Now, no need to pay fee on complaints of up to Rs 5 lakh

Times of India: Chandigarh: Friday, November 16, 2018.

Residents can now file consumer complaints for free as the ministry of consumer affairs recently waived off fee for cases of up to Rs 5 lakh. Advocates said this would encourage people to complain against smaller violations. The move was recently implemented in Chandigarh Consumer courts.

Under the original unamended Act of 1986, no requirement for payment of court fee or other formal court procedures were contemplated. After the 2002 amendment, one had to pay a nominal fee for filing a complaint. It has now been waived off for complaints of up to Rs 5 lakh. Only a nominal fee will be charged for cases above this. A notification in this regard read, “In the Consumer Protection Rules, 1987, in rule 9A, in the table for serial numbers (1) to (5) and entries relating thereto, the following serial numbers and entries shall be substituted: Upto five lakh rupees | NIL; above Rs 5 lakh and less than Rs 10 lakh | Rs 200 and Rs 10 lakh and above but not exceeding RS 20 lakh | Rs 400.” “Consumers associations all over India were making representations to the government to waive court fees on consumer complaints of up to Rs 20 lakh. This has been partially accepted by making complaints of up to Rs 5 lakh free of cost. The Consumer Protection Act is also a welfare legislation, as is the RTI Act. Only Rs 10 is the prescribed fee under the RTI Act, irrespective of the nature of information. Consumers should be placed at par with RTI activists. There is scope for further reduction. All complaints before a district forum should be free of cost,” said R K Kaplash, president, Consumers Association Chandigarh-cummember, Chandigarh Consumer Protection Council.

Advocates felt the move would encourage people to file cases. “Consumer Protection Act is a benevolent piece of legislation to protect a large body of consumers from exploitation. The government has taken a good step by waiving court fees on complaints of up to Rs 5 lakh. Earlier, for a case which is only due to wrong charging, one had to pay at least Rs 100 court fee,” said Pankaj Chandgothia, a consumer activist.