that has been
overlooked — the application of the Consumer Protection Act with
respect to e-commerce transactions, especially pertaining to the
jurisdiction clause.
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The case illustrated above is just one of the hundreds of complaints
against Timtara that were filed with Akosha alone. In all such cases,
whenever buyers approached the concerned local consumer forum, they
were more often than not told to file their complaint in Noida, which is
where Timtara‘s registered office happened to be located.
The story does not differ drastically in cases involving other e-commerce
players either. Whenever a consumer faces an issue with an e-commerce
company and wishes to file a complaint at a consumer forum, she/he
very often ends up confronting this dilemma of jurisdiction: Where to file
the complaint?
Virtual Jurisdiction
With e-commerce in India growing annually by over 57 per cent and
expected to touch $8.8 billion by 2016 — as per projections by Forrester
Research Inc, a leading global research and advisory firm — one should
not be surprised to find the growth rate of complaints also keeping pace.
From our own analysis of e-commerce complaints received on the
Akosha platform, these are growing by 19 per cent quarter on quarter.
The bulk of these were registered by consumers in the metros, with Delhi
topping the list. However, despite the urban tilt, the geographical
distribution of the complaints is diverse enough to validate concerns
regarding the misapplication of the jurisdiction clause.
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Alternatively, she/he can also file it in the place where the cause of action
arose, that is, where the issue or grievance arose.
Lost Opportunity
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The Consumer Protection Amendment Bill, 2011, which was introduced
in the Lok Sabha last December, could have proposed an amendment to
Section 11 of the Act that deals with jurisdiction.
Such a clause should have clearly laid down that in e-commerce cases, a
complaint should be filed where the cause of action arises, irrespective of
the physical location of the company concerned. This would have been a
perfect, even though overly legislative, redressal of an issue that is
already a major problem for Indian consumers making online purchases.
Unfortunately, the Bill has already been tabled and referred to the
Standing Committee – and it looks as though e-commerce consumer
hopes have been dashed.
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Chapter 6: Conclusion
While we have tried to address the basics in as much detail as possible,
every consumer complaint is unique and may have issues that need to
be addressed individually.
However, this guide shall give every consumer a fair idea on how to get
started and things that should be kept in mind when planning to file a
complaint with a consumer forum.
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About Akosha
3,50,000+ Complaints
10,00,000+ Updates
1250+ Daily customers
185+Brands
80+ Team
2010 Founded
Address:
E-40/7, Second Floor,
Coraza Technologies Private Limited,
Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 2,
New Delhi - 110020
Landline 011 64643453
www.akosha.com
For the sake of repetition: This book does not constitute legal advice.
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