Government Extends Consumer Commissions’ Jurisdiction To Reduce Pendency
Consumer Disputes Commission to hear complaints related to goods worth Rs 2 crore and above
New Delhi:
Consumer complaints relating to goods and services valued above Rs 2 crore will now be considered by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). The earlier limit was for entertaining complaints of goods worth more than Rs 10 crore.
The government has notified new rules to amend the economic jurisdiction for entertainment of consumer complaints at district, state and national level commissions, with the aim of speedy disposal of cases.
Earlier, redressal of consumer complaints was time consuming and due to jurisdictional issues, the workload of various commissions at district, state as well as national level was increasing.
According to an official statement, as per the new rules, district commissions will have powers to consider complaints of goods or services worth Rs 50 lakh, as against the earlier limit of Rs 1 crore.
State commissions will now have jurisdiction over Rs 50 lakh and up to Rs 2 crore.
Earlier the limit for these was more than Rs 1 crore and up to Rs 10 crore.
“The National Commission will have powers to consider complaints where the value of goods or services paid for is more than Rs 2 crore,” the statement said.
The Center has notified rules for Consumer Protection (Jurisdiction of District Commission, State Commission and National Commission) Rules, 2021.
“The revised economic jurisdiction for entertainment of consumer complaints will be up to Rs 50 lakh for district commissions, Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore for state commissions, over Rs 2 crore for national commissions,” official sources said.
The new rules have been framed under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which announces a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism for redressal of consumer disputes, viz., District Commission, State Commission and National Commission.
The Act lays down the economic jurisdiction of each level of the Consumer Commission.
