According to consumer protection act of 1986, a consumer is a person who has purchased products or services for a consideration which is not used for commercial purpose or resale.
A consumer may file the off-line complaint in the consumer court against the seller of products and services about the defects, duplicity, overcharging, cheating, misleading advertisement etc. and seek relief under the above act. The defect may be any fault, inadequacy or shortcoming in quality, effectiveness, purity or standard which is required to be maintained under the contract or under any law in force.
Consumer complaint online is an alternate method of filing complaint against the supplier of a product or service provider. In this system, the consumer may register a complaint online through the Department of Consumer Affairs Government of India website known as Consumer Online Resource and Empowerment Centre (core.nic.in/ gama.gov.in). To lodge a complaint the consumer has to register his name with the details (viz. his name, e-mail address, postal address, phone number) filled in the online portal. After registering, the system allows the complainant to create user id and password. The next step is to log on to ‘file complaint’ page. In that page, the system has a dropdown menu of sectors, segments and brands etc. The complainant has to select the respective menu and furnish the detail (for example, enter name of e-commerce company/online shopping/brand name) while filing the complaint. The complainant has to further fill in the problem/grievance and relief which he is seeking against the opposite party viz. refunds, damages, costs and interest amount etc. in terms of monetary value and click the ‘submit’ button to submit the complaint. Supporting documents if any can be attached as evidence to the complaint. The complainant gets an electronically generated docket number which may be used to track the status until it is resolved.
The complaint lodged through online will be sent to the concerned company / agency as the case maybe for the redress. Normally, it takes around 60 days for disposal of a complaint. If the problem/grievance is not redressed up to the full satisfaction of the consumer he may lodge the off-line complaint at appropriate consumer courts like the District Forum/ State Commission /National commission as the case may be. To know more on off-line complaint
Related article:
- What is Consumer Protection Act 1986 (CPA/COPRA)?
- How to file a complaint in consumer court?
- How to file a consumer complaint online?
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