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Unit 2: The Consumer Protection Act

3. Where a complaint is allowed to be proceeded with, the District Forum may proceed with Notes
the complaint in the manner as provided under the Act.

Where to file a Complaint?
1. If the value of the goods or services and the compensation, if any, claimed does not exceed

rupees twenty lakhs, then the complaint can be filed in the District Forum within the local
limits of whose jurisdiction the opposite party actually resides or carries on business or has
a branch office or personally works for gain or where the cause of action, wholly or in part,

arises (Sec.11).
2. If the value of the goods or services and compensation, if any, claimed exceeds rupees

twenty lakhs but does not exceed rupees one crore, the complaint can be filed before the
State Commission [Sec.17].

Where a joint petition is filed on behalf of a large number of victims, it is the total amount
of compensation claimed in the petition (and not the individual claims) that will determine
the question of jurisdiction. In case the total compensation claimed exceeds, presently,
` 20 lakhs but does not exceed ` one crore, the matter can be heard by the State Commission
[Public Health Engineering Department v Uphokta Sanrakshan Samiti (1992)].
The State Commission shall also have the jurisdiction to entertain appeals against the
orders of any District Forum within the State. [Sec.17].

3. If the value of goods or services and the compensation, if any, claimed exceeds ` one

crore, complaint can be filed before the National Commission [Sec.21]. The National
Commission shall also have the jurisdiction to entertain appeals against the orders of any
State Commission [Sec.21].

How to file a Complaint?

There is no fee for filing a complaint before any of the aforesaid bodies. The complainant or his
authorised agent can present the complaint in person. The complaint can also be sent by post to
the appropriate Forum/Commission. The complaint should be addressed to the President of the
Forum/Commission. A complaint should contain the following information:
(a) the name, description and address of the complainant;

(b) the name, description and address of the opposite party or parties, as the case may be, as
far as they can be ascertained;
(c) the facts relating to complaint and when and where it arose;

(d) documents, if any, in support of the allegations contained in the complaint;
(e) the relief which the complaint is seeking.

Procedure on Admission of Complaint (Sec.13)

1. Procedure in respect of goods where the defect alleged requires no testing or analysis:
(i) Refer a copy of the admitted complaint within 21 days from the date of its admission
to the opposite party mentioned in the complaint directing him to give his version of
the case within a period of 30 days or such extended period not exceeding 15 days,
as may be granted by the District Forum.

(ii) Where the opposite party, on admission of a complaint referred to him under (a)
above, denies or disputes the allegations contained in the complaint, or omits or fails
to take any action to represent his case within the time given by the District Forum,

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