When Ravindra Reddy was delivered a broken piece of furniture from an e-commerce website, he was shocked to find out that despite repeated calls and mails, the company failed to replace or refund the item.

With no other option left, he decided to file a complaint in a consumer court, but he dropped the idea after realising the several rounds of trips that he had to make to file one.

In order to address this gap, consumerconnect.co.in has been given the mandate by the Maharashtra government to launch an online portal for comprehensive solutions to e-file consumer cases which includes e-payment.

Convenience sought The portal will go live from February. “We are essentially trying to bring in more convenience in filing and resolving consumer complaints. The court fee payment which requires consumers to visit a bank and then produce a demand draft will be facilitated through an online fee payment,” said Nidhi Sharma, Corporate Communications Head for the portal.

The website has built-in document templates for every category which will give guidance to the user for the documents required for filing.

After all the required details are provided at the portal and fee payment is done, a lodging number is generated and alert is sent via SMS and email. The SMS and Mail trigger with case number and date of hearing after the acceptance of case or any objection raised due to lack of any detail will also be communicated to the user.

Staff training “Users will be kept updated on every step as required throughout the life cycle of case via SMS and/or email triggers,” Sharma said.

The system also simplifies and amplifies the facilities available with associated legal system. The company has trained over 200 court staff across 43 courts and 50 advocates.

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.” 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.

Time, a deterrent Gaurang Damani, an activist who has filed several public interest litgations, said that a portal for filing consumer complaints online 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 company also plans to launch similar online portals and train court staff in other states such as Delhi, Karnataka and Gujarat.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW