How & When to File a case in Consumer Court of India

 How AND WHEN To FILE A CASE IN CONSUMER COURT OF INDIA?

Note: - The given article has prepared in a generic aspect and it may vary from case to case & from time to time. To get an exact detail I would recommend to take proper guidance.

Some facts:

The court procedures are time consuming and conservative. Try to negotiate the matter outside court and if that doesn't work out then proceed with the court. Carefully look at the value of the product/service and tally with the time\money you need to spend for the court formalities. You should not take any spontaneous action in this regard, rather take few days, make your mind clam and then take a decision accordingly. Still if you think that your consumer rights are infringed by a company or business, you must take them to task by filing your case in the right forum.

Why Consumer Court: 

As consumers many of us would have to been unhappy about the services we hire or products we buy at one stage or the other. Our complaints against the deficiency of the products and services may not have been satisfactorily handled by the company leaving us frustrated. In such cases you can escalate your problems to consumer court and make the company pay for ignoring your complaints.

Where to file:

Before filing your case, you should know where to file your case. This depends on the value of goods and compensation that is under question. You will have to approach district consumer court if the value of the goods and compensation is under Rs.200000. If the value should exceed Rs. 200000 but less than Rs. 10,000,000 then you should approach the respective State Consumer Redressal Forum. For products and services that exceed Rs. 10,000,000, your case should be filed in the National Dispute Commission.

How to file: 

You can choose to file a petition in person or through registered post or through an authorized agent. You should file your case within 2 years from the date of deficiency. Before filing your case, you should have all the information ready. All the facts and supporting document should be presented to the respective court. Without the necessary documents and evidence, you will not be able to proceed with your case. Make sure that you keep a copy of all the documents that you submit to the respective forum.

You must also send a notice to the company or business against which you are filing the case.

There is a nominal fee for filing the case depending on the value of the goods and claim. You must find the latest fee structure as it will be revised periodically. You must get a demand draft or Indian postal order for the respective value.

It is important that you file your case under the right jurisdiction area. The area of jurisdiction is determined by the fact where the cause of the deficiency originated. This also depends on the location of the business or company against which you are filing the case.

You can get the application form for filing your case in the appropriate forum. Many people hesitate to file their consumer right cases fearing that they will have to spend a lot of time and money. If you think that your consumer rights are infringed by a company or business, you must take them to task by filing your case in the right forum. However, you must first approach the service provider before you file your case. Only when they do not satisfactorily address your problems within a reasonable time, you should go to the consumer forums. You should not directly approach the consumer court without bringing the issues to the notice of your service provider.