City to have third district forum, separate single-window service

Amarjot Kaur

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 24

At the time when the Lok Sabha has given a green signal to the Consumer Protection Bill-2018, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, is gearing up to set up a third district forum.

Accompanied by members of the commission Rajesh Kumar Arya and Padma Pandey, president Justice (retd) Jasbir Singh today announced that the court would now have a separate single-window service with two counters for filing cases of the district forum and the state commission. At present, the cases are filed in respective rooms of state commission and district forum staff.

Jasbir Singh said he was likely to request the National Commission to hold a circuit Bench in Chandigarh.

Gung ho about their new conference room, which, said Singh, would be used for the purpose of educating people on consumer rights, the members cheered for the Lok Sabha to have passed the Consumer Protection Bill-2018 with new amendments.

“We are starting a single-window service to make it convenient for people to come and file their complaints. I am also planning to request the National Commission to hold a circuit Bench here,” Singh said.

Pankaj Chandgothia, advocate and consumer activist, said: “The single-window service is right at the entrance near the reception. So, it is consumer-friendly as all cases can be filed at one place.”

Rooting for the new Bill, Arya highlighted its merits. “This Bill takes a strict call on misleading advertisements, taking into account not just the service or product provider, but also celebrities who are promoting/associating with it,” he said.

The new Bill also asks for establishing the Central Consumer Protection Authority to promote, protect and enforce consumer rights.

“It can also initiate class action, including reinforcing recall, refund and the return of products. This fills the institutional void in the regulatory regime extant,” Arya said.

“Looking at trends, we are getting several complaints about online service providers. To address the emergence of global supply chains, rapid development of e-commerce and to tackle misleading ads, this Bill defines e-commerce and endeavours to empower the Centre to make rules for preventing unfair trade practices in online trade,” said Pandey.

Though the Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha, its fate will be decided by the Rajya Sabha.

More cases disposed of as compared to last year

The five-year performance chart of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission shows that it did not only receive more complaints this year, but it also disposed of more cases as compared to last year. According to the data, as on August 31, 2018, the Chandigarh State Commission disposed of 97.88 per cent cases as compared to Delhi’s 85.23 per cent.