Consumer protection body to launch portal for complaints
Consumers unhappy with the services they have purchased can now register their complaint on a dedicated online portal to be launched on Friday by the consumer affairs ministry for the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), two persons aware of the matter said.
The portal is an effort to clamp down on persistent violations of advertising guidelines and will serve as a platform to “name and shame" violators, the first person said.
The portal would be launched on World Consumer Rights Day, celebrated on 15 March annually.
Currently, notices and orders issued against misleading advertisers are not publicly available.
“The portal will display all the final judgments issued against entities involved in misleading ads, violation of consumer rights, such as coaching institutions or service providers, so that consumers can know the exact status of their grievances,” the second person said.
The dedicated website comes nearly four years after the launch of the CCPA in July 2020.
“A dedicated portal will help consumers in filing complaints against the violators for their deficiency in services.
“Earlier, end users struggled a lot to find a particular link for registering their grievances seamlessly,” said Ashim Sanyal, CEO of consumer rights group VOICE.
The CCPA was established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, to regulate matters relating to consumer rights violations, unfair trade practices, and false advertisements that harm public and consumer interests.
“The creation of a dedicated portal for complaint registration is undoubtedly going to benefit consumers.
“Increased consumer awareness may also bring to light smaller violations previously ignored by people,” said Manish K Shubhay, partner at The Precept-Law Offices.
"It will enable and equip the central authority to work towards empowering consumers,” he said.
"The investigation by CCPA in individual complaints would save consumers time and effort and may lead to possible mediations and settlements with goods or service providers, resulting in reduced financial burden on individual consumers,” said Shubhay, a Supreme Court lawyer.
Queries sent to the consumer affairs secretary, who currently heads the CCPA, and the consumer affairs ministry spokesperson, remained unanswered at press time.