Consumer Affairs Ministry looking at mediation to solve complaints

Consumers looking for help in complaints like getting refunds for travel tickets or e-commerce-related grievances can hope to avoid taking the legal route when a government plan is implemented.

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) is “seriously looking” at resolving consumer complaints through mediation. “This will help reduce the resolution time of complaints while also reducing the burden on consumer commissions. It will also be a more affordable option for companies,” Nidhi Khare, secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food & Public Distribution, told Business Standard.

“We are seriously looking at the pre-litigation resolution of consumer complaints, of which mediation is going to be a major part. We want to satisfactorily resolve consumer complaints before they reach the litigation stage,” she said.

The national consumer helpline monthly gets 125,000 complaints, most of which are grievances related to e-commerce websites followed by banking, telecom, and electronic products. Several complaints reach litigation stage.

 “We are planning to upgrade and strengthen the consumer helpline setup and empanel people with knowledge of law or technology to help resolve the matters. This will be several notches up than the current call agent system,” she said.  “We are now in the process of understanding the requirements of the Mediation Act 2023 to help fasten the process.”

The DoCA is looking to tap into National Law Universities and Indian Institutes of Managements offering law courses to identify people who could be empanelled for the helpline, said another senior ministry official. “We are now looking at online mediation, where consumers will get the option of consulting mediators for quick online dispute redressal,” said the official.

There were 545,000 cases pending before consumer commissions in September 2023, reducing from 555,000 in December 2022, said the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution last year.