## Policy Summary: Consumer Protection and Redressal in India
This policy outlines the Indian government's commitment to consumer protection and empowerment, primarily through the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. This Act repealed the 1986 version to modernize consumer protection in the context of globalization, technology, and e-commerce.
**Key Features of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019:**
* **Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA):** Establishment of a central authority to enforce consumer rights.
* **Simplified Adjudication:** Enhancements to the Consumer Commissions, including:
* Increased pecuniary jurisdiction.
* Online complaint filing, allowing consumers to file complaints where they reside or work, regardless of the transaction location.
* Video conferencing for hearings.
* Deemed admissibility of complaints not decided within 21 days.
* **Product Liability:** Provisions addressing product liability concerns.
* **Penalties:** Penal provisions for the manufacture or sale of adulterated or spurious products.
* **E-commerce Regulation:** Rule-making authority to prevent unfair trade practices in e-commerce and direct selling.
**Consumer Dispute Redressal Mechanism:**
The Act establishes a three-tier quasi-judicial system of Consumer Commissions at the District, State, and National levels. These commissions are empowered to provide specific relief and award compensation to consumers.
* **Current Structure:**
* 1 National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC)
* 35 State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (SCDRCs)
* 685 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions across states and union territories (state-wise breakdown provided in Annexure of the original document).
**Timelines for Redressal:**
The Act mandates expeditious disposal of complaints, targeting a resolution within:
* 3 months from the date of notice receipt by the opposing party if no commodity analysis or testing is required.
* 5 months if commodity analysis or testing is required.
The Act discourages adjournments unless sufficient cause is demonstrated and documented.
**Technological Enhancements:**
* Video conferencing is available for 10 NCDRC benches and 35 SCDRC benches.
* An "eJagriti" portal has been developed to improve consumer grievance redressal. Key features include: microservice architecture, Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) integration, faceless onboarding, and role-based dashboards.
* The eJagriti portal unifies existing applications like OCMS, eDaakhil, NCDRC CMS, and CONFONET into a single scalable system with multilingual support.
**Source:** This information was provided by the Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri B.L. Verma, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution: The Indian government ministry responsible for consumer protection, food security, and public distribution.
Consumer Protection Act, 2019: An act of the Parliament of India to protect the interests of consumers in India.
Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA): An authority established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to regulate matters relating to violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements.
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC): A national level consumer commission in India that hears appeals against the orders of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions.
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (SCDRCs): State-level consumer commissions in India that hear appeals against the orders of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions.
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions: District-level consumer commissions in India that address consumer complaints at the district level.
eJagriti portal: A portal developed to enhance consumer grievance redressal through technology and integration of various applications.
Rajya Sabha: The upper house of the Parliament of India, where information related to consumer affairs was presented.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
Centre working towards Consumer Protection and
Empowerment
India has 685 Consumer Redressal Commissions
Posted On: 29 JUL 2025 4:34PM by PIB Delhi
Department of Consumer Affairs is continuously working for consumer protection and empowerment of
consumers by enactment of progressive legislations. With a view to modernize the framework governing the
consumer protection in the new era of globalization, technologies, e-commerce markets etc. Consumer
Protection Act, 1986 was repealed and Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was enacted.
Salient features of the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019 are establishment of a Central
Consumer Protection Authority(CCPA); simplification of the adjudication process in the Consumer
Commissions such as enhancing pecuniary jurisdiction of the Consumer Commissions, online filing
of complaint from the Consumer Commission having jurisdiction over the place of work/residence of
the consumer irrespective of the place of transaction, videoconferencing for hearing, deemed
admissibility of complaints if admissibility is not decided within 21 days of filing; provision of product
liability; penal provisions for manufacture/sale of adulterated products/spurious goods; provision for
making rules for prevention of unfair trade practice in e-commerce and direct selling.
The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 provides for a three tier quasi-judicial machinery at District,
State and National level commonly known as “Consumer Commissions” for protection of the rights
of consumers and to provide simple and speedy redressal of consumer disputes including those
related with unfair trade practices. The Consumer Commissions are empowered to give relief of a
specific nature and award compensation to consumers, wherever appropriate.
At present, there is one National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission 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.
Further, 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.
Besides providing VC facilities to 10 benches of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission (NCDRC) and 35 benches of State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions
(SCDRCs), an e-Jagriti portal has been developed to enhance consumer grievance redressal
through a micro-service architecture, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning integration and latest
features like faceless onboarding and role-based dashboards. It unifies existing applications
(OCMS, e-Daakhil, NCDRC CMS, CONFONET application) into a single, scalable system that
significantly benefit consumers by enabling them to file complaints seamlessly from anywhere,
anytime, with multi-lingual support. The integrated platform streamlines the grievance redressal
process, offering faster resolution and enhanced transparency.ANNEXURE
S. No. Name of State/UT No. of District Commissions
A&N Island (UT) 1
Andhra Pradesh 17
Arunachal Pradesh 25
Assam 23
Bihar 38
Chandigarh (UT) 2
Chhattisgarh 27
D&N Haveli and D&D (UT) 1
Delhi (UT) 10
Goa 2
Gujarat 38
J&K (UT) 10
Kerala 14
Lakshadweep (UT) 1
Haryana 22
Himachal Pradesh 12
Jharkhand 24
Karnataka 33
Madhya Pradesh 48
Maharashtra 40
Manipur 3
Meghalaya 7
Mizoram 11
Nagaland 11
Odisha 30
Puducherry (UT) 1
Punjab 23
Rajasthan 37
Sikkim 6
Tamil Nadu 32
Telangana 12
Tripura 4
Uttarakhand 13
Uttar Pradesh 79
West Bengal 28Total 685
This information was given by the Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution, Shri B.L. Verma in a written reply today in the Rajya Sabha.
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(Release ID: 2149740)