How to file a Consumer Complaint
Following are the steps to be followed and points to be kept
in mind while filing a consumer complaint at the District
Forum or State or National Commission.
Jurisdiction
Depending on the relief claimed, a consumer complaint will
be filed at the District, State, or National Commission.
- District Forum: When relief claimed is less than Rs.
20, 00, 000/-;
- State Commission: When relief claimed is more than Rs.
20, 00, 000/- but less than Rs. 1, 00, 00, 000/-;
- National Commission: When the relief claimed exceeds
Rs. 1, 00, 00, 000/-.
Fee:
The prescribed fee payable for filing a complaint before the
District Forum, State or National Commission is as follows:
Relief Claimed
Prescribed Fee
District Forum
Upto 1 Lakh
Rs.100/-
1 Lakh to 5 Lakh
Rs.200/-
5 Lakh to 10 Lakh
Rs.400/-
10 Lakh to 20 Lakh
Rs.500/-
State Commission
20 Lakh to 50 Lakh
Rs.2000
50 lakh to 1 crore
Rs.4000
National Commission
Above One Crore Rupees
Rs.5000
The prescribed has to be paid via Demand Draft. Rule 9A of
the Consumer Protection Act says every complaint shall be
accompanied by a crossed DD from a Nationalised Bank or
crossed Indian postal order in favor of the President-
District Forum, Registrar- State Commission, or Registrar
NCDRC, payable at the respective place where the District
Forum, State Commission or National Commission is situated.
Appearance:
A consumer complaint can be filed by the consumer
her/himself in person or by her/his authorized
representative. In consumer cases, there is no requirement
for a lawyer or a consumer group to file the complaint.
Filing:
The following points should be kept in mind while filing a
consumer complaint.
- The complaint can be sent by Registered Post to the
District Forum or State Commission.
- Minimum of five copies of the complaint has to be
filed.
- Three copies have to be in green legal paper (some
forums accept white also) plus one for the Office of the
Forum and one for the Opposite Party.
- Complainant should keep one copy for her/himself and
get a receiving on the same.
- An additional copy for each opposite party has to be
filed.
Since the Forum / Commission has the power to pass ex parte
orders or dismiss your complaint, please ensure that you
carry out regular follow-ups after filing the complaint.
Every hearing date has to be attended to prevent any damage
to the complaint.
Representation:
- The complaint should be signed by the complainant.
- In case the complainant is authorizing someone else to
sign, the same should be accompanied by an authorization
letter.
- In the event of the death of the complainant, the
legal representatives can continue on her/his behalf.
Format and Content:
A consumer complaint should contain the following
information:
- Cause Title: Where the complaint is being filed and by
who against who
- Heading: Under what section of the Consumer Protection
Act is it being filed?
- Memo of parties: Included the name, description, and
address of the complainant and the opposite party/parties.
- Facts relating to the complaint and how it arose.
- Sections under which the opposition parties are to be
held liable.
- How the parties are liable to be proceeded against and
why are they answerable to the complainant?
- Annexures: Copies of all relevant documents in support
of allegations made in the complaint should be furnished.
- A signed list of such documents should also be
furnished along with the complaint.
Compensation:
- In cases of damage due to negligence, negligence or
deficiency must be alleged, defined, and established in
order to get compensation under the Act.
- There is no ceiling on the compensation claimed, and
hence the same may also be sought on account of
consequential damage.
- The value of relief claimed will include refunds,
damages, litigation costs, and interest.
- For compensation, the total amount should be broken up
and it should be explained how it was arrived at.
- If the relief cannot be quantified, a notional value
should be given to it.
- The relief should be clearly stated, i.e. whether the
complainant wants the removal of defects, replacement of
goods, refund of the excess price, refund of charges paid
for deficient services, etc.
Important Points:
- State the jurisdiction and how the case falls within
that jurisdiction. Eg. whether the opposite party resides or
carries on business or has a branch office or personally
works within the jurisdiction of the Forum or whether the
cause of action started within the Forum's jurisdiction.
- The cause of action can be defined as the factor from
which this dispute arose. l.The relief which the
complainant is seeking: here state whether you want the
removal of defects, replacement of goods, refund of the
excess price, refund of charges paid for deficient services,
cessation of unfair trade practice, correction of misleading
advertisements, etc. apart from damages and costs of filing
the complaint.
- The period of limitation for a consumer complaint is
two years from the day when the cause of action arose.
- Condonation of delay is allowed in cases where there
is a just cause for the delay.
- Collective cases can be filed by consumers facing the
same problem.
