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Soon, those based in Maharashtra will be able to file and resolve consumer complaints online.
According to sources close to the development, the Maharashtra government is close to awarding a service provider a bid for comprehensive solutions for e-filing consumer cases which includes e-payment and appearance via web based Video Conferencing.
In April this year, the Maharashtra government invited proposals for offering end to end solutions for filing e-consumer cases.
“The Commission has found that consumers experience considerable difficulty in being required to travel to the place of District Fora to file consumer complaints and, thereafter, to attend the hearings, which many times stretch over a long period of time,” said the proposal by the Maharashtra State Commission.
“The costs and hassles involved in all this discourages consumer from filing consumer complaints. This results in many consumers preferring to suffer injustice in putting up with sub standard goods or services rather than enforce their rights,” it added.
A senior official from the company which has made an application requesting anonymity said that they plan to bring in e-filing and e-payments on a unified platform enabling seamless integration of intra-departments of court. The process will increase the efficiency for the filling procedure not only for the consumers but also for the staff employed.
Also, minimal manual intervention will help reduce the overall time taken in the resolution of the case to under six months and result in significant cost saving.
For filing an e-consumer case, the consumer will be able to register the case within a day, submit documents instantly which will be reviewed in real time and also make an online payment for the court fees. Alerts on the mobile through SMS and mailers will be received by the consumers and the lawyers.
Gaurang Damani, an activist who has filed several public interest litgations, said that a portal for resolving e-consumer cases is an excellent idea as currently the average time taken for resolution of consumer court case is 2 years and involves several trips to the court which deters many consumers.
The official said that the initiative if successful will also be taken up nationally.
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