Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have 1,12,026 and 35,771 cases pending respectively.
If you are planning to move consumer court to get speedy redressal to your dispute, try other methods because consumer courts in the country are reeling under huge backlog of over 3.5 lakh cases.
The latest figures compiled by ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distributions and accessed by DNA reveal that Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra top the list of pending cases in consumer courts.
Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have 1,12,026 and 35,771 cases pending respectively.
They are followed by Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat with 28,426, 26,768 and 23,366 cases respectively. Karnataka has 8,942 pending cases.
Consumer experts have attributed the backlog to vacancies in district forums and state commissions. Currently, 311 vacancies for the posts of president and members are to be filled.
Consumer expert prof Sriram Khanna blamed companies more than anyone else for this.
He told DNA “It is an indicator which shows several companies dealing in consumer goods do not care for their consumers. If companies treat their consumers well, there would be no need to approach consumer courts.”
On whether more consumer courts should come up in country to reduce the burden, he said, “Increasing consumer courts is not a solution, because the main problems lies with the companies. They should have an internal system to deal with every complaint.”
However, a consumer activist working as a consultant in consumer guidance information and helpline SK Virmani said, “Due to entry of lawyers in consumer courts, its purpose has affected a lot. They do everything to drag a case and make things difficult for consumer. There should be a law to restrict their.”
In 2005, consumer affairs ministry started projects like national consumer helpline and consumer online resource and empowerment centre to reduce the burden of consumer courts.
However as per an expert, “Due to less infrastructure and staff these projects could not achieve there target”.
Uttar Pradesh is not only tops the list of pending cases it also tops the number of cases filed in consumer courts since inception.
While consumer courts in Uttar Pradesh have registered a total 5,71,909 cases, Rajasthan and Maharashtra followed it with 2,99,254 and 2,87,430 cases respectively. States such as Delhi and Haryana follow with 2,45,843 and 2,38,177 cases filed so far.
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