NT NETWORK
PANAJI
There are 430 cases pending before the consumer courts for over six years for want of full-time presidents and members, with the state government now waking up to this crisis in consumer protection and starting the process to have full-time forums in place to get disputes of consumers redressed.
In the state consumer disputes redressal commission, the pendency stands at 70 cases. Before South Goa District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, there are 269 cases pending while before North Goa forum, there are 159 cases pending for redressal. It is learnt that more than five new cases are added every month.
According to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, cases listed in the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forums (also referred to as consumer court) should be redressed in maximum 180 days to help consumers get justice without delay. But, nearly 430 cases have piled up at the district forums in the state as there have been no full-time presidents since the implementation of the Act.
Cases pending before the forums pertain to issues related to unfair practices of real estate developers, insurance, medical claims, loan, deposit claims and poor maintenance of consumer goods.
The forum, with a panel of three persons, is headed by the president – a retired district judge who holds office for five years or till he turns 65 years old, whichever is earlier.
“There are over 400 cases pending for disposal, including those cases which are pending for over six years. This was because there was no full-time president appointed,” Subhash Chodankar, part-time president of the North Goa District Consumer Forum, said.
Chodankar is holding additional charge of South Goa District Consumer Forum ever since his predecessor Jaywant Prabhudesai retired on April 14 this year.
The High Court of Bombay at Goa had directed the government to constitute full-time district consumer disputes redressal forums in both districts before June 30 this year.
Following the High Court direction, the department of civil supplies and consumer affairs recently interviewed about 22 candidates who appeared for the two posts of president and four members required in both the district forums. “We have forwarded the list with recommendations to the selection committee headed by the minister of civil supplies. We can expect the final approval by next week,” an official said.
The state consumer disputes redressal commission had on several occasions advised the states to start the process of appointing full-time president, but this is rarely followed.
Consumer courts have a three-tier structure like general courts. At the lowest level, there are district courts, one for a district. Called ‘district consumer forums’, they hear cases where the compensation sought is less than Rs 20 lakh.
At the middle level, there are state courts (equivalent to the High Court in civil courts). They are called ‘state consumer disputes redressal commission’ (SCDRC), and each state and union territory has one.
They deal with cases where the likely compensation is between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 1 crore. They also hear appeals from district courts. At the top, there is the NCDRC, which hears cases where the compensation sought is above Rs 1 crore and appeals from state courts.
Each consumer court has a judge. In district courts, it can be either a retired district judge or a lawyer eligible to be a district judge and in state courts, a retired High Court judge.