District Forum Must Proceed With Complaint

Section 13 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) clearly mentions the procedure to be adopted on the receipt of the complaint. A copy has to be sent to the opposite party to get his version. As such, the refusal by the Delhi office is not in conformity with the CPAs provisions. The reader should bring his case to the notice of Justice Shri V.B.Eradi, president, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, A Wing, 5th floor, Janpath Bhavan, New Delhi-1, who has the power of administrative superintendent over the district forum.

The reader should also petition the district forum, Delhi, for the hearing of his case, especially to determine as to where the cause of action has arisen and should insist on a written order from the forum. The cause of action, in my view, has arisen in Delhi because the reader is residing now there more or less permanently and the companys registered office and the registrars office are not in J&K. The written order can be appealed against before the appellate authorities mentioned in the CPA.

A vital point: Neither the staff nor the president of the district forum sitting singly can kill a complaint in its infancy. All said, the procedure prescribed on receipt of a complaint has to be followed.