Jinu Johnson from KR Puram finds himself in a “protracted battle” against a car dealer. One and a half years have elapsed since the “battle lines” were drawn, and Mr. Johnson has no intention to walk away from the “fight”. Johnson ended up forking out ₹ 10,000 more than he had to pay this car dealer for handling and logistic charges for his new car.
The fact that he has to make many visits to the District Consumer Court does not matter to Johnson. He reads up on similar cases uploaded on the website of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
“With every hearing, my knowledge of what more needs to be produced to make my case strong is getting better,” says Johnson. For the next hearing, he has collected the price list from other car dealers in Bengaluru to present before the Commission.
The Consumer Protection Act empowers a consumer to present their case in consumer court without hiring a lawyer. How many citizens are aware of this provision, let alone exercise it?
An RTI on the number of litigants who fight their case on their own in the Bengaluru Urban Courts, with request from data from 3rd Additional District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, returned this reply: “The Commission is not maintaining separate data on those who fight a case on their own, but in the complaint register, we mark whether the case is filed by an “advocate” or “in person”.”
The “in person” tag need not necessarily mean the complainant has not engaged a lawyer during the case and there is very little scope for knowing it. The book makes a list of hearings a complainant has been called for and the solved cases. The pages also highlight when a senior citizen has filed a case “in person”. Most of the cases are filed against companies in sectors such as banking and insurance, airlines, telecom, education, postal, housing and transport.
Under a majority of the complaints being fought “in-person”, the complainant has not appeared for hearings beyond the first two.
Working professionals Sandeep K.M., and Deepika S. from Vasanthapura are fighting a case against a furniture shop in Bengaluru that refused to replace a newly-bought chair whose handle broke within two months. “I have fought and won a case in the consumer court in the past and that gave us the confidence to take up this issue as the store was not ready to replace the chair,” says Mr. Sandeep. They received help from the staff at the Consumer Court and also through online forums but feel the process of appearing before the commission every time between their schedules at work can deter people from approaching such forums.
Consumer organisations say although the Consumer Protection Act 2019 has witnessed reforms as part of exercises to make it more people-friendly, many still hesitate to file a case because of the complexity and intricacies inherent in the procedures at the court.
Gopal Ratnam V., secretary, Consumer Care Society, a consumer organisation, says to resolve a case through the consumer court takes anywhere between three months and three years. The e-Daakhil portal only enables filing a complaint with ease from any city, not requiring the person to carry out the filing in person. “To attend each hearing is tough for many and some drop out before seeing a closure in the case,” says Mr. Ratnam.
Their first advice, he says, to a consumer who approaches them is to sort it out with the opposite party and that in some cases they intervene.
Mr. Ratnam says alternative media like Twitter have also become a platform for consumers to take a service provider on. He says, “This especially works when a company is well known or active on such platforms.”
