A State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is an Indian

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

and

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al institution formed as a quasi judicial body at the

state and union territory India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepe ...

level under Section 24-B of the

Consumer Protection Act, 1986 The Consumer Protection Act,1986 (COPRA) was an Act by the Parliament of India elected to protect the interests of consumers in India.It was replaced by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. It was made for the establishment of consumer councils ...

to protect the rights of

consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

s. It is a system of

alternate dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

between conflicting parties during the process of

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

. The president of the States Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is appointed by the state government in consultation with the Chief Justice of state high court.

History and objective

States Consumer Disputes Redressal commission in states and union territories of India was formed to promote and protect the rights of consumers as per the Consumer Protection Act 1986. It was renamed from States Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum with the amendment in Consumer Protection Act 2019 from July 2020.

Composition

Following shall be the composition of States Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission: 1. President and 2. Not less than two members and not more than that prescribed in State Act. President will be appointed by state Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of state High Court. The eligibility for president is that he should be serving or served as Judge in any High Court. Members should be of 1. Not less than 35 years of age and 2. recognised university bachelor's degree 3. With good ability,integrity and standing and with proficient experience of 10 years and expertise knowledge in subjects of

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commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

,industry,administration and public affairs and problem solving ability in same. Also not more than fifty percent of members of committee should be from judicial background.

Levels and jurisdiction

States Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission(India) was formed for promoting and protecting the rights of consumers through three levels with the below mentioned jurisdiction: * District Commission (earlier referred to as District Forum) can accept complaints from consumer if the value of goods or services is up to ₹1 crore (Earlier limit was ₹20 lakh). * State Commission can accept complaints from consumer if the value of goods or services is more than ₹1 crore but less than ₹10 crores ( earlier limit was between ₹20 lakh and ₹1 crore) . * National Commission can accept complaints from consumer if the value of goods or services is more than 10 crores.

Procedure to file complaints

Following is the process of filing and resolving complaints: * Complaints can be filed electronically and examination of disputing parties is done through video-conferencing which includes hearing and/or examination through any other mode. * Complaints to be resolved as early as possible. Time period for resolving dispute in case the complaint does not require analysis and testing of product quality is 3 months from the date of receipt of notice by the opposite party. However, if the complaint requires analysis or testing of product quality the time limit for resolving dispute is within 5 months. * Complaints can be filed using E-Daakhil Portal which is hassle free, speedy and economical facility and made for convenient of consumers to approach the respective consumer forum. It also avoid the need of consumers to travel and be available physically in the commission. * E-Daakhil Portal had been incorporated features like sending e-notice, downloading case document link, providing link for Video call hearing, filing of response in writing by opposite party, rejoinder filing by the person complaining and sending sms and e-mail alerts. * Currently 43,000 users have registered on the E-Daakhil Portal with around 10,000 cases being filed.

Penalties and imprisonment

* Manufacturers and Service providers are made punishable as a criminal offence for giving misleading information or for wrong advertisement of product. * Punishment may include fine of Rs 10 lakhs or imprisonment for 2 years or both.

Investigative agency

* Violation of consumer rights or unfair trade practices is investigated by the Investigation wing headed by Director-General level position in Central Consumer Protection Authority

Important terms

Following are the important terms in States Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission: * As per the act "Goods" means anything purchased by consumers either in retail or wholesale from retailers or wholesalers. They can either be produced or manufactured. * As per the act "services" means those which are in the form of "

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becau ...

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, medical treatment etc". * As per the act consumer means " any person who buys any goods or hires or avails any services for a consideration which has already been paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised or under any system of deferred payment". * Person includes anyone buying goods, either through online system or direct or offline, by way of teleshopping, or through mode of electronic includes direct selling or in a multi-level marketing. * Consumer does not include person buying or availing goods or services for resale or for any other commercial purpose. * For the purpose of commission the terms are referred in Consumer Protection Act'2019.

Challenges

* The district, state and national level commissions face challenges of understaffing or non fulfillment of vacancies in time. * The report prepared by senior advocate on the directions of Supreme Court of India found out many shortcomings in the offices of district and state consumer redressal bodies in many states of India. These include absence of storage rooms for case files, lack of member chambers for convenience of members hearing complaints, non availability of court rooms and washrooms in selective cases.

List of States Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum

Following is the list of State consumer disputes redressal commission:

References

{{Reflist

External links

Addresses of States Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum
Quasi-judicial bodies of India Legal organisations based in India Consumer organisations in India Indian commissions and inquiries