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A guide on how to file a consumer complaint

Introduction
1. What is a Consumer Court? Page No. 3

Who is a consumer and who can file a complaint?

1. When can a consumer lodge a complaint? Page No. 4
2. What relief can you seek? Page No. 5
3. Where to file a case Page No. 5-6
4. Hierarchy of forums Page No. 7

Steps of filing a consumer complaint Page No. 7-11

How to approach the forums?
1. How to approach the District Forums? Page No. 11-12
2. How to approach the State Consumer Forums? Page No. 12
3. How to approach National Consumer Disputes Page No. 12-14
Redressal Commission?

Important Contact Details Page No. 14

FAQs Page No. 14-16

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Introduction
Consumers are the backbone of an economy owing to their purchasing capacity
of goods and services. Ideally, the goods and services must be of a certain
quality and not be defective or deficient in nature. However, there are multiple
situations wherein the Consumer is a victim of deficient service or substandard
goods. From real estate frauds to poor medical care (medical
negligence) to schools/ colleges arbitrarily demanding extra fee to receiving
broken product from an online portal are few of the many examples where a
consumer is dissatisfied and aggrieved with a service he is provided or a good
he has purchased.
All of us are consumers in our day-to-day life in some way or the other. There
are times, where we are supplied with inferior or defective product or
inadequate service. Therefore, to protect consumers against such acts of traders
and to minimize this dissatisfaction and resentment of a consumer, a law called
the Consumer Protection Act was introduced in 1986 to exclusively address as
well as redress consumer complaints by the Ministry of Law and Justice of the
Government of India.
However, with passage of time and industrial development led to the influx of
multiple consumer goods and services into the Indian market to cater to the
needs of every consumer. A variety of services such as real estate, insurance,
transport, medical, banking, financing, entertainment, e-commerce etc. are
easily accessible to consumers now. Therefore, in order to safeguard consumers
from exploitation, unfair trade practices and protection from adulterated
substandard goods and services a fresh new Act called the Consumer Protection
Act, 2019 has now been implemented with certain significant reforms to
strengthen the interests of consumers and to institute regulatory authority for
expedient and effective administration and settlement of consumer disputes in
India.

What is a Consumer Court?

Consumer Court is a special purpose court which deals with cases related to
consumer disputes and grievances. These are set up by the government to
protect consumers’ rights. Its primary function is to maintain fair practices by
sellers. A consumer should have proper documents for filing a case. These
Courts are established at three levels i.e. District, State, and National levels.
According to the law, a dispute is filed in these forums depending on the
monetary limit i.e. each Court has a valuation fixed by law.The objective of
establishing consumer courts is to reduce the expense and time of the consumer
in the course of him seeking redressal. Consumer courts are divided into three
tiers namely, district forum, state commission and national commission.
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Who can file a complaint in a Consumer Court?
A complaint can be made in the Consumer Court by:
1. A consumer. But who is a ‘consumer’ exactly? A person is a
consumer if he/she fulfils the following conditions:
2. The person has purchased goods or availed some services in exchange
for some value, i.e. he/she has paid money

3. The person must have bought the goods for personal use, and not for
resale or commercial purposes

4. Voluntary consumer association: Any registered association under the

Companies Act, 1956, or under any other law

5. The Central or the State Government

6. One or more consumers who have the same interest

7. In cases of death of a consumer, his legal heir or representative.

To be precise, any person who buys a product or purchases a service, for use
and not for commercial purposes, qualifies as a consumer. This means you can
file a case in consumer court if you aren’t satisfied with the quality of a service
or the standard of a product you’ve purchased or have agreed to purchase within
two years of the grievance. Furthermore, as a consumer you can also seek
compensation for any inconvenience or damage caused by a faulty product or
service. And yes, you can represent yourself (although not always advisable).

When can a consumer lodge a complaint?

A complaint can be filed by the Consumer or his legal heir or representative or
voluntary consumer association if
 any of the grounds listed below are satisfied in his case;

 the statutory period of 2 years from the date of cause of action has not
lapsed;

 the complaint must have the legal capacity to file the complaint i.e.
should be sane, solvent and major.

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If you fall within the ambit of the definition of a “Consumer”, you need to
identify the ground under which you can file the “Complaint”. A complaint here
means any allegation made by the complainant in written form.
Grounds for Filing a Complaint are:
 An unfair trade practice or a restrictive trade practice that has been
adopted by a trader or when the goods purchased by the consumer or
agreed to be purchased suffer from 1 or more defects;
 The services obtained suffer from deficiency;
 When the trader has charged more than the net price of the goods/
services as prescribed by the government agencies.
 When goods are hazardous to life and safety of any consumer
 When goods are being sold to public in contravention of the provisions of
any law
 When a trader does not display information regarding the contents,
manner and effect of use of the goods he is selling.

What relief can you seek?

Reliefs include
 Removing defects from goods/services
 Replacement or refund
 Compensation for loss/injury. You should justify the compensation
amount – specific losses should be detailed and quantified
 Getting the trader to stop the unfair trade practice, or withdrawing or
stopping manufacture of a hazardous goods/service
 If many unidentified consumers suffered losses, forum can order the
trader to pay an amount to the government’s Consumer Welfare Fund.
This amount won’t be below 5% of the value of the defective
goods/service.
 In case of a misleading advertisement, issuing a corrective one

Where to file a case?

There are three levels at which a consumer can files a case. Each has its own
jurisdiction and powers. The jurisdiction of consumer courts can be classified
under pecuniary, territorial and appellate jurisdictions.

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1. Pecuniary Jurisdiction:
 The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum has the pecuniary
jurisdiction of up to an amount that does not exceed 1 crore.
 The State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission has the pecuniary
jurisdiction where the claim exceeds 1 crore but does not exceed 10 crore
rupees.
 The Nation Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission has the pecuniary
jurisdiction where the claim exceeds the amount of 10 crore rupees.

2. Territorial Jurisdiction:
Territorial jurisdiction is to be taken into consideration after establishing
pecuniary jurisdiction. A complaint may be filed in the court that is within those
local limits where;
 When the opposite party voluntarily resides in or works in those local
limits.
 Where the cause of action arises from-to determine where the cause of
action arises from you can apply the same laws applicable to contract
law.
 Territorial jurisdiction when a transaction was done online.
Transactions done online effectively negates territorial jurisdiction. In this case,
territorial jurisdiction is in any of the multiple places the cause of action arises,
which also includes where the appellant resides.
3. Appellate Jurisdiction:
 If a consumer is not satisfied by the decision made by the district forum
they may make an appeal to the state commission.
 If the consumer is aggrieved by the decision made by the state
commission they may appeal to the national commission.
 If a consumer is not satisfied by the decision made by the national
commission they may approach the Supreme Court for an appeal.

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 Steps of filing a consumer complaint

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STEP 1: Intimation via Legal Notice:
The primary step towards any kind of civil litigation (consumer dispute) is to
send a legal notice to the opposite party (real estate company/ developer/ trader/
manufacturer, etc) prior to filing a formal complaint in a court. It is critical for
every aggrieved consumer to send a legal notice to the opposite party relating to
deficiency in services and/ or unfair practice in running the business/ selling of
faulty goods and products, etc. A legal notice is sent to identify if the opposite
party is willing to admit its fault and offer to pay compensation against the
unnecessary loss suffered by the consumer. If the opposite party does not send a
reply to the legal notice or simply neglects or refuses to act on the demands
made in the notice by the aggrieved consumer within a period of 30 days, then
the aggrieved consumer has the complete right to approach an appropriate
consumer commission/ court .

STEP 2: Appropriate Forum:

Now, once the opposite party fails to reply to the legal notice, the following step
for the consumer (complainant) is to first identify the jurisdiction of the Forum
where the complaint has to be filed. Choose the appropriate forum for filing the
complaint in accordance with the pecuniary jurisdiction which is estimated in
reference to the total value of goods and services bought or availed and the
amount of compensation sought. The complainant must take into consideration
both the pecuniary as well as the territorial jurisdiction of the tribunal.

STEP 3: Get the Consumer Complaint Drafted:

If the service provider is not willing to offer compensation or any other remedy,
the next step is to file a formal complaint under the Consumer Protection Act,
1986. The filing of the Complaint does not necessarily require a lawyer. The
complaint can be filed by the aggrieved person. The following details must be
specified in the complaint:
1. Name, description and the address of the complainant(s) and the Opposite
Party or parties.

2. Cause of Action, the approximate date, time and venue.

3. Relevant facts relating to the cause of action.

4. The Relief or Remedy claimed by the complainant in accordance with the

facts of the case.

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 5. Signature and Verification by the complainant or his authorized agent.

STEP 3: Attach Relevant Documents:

Copies of material evidence and relevant documents that support your case in
Consumer Court are important. These documents include:
a. A copy of the invoice of goods/products/commodities/ services
purchased by the complainant from the accused, receipt of
delivery, packaging of a product, a record of online booking of the
goods bought

b. documents pertaining to Warranty/Guarantee certificates

c. A copy of the written complaint

d. the legal notice sent to the trader (accused) demanding him to

rectify the goods he sold or to compensate for the same.

STEP-4 What different remedies must be sought in the complaint?

In the complaint, the complainant must explicitly mention and describe the
compensation costs. Along with the compensation cost, the consumer has the
right to request for the refund of the goods and services, cost against damages to
products, cost of litigation that the complainant had to bear unnecessarily, and
some additional amount of interest. The complainant must provide a detailed
breakdown of the amount that is sought to be compensated under different
separate heads. The complainant in the complaint must explicitly mention as to
what relief/ compensation is the complainant seeking from the accused party.
An aggrieved consumer must look to seek the following remedies under the
Consumer Protection Act:

 to completely remove the deficiency from the goods that has been pointed
out in the complaint by the appropriate laboratory;
 to completely replace the defective goods with fresh unflawed goods of
similar description to the complainant;
 to return the complainant the entire price, or, as the case may be, the
entire charges borne and suffered by the complainant;
 to payback/ return such an amount which must be awarded by it as
compensation to the consumer for any loss or injury suffered by him that
is due to the negligence of the accused party;
 to completely remove the defects and/ or deficiencies from the services
provided to the complainant;

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  to completely shut down and discontinue with the unfair trade practice/ s
or the restrictive trade practice/ s and/ or not to repeat it ever again;
 to not offer the hazardous goods for sale to consumers;
 to completely withdraw selling or offering to sell such hazardous goods
to consumers;
 to provide adequate costs to the complainant.

STEP 5: Pay Requisite Court Fees:

A prescribed fee is required to be paid along with the complaint filed depending
on the forum. The court fee depends upon the value of goods bought and the
amount of compensation sought.
A fee shall be accompanied for making complaints as specified in the table
given below in the form of crossed Demand Draft drawn on a nationalized bank
or through a crossed Indian Postal Order drawn in favour of the Registrar of the
State Commission and payable at the respective place where the State
Commission or the National Commission is situated.

TABLE: Consumer Court Fee (Amended in 2019)

DISTRICT FORUM

VALUE OF GOODS AND COMPENSATION AMOUNT PAYABLE

Less than Rs. Five lakh No Fee

Rs. Five lakh and above, but less than Rs. Ten lakh Rs. 200

Rs. Ten lakh and above, but less than Rs. Twenty Rs. 400
lakh

The above amount is to be deposited at the time of filing the Complaint . The
payment should be through a Nationalised Bank Demand Draft duly crossed,
drawn in favour of “President, Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, (district
name)”.
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 STATE COMMISSION (w.e.f. 10-2-2005)

VALUE OF GOODS AND COMPENSATION AMOUNT PAYABLE

Rs. twenty lakh and above, but less than Rs. 50 lakh Rs. 2000

Rs. 50 lakh and above, but less than Rs. 1 crore Rs. 4000

The above amount is to be deposited at the time of filing the Complaint . The
payment should be through a Nationalised Bank Demand Draft duly crossed,
drawn in favour of “Registrar, State Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission, ___________ State”.

NATIONAL COMMISSION (w.e.f. 10-2-2005)

VALUE OF GOODS AND COMPENSATION AMOUNT PAYABLE

Above Rs. 1 crore Rs. 5000

STEP 6: Submit an Affidavit:

The person who wants to file a case in the Consumer Court is also required to
submit an affidavit in the court. The affidavit must state that the facts presented
and statements made by the consumer are true to their knowledge.

How to approach the forums

How to approach the District Forum?

The complainant can make the complaint on a plain paper, which is then
notarized and can be filed in person or through an authorized agent.

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  Four copies plus additional copies for each party are to be filed by the
complainant.

 The Court Fee is to be submitted through a demand draft made out to the
President, Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, (name of) district.

How to approach the State Consumer Forum?

 The complainant may either file an original complaint provided it falls
within the pecuniary jurisdiction limit provided by law or file an appeal
from the order of the District Forum within 30 days of the order being
passed.

 The Court Fees is to be deposited in a similar way as mentioned above

via a demand draft in favor of the Registrar, (name of) State Commission
to be payable in that particular State only.

The following documents are required to file an appeal in SCDRC:

 The Documents of Record i.e. the Copy of the complaint filed, the proofs,
evidence if any, the material placed on record and other documents. The
documents must bear the correct name and address of the parties.

 A certified copy of the order passed by the District Forum.

 Four copies to be filed in Court and additional copies to be served on

each Respondent.

 A copy of Interim orders passed by the District Forum or related Petitions

to the case to be attached and submitted along with an Affidavit.

 Application for Condonation of Delay (if any) with reasons to be

submitted along with an Affidavit.

 A statutory deposit of Rs 25,000 or 50% of the award or the

compensation amount, whichever is less, is to be made by the Appellant /
Opposite parties.

How to approach the NCDRC?

 The Consumer can either file a complaint directly, if it is within the
pecuniary jurisdiction or file an appeal from the order of SCDRC within
30 days of the passing of the order

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  You can approach the Supreme Court, against the orders of the NCDRC
within a period of 30 days of the passing of the order.

What is the procedure of ‘Appeal’ in a consumer case against an order of

the court?

Under Indian law, an appeal is a remedial procedure where cases are reviewed
in which parties to the dispute request for a formal replacement to an official
order of a court. Every appeal functions as both a procedure to correct and
rectify error as well as a procedure to appropriately clarify and interpret the law
in discussion. The law allows the complainant and the Accused to file an appeal
against the order of the forum at all three levels to ensure that there is no
injustice. The hierarchical order for filing an appeal is:

1. District Forum

2. State Commission

3. National Commission

4. Supreme Court

Under the law, every appeal must be filed within a time period of 30 days from
the date of the order that is to be challenged. Every appeal has to be
accompanied by the certified copy of the order of the court.

This limitation period of 30 days is not counted from the date of the order to be
challenged but from the date of the order when it was communicated to the
appellant (party seeking an appeal).

Thus, under the Consumer Protection Act protection has been extended to the
Consumers to protect them against unscrupulous traders or sellers and to
safeguard their basic rights. It provides protection, a mechanism to settle
disputes and the establishment of forums exclusively for Consumer Protection
Cases.
What is the limitation period in filing a consumer complaint?

It is advisable to file a complaint at the earliest so that there is less delay in

obtaining compensation, however, it must not be filed later than 2 years from
the date from which the cause of action arose. Majority of the times Courts do
not entertain any delayed complaints, however, in extraordinary cases where the

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complainant has bona fide evidence to prove that there was sufficient cause for
delay in filing the complaint, then the court may permit the complaint.

What are the penalties against non- compliance of a court order?

Any individual/ party to the case who neglects or refuses to comply with the
order of either the District Forum, or State Commission, or the National
Commission, as the case may be, shall be liable to punishment with
imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 1 month but the same may
get extended to 3 years, or with a penalty which shall not be less than Rs.
2,000/- but the same may also get extended to Rs. 10,000/-, or with both.

Important Contact Details

District Forums

For a complete list of phone numbers and address, click here

State Commission

For a complete list of phone numbers and address, click here

National Commission

UpbhoktaNyayBhawan,
'F' Block, GPO Complex,
INA, New Delhi- 110 023
PBX No: 011-24608801, 24608802
Fax No: 011-24651505, 24658505
Email: ncdrc@nic.in

Frequently Asked Questions:

How to decide whether to file a complaint in District/State/National

Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum?
The complaint has to be filed in the appropriate consumer forum as per the
amount involved. If the consumer forum decides in favor of the seller/
manufacturer, an appeal can be filed against the order. The jurisdiction and
appeal courts are mentioned in the following table:

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AMOUNT
COMPLAINT TO BE APPEAL TO BE FILLED
INVOLVED (IN
FILED IN IN
RS.)

District Consumer Dispute State Consumer Dispute

0 – 1 Crore
Redressal Forum Redressal Commission

National Consumer
1 Crore – 10 State Consumer Dispute
Dispute Redressal
Crore Redressal Commission
Commission

National Consumer Dispute

Above 10 Crore Supreme Court
Redressal Commission

Is it mandatory to send a legal notice before filing a consumer case?

Yes, it is mandatory to send a legal notice before filing a Consumer Case. A
legal notice gives an opportunity to settle the matter without approaching the
Forum if the Opposite Party is willing to offer compensation or any other
remedy. Further, it also brings to their knowledge the possibility of litigation. It
also brings to the knowledge of the Commission that you tried resolving the
complaint amicably without moving to the Court on the first place.
Do I need a lawyer for filing a case in consumer court?
Appearing in consumer court does not require a lawyer, and you can represent
yourself or have a relative do it for you. It is not compulsory to appoint a
lawyer, it definitely helps to get a lawyer’s assistance. Seeing a case through
may be manageable for a person who can compose a legal document coherently
and articulate his case.You may or may not choose to hire a lawyer for filing a
case in the Consumer Court. You can file a complaint on your own.
Alternatively, what you could do is have a lawyer help you out with the initial
paperwork and then take control of the matter yourself. There is a checklist to
be followed when filing a case in consumer court. However, you may need
external assistance as the case progresses or at the stage of an appeal.
How much time does the consumer court take?
The law does not specify a time limit within which the Consumer Forum should
adjudicate complaints. The Forums are overburdened owing to the 3 tier Appeal
structure. However, the average time may range anywhere from 1 year to 5
years. If an appeal is filed against the order, an additional time of 1-3 years may
be taken by the Forums.

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Is it expensive to file consumer complaints?
Filing a case isn’t expensive and consumer court cases are supposed to be
concluded comparatively quicker than other types of cases. These courts do,
however, have authority that’s just as binding as any other court in the country
and any case can be dragged on for years leaving you with substantial costs to
bear. If you choose to hire a lawyer, you’ll be paying litigation fees. Getting
your documents in order will also add to your cost. And depending on how far
the court is from your home or place of work, you will have to factor in
travelling costs as well.

Can I file complaint related to any consumer matter?

Yes. You can file any case where you have bought a product or hired a service.
However, Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to go to court. If your dispute is
over a small matter, it would probably serve you better to try to solve the
problem as cordially as possible with a higher authority at the company with
which you have the issue.

Can I file a consumer complaint on my own?

Yes, you can file a Consumer complaint on your own. You must remember to
put all the particulars which include the name and address of the parties, the
brief facts of the case, the cause of action and relevant details as to approximate
date, time and venue, the relief claimed, any documents or evidence which
serve as proof of availing the service or buying the goods or of the
defect/deficiency in goods or service or justifying any other allegation in the
complaint. You can also approach Consumer VOICE to help you filing your
complaint
...

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