SC flags consumer forums’ slow justice, seeks urgent performance review

Marking out slow handling of cases in consumer forums, Supreme Court on Thurday stated that consumer disputes resolution commissions cannot be used to rehabilitate retired judges or bureaucrats and added that a pan India evaluation of the performance of these quasi-judicial institutions is required on an urgent basis.

In a case related to the settlement of salaries and other benefits that the members of consumer forums receive in the country, which the court has taken cognizance of on its own five years ago, a bench consisting of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said that it encountered a worrying news article reporting the plight of consumers who have been waiting for a hearing of their case for over four years.

“If this is the way the consumer forums function, what benefit is it for the consumers who are mandated to approach the specialized quasi-judicial body? The members of consumer forums are asking for more and more facilities and perks. Vacancies and infrastructure in these forums remain a cause for concern. But are the forums justifying their salaries, perks and facilities? The purpose of constituting these commissions appears to have been frustrated,” the CJI said.


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The Supreme Court, in reference to the news article, stated that the issues highlighted the poor disposal rate of consumer forums including the NCDRC.

Advocate Priyadarshi mentioned to the Supreme Court that the matter of vacancies, infrastructure and pay & allowance of consumer forum members should be heard together. “We request the president of NCDRC to send a report with respect to — total pendency of cases, total composition of the commission (vacancies), average rate of disposal, estimated time to decide pending matters and the need for increasing the strength of the commission,” it said and sought report within two weeks.

It also requested information from the states regarding the delays and resolution of state and district commissions. More than 5,70,000 complaints remain unresolved in the three-tier system of consumer dispute resolution commissions, of which more than 4,00,000 remain unresolved in the district forums and another 1,20,000 remain undecided in the state forums.

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The SC has asked the additional solicitor general, Aishwarya Bhati, to check with the Union government about the possibility of creating branches of the NCDRC in four regions so that poor consumers do not have to travel to Delhi for solving their grievances.