Indian
Express: Dehradun: Saturday, 29 February 2020.
Close
to 38% of positions in consumer forums of the hill state are lying vacant,
reply to an RTI query has revealed. " The state consumer forum is just
left with one member which is short of the quorum halting the decisions on
consumer issues since August 1, 2019," said Nadimuddin, Kashipur based RTI
activist.
The
reply added that 16 positions are vacant across the state forums out of which
14 are in district forums while two are vacant in Uttarakhand State Consumer
Forum against the total sanctioned 42 positions.
Each
district forum and state forum has three members each. All forums should have
the chairperson and at least one member for hearing and deciding consumer
related cases and claims.
Matters
related to claims of Rs 20 lakh and above are decided in state consumer forum
which also hears appeals from district consumer forums.
Out
of total 13, three district forums- Udham Singh Nagar, Almora and Rudraprayag
have not been functioning for 6-18 months.
Almora
district forum is not functioning since September 2019 while Udham Singh Nagar
district forum is not functioning since October 2019. Rudraprayag district
forum is shut down since October 2018.
Almora,
Udham Singh Nagar and Rudraprayag districts have two positions each vacant
while one position is vacant in Nainital, Pithoragarh, Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri,
Champawat, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts.
Sanjana
Mehta, a resident of Almora who has filed a case against a textile company for
claims on a defective product said, "My case is not being decided because
the district consumer forum is defunct since September 2019. The district
administration and the state government should resolve related issues to the
forums."
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