Parliament Question: Unfair Trade Practices

ORIGINAL IN HINDI Government of India Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1761 (OIH) TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2026 UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES 1761. DR. SAMBIT PATRA: (OIH) Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state: (a) the number of complaints regarding unfair trade practices received by the Government through consumer helplines or other modes during the last three years along with the details thereof; (b) the measures taken by the Government for the speedy and hassle-free redressal of consumer grievances in the field of online e-commerce along with the details thereof; and (c) whether the Government has received suggestions and representations from the general public and consumer organizations for amendment in the Consumer Protection Act with the objective of ensuring simple and speedy grievances and if so, the details thereof along with the action likely to be taken by the Government in this regard? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI B.L. VERMA) (a) to (c): The detail of total number of complaints including complaints regarding unfair trade practices received on National Consumer Helpline (NCH) through all the channels during the last three years is as under: Year Received 2023 11,67,571 2024 13,43,412 2025 17,71,622 All these dockets have been disposed of by NCH 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 omnichannel 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. 1,853 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 National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has successfully facilitated refunds amounting to over ₹91 crore (including over ₹63 Crore with regard to the grievances pertaining to e-commerce sector) to consumers between 25th April 2025 and 30th June 2026 by effectively addressing over 1,47,000 consumer grievances related to refund claims at the pre-litigation stage. To modernize and digitally transform consumer dispute filing and management processes, the Department of Consumer Affairs launched the e-Jagriti portal on 1st January, 2025.The portal leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) and incorporates features such as 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 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. These features address bottlenecks like geographical barriers, scheduling conflicts and manual interventions. e-Jagriti has reduced reliance on physical proceedings and has accelerated justice delivery. Further, VC equipment for conducting hearing through video conferencing mode has already been installed and made functional at 10 benches of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and 35 benches of State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions (SCDRCs). The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and State Commissions in Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand achieved disposal rates above 100% after July, 2025. In 2025, 1,62,474 cases were filed and 1,50,197 disposed of, that outperformed the disposal rate of the year 2024. Also, 1,021 Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) registered their complaints using e-Jagriti portal from abroad till 17th July, 2026. The Department of Consumer Affairs has strengthened the consumer protection framework through the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, to effectively address emerging challenges arising from globalization, technological advancements and e-commerce. Salient features of the 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; provision for making rules for prevention of unfair trade practice in e-commerce and direct selling. Also, 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. *****