Statsguru: Six charts show faltering consumer protection in India

While pendency rates in consumer courts are better than the usual courts, an analysis found that one in five of the 2.5 million cases across consumer forums were pending

The recent Air India controversy has again brought to the fore the apathy towards consumer complaints in India. While pendency rates in consumer courts are better than the usual courts, a Business Standard analysis found that one in five of the 2.5 million cases across consumer forums were pending. Till December 2022, 20.5 per cent of the 106,088 cases filed at the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) were pending, whereas the pendency at 35 state and 637 district commissions was 22 per cent (chart 1). Last year was better as the disposal of cases was higher than the institution of cases at the NCDRC. But only three times in the past 16 years have more cases been disposed of by the national commission than were instituted during the year (chart 2). In terms of pendency, 10 states had a pendency rate of 30 per cent or higher. Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar had a pendency rate of over 50 per cent (chart 3).

On the other hand, most of the north-eastern states performed better. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh also had less than 10 per cent of cases pending in consumer forums (chart 4).

Vacancies are an issue that states haven’t been able to address. Each forum is to have one president and at least two members. Eight of the 35 state commissions did not have a president in December 2022, while in 85 of 637 district forums the president’s position was vacant. Data analysis over the last two decades shows that things have improved nationally. More complaints were admitted between January 2, 2018 and January 3, 2023, and the time taken had also reduced. While it took 575 days to admit a case between 2003 and 2008, the average time to admit a complaint declined to 118 days between 2018 and 2023 (chart 5). However, during this period, the average time to admit a complaint in Madhya Pradesh was 638 days, whereas Tamil Nadu took just 19 days (chart 6). The Consumer Protection Act 2019 says that admissibility of a complaint shall ordinarily be decided within 21 days.