How a Complaint Is Decided

6. Electronic service providers. Section 38(4) allows the Commission to require an electronic service provider to produce information, documents or records.

7. Natural justice. Section 38(5) provides that proceedings complying with the procedure in sub-sections (2) and (3) shall not be called in question in any court on the ground that the principles of natural justice have not been complied with.

8. Evidence. Section 38(6): every complaint is heard on the basis of affidavit and documentary evidence; on an application for hearing or examination of parties in person or by video conferencing, the Commission may allow it for sufficient cause recorded in writing.

9. Time. Section 38(7): every complaint is to be disposed of as expeditiously as possible, with an endeavour to decide it within three months from the date of receipt of notice by the opposite party where no analysis or testing of commodities is required, and within five months where it is.

10. The order. Section 39 lists the reliefs, which chapter [Goods and Defect] sets out.

Limitation: section 69

Two years. No Commission shall admit a complaint unless it is filed within two years from the date on which the cause of action has arisen.

Condonation. A complaint may be entertained after that period if the complainant satisfies the Commission that he had sufficient cause for not filing within it, provided the Commission records its reasons for condoning the delay.

After the order: sections 70 to 73

Section 70: administrative control. The National Commission has authority to lay down adequate standards, to monitor the functioning of the State Commissions and District Commissions, and to require them to furnish periodical returns, and a State Commission has similar control over the District Commissions in the State.

Section 71: enforcement. Every order made by a District Commission, State Commission or the National Commission shall be enforced by it in the same manner as if it were a decree made by a court in a suit before it, and the provisions of Order XXI of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 apply, subject to modifications.

Section 72: penalty for non-compliance. Whoever fails to comply with an order made by a Commission shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than one month, which may extend to three years, or with fine not less than twenty-five thousand rupees, which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.

Section 73: appeal against a section 72 order. An appeal lies against an order of a District Commission under section 72 to the State Commission, and against an order of the State Commission to the National Commission, within thirty days.

A worked example

Sameer files a complaint on 1 March about a refrigerator bought on 1 February which does not cool.

Admission and mediation. The Commission may ask both sides whether they consent to mediation, and refer the dispute if they do.

Notice. A copy goes to the seller within twenty-one days of admission; he has thirty days to reply, extendable by fifteen.

Testing. If the fault requires analysis, the Commission takes a sample, seals it, sends it to an appropriate laboratory which must report in forty-five days, and Sameer deposits the fee. Both sides may object in writing to the report.

Hearing. On affidavits and documents; oral examination or video conferencing only on an application, for sufficient cause recorded in writing.

Time. Five months is the target where the laboratory is involved, three months where it is not.

Order. Under section 39, replacement, refund with interest, compensation, and costs.

If the seller ignores the order. Section 71 allows the Commission to execute it as a decree under Order XXI, and section 72 makes non-compliance punishable with imprisonment of not less than a month and up to three years, or fine of not less than twenty-five thousand and up to one lakh rupees, or both, with an appeal under section 73.

And if Sameer had waited until 2029 to complain? Section 69 bars it, unless he shows sufficient cause and the Commission records its reasons for condoning the delay.

What it does NOT mean

It is not a full trial. Affidavits and documents are the rule; oral evidence is the exception.

Testing is not always required. Only where the defect cannot otherwise be determined.

The time limits are not mandatory in the sense of ousting jurisdiction. They are targets the Act directs the Commission to endeavour to meet.

Non-compliance with an order is not a mere civil default. Section 72 makes it punishable with imprisonment.

Quick revision

1. Section 37: reference to mediation where elements of a settlement exist, consent within five days.
2. Section 38(2): copy to the opposite party within twenty-one days; version within thirty days, extendable by fifteen.
3. Section 38(2)(c) to (g): sealed sample to an appropriate laboratory, report within forty-five days, fee deposited by the complainant, objections in writing, both sides heard.
4. Section 38(3): services and untestable goods, decided on evidence or ex parte, and on merits if the complainant does not appear.
5. Section 38(5): a proceeding following the statutory procedure cannot be attacked for want of natural justice.
6. Section 38(6): affidavit and documentary evidence, with in-person or video hearing on sufficient cause.
7. Section 38(7): three months, or five months where testing is needed.
8. Section 69: two years from the cause of action, condonable for sufficient cause recorded in writing.
9. Sections 70 to 73: administrative control, enforcement as a decree under Order XXI, imprisonment of one month to three years or fine of twenty-five thousand to one lakh rupees for non-compliance, and an appeal within thirty days.

Test yourself

1. Describe the procedure followed by a District Commission on admission of a complaint. Under section 37 the Commission may first ask whether there exist elements of a settlement acceptable to both parties and, on their consent given within five days, refer the dispute to mediation. Where it proceeds, section 38(2) requires a copy of the admitted complaint to be sent to the opposite party within twenty-one days, directing him to give his version within thirty days, extendable by not more than fifteen. If he denies or disputes the allegations or does nothing, the Commission proceeds. Where the complaint alleges a defect in goods which cannot be determined without analysis, a sample is obtained from the complainant, sealed and authenticated, and referred to an appropriate laboratory which must report within forty-five days, the complainant depositing the fee; the report goes to the parties, who may file written objections, and both are heard. Where the goods cannot be tested, or the complaint concerns services, section 38(3) allows the Commission to decide on the evidence of both sides, or ex parte where the opposite party does not respond, or on merits where the complainant does not appear. Hearings are on affidavit and documentary evidence under section 38(6), and the target for disposal under section 38(7) is three months, or five where testing is required.

2. What is the period of limitation, and can it be extended? Section 69(1) provides that no District Commission, State Commission or the National Commission shall admit a complaint unless it is filed within two years from the date on which the cause of action has arisen. Section 69(2) allows a complaint to be entertained after that period if the complainant satisfies the Commission that he had sufficient cause for not filing it within time, and the proviso requires the Commission to record its reasons for condoning the delay. The provision is therefore stricter in form than the general law, since the bar is on admission, and more flexible in substance than a bare limitation, since sufficient cause is a question of fact and the requirement of recorded reasons is a discipline on the Commission rather than a bar on the consumer.

3. How is an order of a Commission enforced? Section 71 provides that every order made by a District Commission, a State Commission or the National Commission shall be enforced by it in the same manner as if it were a decree made by a court in a suit before it, and that the provisions of Order XXI of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 apply with modifications. Beyond execution, section 72 makes non-compliance an offence: whoever fails to comply with an order is punishable with imprisonment for not less than one month, extending to three years, or with fine of not less than twenty-five thousand rupees, extending to one lakh rupees, or with both. Section 73 gives an appeal against an order under section 72, from the District Commission to the State Commission and from the State Commission to the National Commission, within thirty days. Section 70 adds administrative control, the National Commission monitoring the State and District Commissions and each State Commission monitoring the District Commissions in its State.