**Executive Summary**
This document presents the answer to Unstarred Question No. 886 in Lok Sabha, set to be answered on 04.02.2026, regarding the functioning of Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions in India. The response, provided by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, covers the number of commissions, vacancies, case disposal, financial assistance, and steps taken to improve the commissions' effectiveness. The document references Annexures I-IV for specific details.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Structure of Consumer Commissions:**
* One National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) exists at the national level.
* 35 State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions are at the state level.
* The number of District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions state-wise is listed in Annexure-I.
* **Vacancies:**
* State Governments are responsible for filling vacancies for Presidents and Members in State and District Commissions.
* The appointment process should begin at least 6 months before a vacancy arises, as per Rule 6(4) of the Consumer Protection Rules, 2020.
* If a vacancy occurs in a District Commission, the State Government can authorize another District Commission's President or member to exercise jurisdiction.
* There are currently three vacancies of members in the NCDRC. Annexure-II details the existing vacancies in State and District Commissions.
* **Case Disposal:**
* As per Section 38 (7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, complaints should be disposed of expeditiously, ideally within three months if no analysis/testing is required, and within five months if analysis/testing is required.
* Adjournments should only be granted with sufficient cause and documented reasons.
* Details of consumer cases filed and disposed of since 2021, year and State-wise, are provided in Annexure-III.
* **Financial Assistance:**
* State Governments are responsible for establishing Consumer Commissions and providing necessary infrastructure.
* The Central Government extends financial assistance under the Strengthening of Consumer Commissions (SCC) Scheme to State Governments.
* Assistance for building purposes is limited to 5,000 sq. ft for District Commissions and 11,000 sq. ft for State Commissions, including a 1,000 sq. ft mediation center.
* Assistance for non-building assets is capped at Rs. 25.00 lakh for State Commissions and Rs. 10.00 lakh for District Commissions.
* Annexure-IV details funds released under the SCC scheme over the last 5 years.
* **Technology and Infrastructure:**
* The CONFONET scheme aims to set up ICT infrastructure for monitoring consumer cases.
* Funds released under CONFONET over the last 5 years are provided.
* The "e-Jagriti" portal was launched on 1st January, 2025, to enhance consumer grievance redressal.
* It offers features like faceless onboarding, role-based dashboards, digital case filing, document exchange, automated notifications, a chatbot help system, and accessibility support.
**Impact Analysis**
**State Governments**
* **Impact:** Responsible for filling vacancies, providing infrastructure for Consumer Commissions, and ensuring their effective functioning.
* **Action Required:** Expedite the process of filling vacancies, utilize funds from the SCC scheme effectively, and ensure proper infrastructure is in place.
**Consumer Commissions (NCDRC, State Commissions, District Commissions)**
* **Impact:** Affected by the allocation of funds, technology implementation, and the directives regarding case disposal timelines.
* **Action Required:** Implement digital reforms, enhance capacity building, and take measures to improve disposal rates and reduce pendency using available resources and the "e-Jagriti" portal.
**Consumers**
* **Impact:** Benefits from improved grievance redressal mechanisms, faster case disposal, and enhanced accessibility through digital platforms.
* **Action Required:** Utilize the "e-Jagriti" portal for online complaint filing and digital submission of documents to seek faster redressal.
Key Entities Referenced
Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Governs the functioning and redressal mechanisms of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions.
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC): The apex body in the consumer dispute redressal mechanism in India.
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions: State-level consumer dispute resolution bodies.
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions: District-level consumer dispute resolution bodies.
Strengthening of Consumer Commissions (SCC) Scheme: A scheme providing financial assistance from the Central Government to State Governments for infrastructural development of Consumer Commissions.
Government of India
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
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 e-
Governance 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 665ANNEXURE-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 District Commission
President Member President Member
Vacant Post Vacant Post Vacant Vacant Post
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 1 3 1 1
(UT)
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 18 75 169 379ANNEXURE-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 2022 2023 2024 2025
No. State Name Number of Cases Number of Cases Number of Cases Number of Cases Number of Cases
Filed Disposed Filed Disposed Filed Disposed Filed Disposed Filed Disposed
(also (also (also (also (also
includes includes includes includes includes
the cases the cases the cases the cases the cases
disposed disposed disposed disposed disposed
which which which which which
were were were were were
filed in filed in filed in filed in filed in
the the the the the
previous previous previous previous previous
years) years) years) years) years)
1. NCDRC 2697 1965 3655 4054 5816 6125 4546 6953 3402 4908
2. AN DAMAN AND 11 2
NICOBAR 21 24 23 36 8 2 11 1
ISLANDS
3. AN DHRA 3563 2618
1648 471 2678 3372 3398 3942 3434 2672
PRADESH
4. AR UNACHAL 26 26
14 9 25 19 39 30 40 26
PRADESH
5. AS SAM 335 213 554 608 553 511 552 552 513 408
6. BIH AR 2745 808 5277 3047 4279 4874 3928 3293 3268 3153
7. CH ANDIGARH 2149 1180 2135 1655 1782 2625 1741 1902 1406 1810
8. CH HATTISGARH 3464 2147 2829 2356 3403 4662 3077 4817 2791 4032
9. DE LHI 4053 1778 5031 5106 6063 8545 6418 6525 5574 5204
10. DA DRA AND 0 0
NAGAR HAVELI
12 0 19 2 31 0 19 0
AND DAMAN
AND DIU
11. GO A 271 183 177 178 219 365 285 231 288 213
12. GU JARAT 14944 9751 14676 16143 17634 17226 18152 12583 18280 12553
13. HA RYANA 10364 4567 11959 9002 13251 11795 13214 9674 12385 9676
14. HI MACHAL 2280 1845
1038 811 2267 1796 2415 2104 2280 2154
PRADESH
15. JH ARKHAND 678 76 1923 2106 1703 2028 1389 1387 1261 880
16. JA MMU & 317 84
0 0 12 0 31 3 46 160
KASHMIR
17. KA RNATAKA 7066 7968 9035 11939 10435 12538 11872 10244 10630 1092318. KE RALA 4974 3719 6121 7198 8473 6700 12003 6778 12018 8130
19. LA KSHADWEEP 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 2 2 0
20. MA DHYA 10548 13800
17449 9158 16340 21091 11976 18309 10624 14885
PRADESH
21. MA HARASHTRA 20987 13073 22607 16757 18523 7632 15918 14939 16434 14937
22. MA NIPUR 30 18 74 60 50 62 91 35 127 91
23. ME GHALAYA 31 20 67 186 55 60 68 50 56 60
24. MI ZORAM 56 113 67 108 64 53 99 67 125 55
25. NA GALAND 21 3 15 16 14 15 28 3 23 14
26. OD ISHA 3426 2562 4105 5206 5924 7174 5844 4911 5631 3948
27. PU DUCHERRY 48 2 45 55 95 145 157 169 172 174
28. PU NJAB 8478 8821 8151 8173 6966 8652 8536 6815 6206 7280
29. RA JASTHAN 14775 11341 14812 11491 13662 12341 12397 10741 11975 12473
30. SIK KIM 16 19 27 10 56 26 87 29 20 1
31. TA MIL NADU 2485 1231 7086 10026 7348 9079 8224 7494 8356 7359
32. TE LANGANA 3533 2566 4378 5390 3972 4571 4405 3974 3605 3300
33. TR IPURA 270 182 512 596 225 256 243 162 286 122
34. UT TARAKHAND 1659 1327 2217 2224 1102 929 709 548 939 1807
35. UT TAR 16550 15751
14988 13414 20428 25782 19023 25657 17733 19630
PRADESH
36. WE ST BENGAL 4687 2219 6353 7080 5692 6743 5009 3915 3828 2944
Total 149412 101739 175680 182868 174284 185779 173181 158321 162896 150581ANNEXURE-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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(₹ 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 2526.66
*****