Filing and Adjudication of Consumer Complaints: Complete Notes on Sections 35 to 39

This note consolidates the entire life of a consumer complaint, from the decision to file to the relief granted: who may complain, where, how (including electronically), what the complaint must contain, how it is admitted, the procedure that follows, the opposite party's version, testing of goods, evidence, ex parte proceedings, the Commissions' civil-court powers, and the full menu of Section 39 reliefs, compensation, punitive damages and corrective advertisement included. The detailed notes on individual stages follow as their own topics; this is the map of the whole journey.

1. Who Can File — Section 35 with Section 2(5)

• The consumer to whom the goods were sold or delivered or the service provided (or agreed to be), or who alleges an unfair trade practice.
• A recognised consumer association, whether or not the aggrieved consumer is its member.
• One or more consumers on behalf of all, where numerous consumers have the same interest, with the permission of the Commission, the class complaint, to which Order I Rule 8 CPC applies (Section 38(11)).
• The Central Government or a State Government, in its own capacity or as a representative of consumer interests.
• The Central Consumer Protection Authority, added by the 2019 definition of 'complainant'.
• The legal heir or legal representative, where the consumer dies; and the parent or legal guardian, where the consumer is a minor.

2. Where to File: The Two Questions Together

The correct forum is found by answering two questions in order. Which tier: the value of the goods or services paid as consideration, up to fifty lakh rupees the District Commission, above fifty lakh and up to two crore the State Commission, above two crore the National Commission (2021 Jurisdiction Rules), the price paid, never the compensation claimed. Which place: any district where the opposite party resides, carries on business, has a branch office or personally works for gain; where any one of several opposite parties does so, with the Commission's permission; where the cause of action arose, wholly or in part; or, the 2019 reform, where the complainant resides or personally works for gain. In practice: identify the consideration paid from the invoice or agreement, pick the tier; then choose the most convenient qualifying district, which for most consumers is now their own.

3. How to File: Form, Fee and E-Filing

• Form and contents: a complaint states the parties and addresses; the facts of the transaction, the consideration paid and the date; the defect, deficiency, unfair practice or other ground, with how the cause of action arose; the documents relied on; the jurisdiction paragraph (tier and venue); and the reliefs claimed. The working annexures: invoice or receipt, agreement or policy, correspondence and notices, expert or laboratory material where available, and an affidavit verifying the facts.
• Fee: the prescribed fee accompanies the complaint, with no fee for claims up to five lakh rupees under the 2020 Rules, filing is kept deliberately cheap.
• E-filing: Section 35 expressly permits filing in electronic form; the online portal (the e-daakhil system, now carried forward on the e-Jagriti platform) takes the complaint, fee and documents digitally, and the Act provides for hearing and examination of parties by video conferencing, the pandemic-era practice now standard machinery.
• Limitation: two years from the date on which the cause of action arose (Section 69), condonable on sufficient cause recorded.

4. Admission, Mediation and the Opposite Party's Version

Proceedings are conducted by the President and at least one member. The Commission decides admissibility ordinarily within twenty-one days; a complaint not decided upon within that period is deemed admitted (Section 36(3)), and no complaint is rejected without hearing the complainant (Section 36(2)). At the first hearing after admission, or later, the Commission may, with the written consent of both parties, refer the dispute to mediation under Chapter V; a settlement, in whole or part, is recorded and the proceeding disposed of accordingly. Otherwise, adjudication proceeds under Section 38: a copy of the admitted complaint goes to the opposite party within twenty-one days, with a direction to file its written version within thirty days, extendable by not more than fifteen days, an outer limit the Supreme Court has enforced strictly, and where the opposite party omits or fails to respond, the complaint proceeds ex parte on the complainant's evidence; where the complainant fails to appear, the Commission may decide the complaint on merits or dismiss it for default.

5. Testing, Evidence and the Commissions' Powers

• Testing of goods: where the alleged defect cannot be determined without analysis, the Commission obtains a sample, seals and authenticates it, and sends it to an appropriate laboratory, which reports within forty-five days; the complainant deposits the testing fee, the report goes to the parties, and objections to it are heard before findings are made.
• Evidence: on affidavit as the norm, with documents; the Commission follows natural justice rather than the full Evidence Act, decides on the material where the opposite party denies or omits to contest, and grants adjournments only for recorded reasons and ordinarily with costs, with the statutory endeavour to decide within three months of the opposite party's notice (five months where analysis or testing is required).
• Civil-court powers (Section 38(9)): summoning and enforcing attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath; discovery and production of documents; receiving evidence on affidavit; requisitioning laboratory reports and analysis; issuing commissions for examination of witnesses; and other prescribed matters, with proceedings deemed judicial proceedings for the penal code's purposes.

6. The Reliefs — Section 39

Where the Commission is satisfied of the defect, deficiency or unfair practice, its order may direct one or more of the following:

1. Removal of the defect pointed out by the laboratory, or of defects in goods and deficiencies in the services in question;
2. Replacement of the goods with new goods of similar description free from defect;
3. Refund of the price or charges paid, with interest as awarded;
4. Compensation for any loss or injury suffered due to the negligence of the opposite party, including punitive damages in such circumstances as the Commission deems fit;
5. Discontinuance of the unfair or restrictive trade practice and an undertaking not to repeat it;
6. Hazardous goods orders: not to offer hazardous goods for sale, to withdraw them, and to cease manufacture;
7. Class restitution: payment of a sum where large numbers of consumers, not conveniently identifiable, have suffered loss, credited for use in the prescribed manner;
8. Corrective advertisement to neutralise the effect of a misleading advertisement, at the cost of the opposite party; and
9. Costs to the parties.

6.1 Compensation, punitive damages and corrective advertisement

Compensation is the working heart of consumer relief, and the case law disciplines it. It must be just: commensurate with the loss and injury, neither token nor windfall (Charan Singh v. Healing Touch Hospital, (2000) 7 SCC 668), assessed on the facts of each case rather than by rigid formula (Ghaziabad Development Authority v. Balbir Singh, (2004) 5 SCC 65), and it reaches mental agony and harassment, including for the oppressive conduct of public authorities (Lucknow Development Authority v. M.K. Gupta, (1994) 1 SCC 243). Punitive damages are the exceptional, deterrent layer above compensation, for conduct deserving punishment rather than mere indemnification, reserved by the words 'in such circumstances as it deems fit' for egregious cases and to be awarded with recorded reasons. Corrective advertisement makes the wrongdoer un-say the falsehood in the same market that heard it, at his own cost, the consumer system's counterpart of the CCPA's modification orders.

7. Related Topics and Provisions

• Who can file (Topic 43): the complainant clause in detail
• E-filing and electronic proceedings (Topic 44): the online machinery
• Admission and procedure after admission (Topic 45): Sections 36 to 38 in depth
• Civil-court powers (Topic 46): Section 38(9) examined
• Consumer Commissions complete notes (Topic 41): the forums this procedure moves through