Filing a complaint in the consumer court can be a tedious task for people who don’t have the time to pay the fee before the District Forum or State Commission, or get involved in legal hassles. With an intention to simplify this whole process, Maharashtra Government launched an online consumer court in February.
How will it work?
The 24/7 dedicated portal ‘www.consumerconnect.co.in’ developed by eSmart Team will allow consumers, activists and lawyers to file cases, get updates via SMSs & emails and track it round-the-clock.
“This is the first time such a facility is being offered to consumers in India, wherein a private company is allowed to carry out e-filling in consumer courts on an experimental basis. This will help citizens approach the courts easily and it will also help reduce paperwork, as everything would be online,” revealedJustice Ashok Bhangale, State Commission President.
The portal will have list of all essential documents required to register the complaint. Once the petitioner adds the details and pays the fees, a lodging number will get generated. Details such as case number, date of hearing and objections, if any will be sent via SMS and email.
This service will also allow complainants to pay court fees online, which makes it even more convenient.
Nidhi Sharma, Corporate Communications Head of the online portal said, “We are essentially trying to bring in more convenience in filing and resolving consumer complaints. The court fee payment which requires consumers to visit a bank and then produce a demand draft will be facilitated through an online fee payment.”
Will ecommerce consumer complaints rise?
The inconvenience of filing a case, travel to the district forum, high cost and attend hearings dissuaded people from registering formal complaints. But with this online portal, buyers won’t hesitate from taking etailers to court.
This can result in flood of complaints related to online purchases. It will definitely help to reduce unethical selling practices. But we only hope that online sellers too get access to a similar platform where they can file complaints against fraud buyers and unfair marketplace policies.
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