Parliament Question: Redressal of cyber-frauds targeting women consumers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1160 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.02.2026 REDRESSAL OF CYBER-FRAUDS TARGETING WOMEN CONSUMERS 1160. SMT. RAJATHI Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state: (a) the number of complaints registered by women consumers regarding e-commerce fraud and fake products on the E-Daakhil portal in the 2025-26; (b) the average time taken for the resolution of these disputes through the newly integrated Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) systems; and (c) the steps taken to localise the GrahakNyay AI chatbot into regional languages to assist non- English speaking women in filing consumer complaints? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE, CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI B.L. VERMA) (a) to (c) : The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 deals with the consumers as a whole irrespective of gender or specific sector. Moreover, the e-Daakhil portal, launched in 2020, facilitated online filing, fee payment and case monitoring. Further, to modernize the existing applications with the latest technologies, the entire efiling monitoring system of consumer complaints was revamped as “e-Jagriti” portal, which integrates existing applications (OCMS, e-Daakhil, NCDRC CMS, CONFONET) into a single, scalable platform, allowing users to file complaints seamlessly from anywhere with multilingual support and is operational since 1st January, 2025 and has been accessible to the National, State, Circuit Bench and District Consumer Commissions across the country. During the year 2025, a total of 1,62,474 cases were filed before the Consumer Commissions through the e-Jagriti portal and 1,50,197 cases were disposed of during the same period. The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country for their grievance redressal at a pre-litigation stage. Consumers can register their grievances from all over the country in 17 languages including Hindi, English, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Nepali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Maithili, Santhali, Bengali, Odia, Assamese and Manipuri through a toll-free number 1915. These grievances can be registered on Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omni- channel IT enabled central portal, through various channels- WhatsApp (8800001915), SMS(8800001915), email (nch-ca@gov.in), the NCH app, the web portal (consumerhelpline.gov.in) and the Umang app, as per their convenience. 1,185 companies, who have voluntarily partnered with NCH as part of the ‘Convergence’ programme directly respond to these grievances according to their redressal process and revert by providing a feedback to the complainant on the portal. The technological transformation of the NCH has significantly boosted its call-handling capacity. The number of calls received by NCH has grown from 62,172 calls in December 2019 to 3,59,336 calls in December 2025. This growth reflects the rising confidence of consumers in the helpline. Similarly, the average number of complaints registered per month has surged from 37,062 in 2017 to 1,47,635 in 2025 [as on 31.12.2025]. Additionally, grievance registration via WhatsApp has gained momentum, with the percentage of complaints filed through the platform increasing from 12% in December 2023 to 21% in December 2025 demonstrating a growing preference for digital communication channels. NCH 2.0 aims to make the grievance filing process more seamless, efficient, and inclusive. The AI-powered Speech Recognition and Translation System enables consumers to file complaints through voice input, reducing manual intervention. The AI enabled Chatbot provides real-time assistance, streamlining complaint-handling processes and improving the overall user experience. These upgrades ensure that consumers from diverse linguistic backgrounds have equal access to the grievance redressal system. The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has successfully facilitated refund of ₹46 crore to consumers between 25th April 2025 and 31st December 2025. This significant redressal was achieved across 31 sectors, effectively addressing 69,058 consumer grievances related to refund claims. ****