E-daakhil portal emerging as an effective solution for aggrieved consumers who opt for e-filing
84,957 people are registered users and 23640 complaints were received in the e-daakhil portal
A total of 23640 complaints have been received through e-filing on e-daakhil portal in the last two years. The facility is presently functional in 33 States/UTs for respective NCDRC, State Commission, 13- Circuit Benches, and 651-District Commissions.
On successful completion of 2 years of the e-daakhil portal, since its inception on 7th September 2020, Secretary Department of Consumer Affairs, Shri Rohit Kumar Singh along with Additional Secretary and Chief Commissioner of Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) Mrs Nidhi Khare released an e-book emphasising the far reach of e-daakhil here today. At least 84,957 people are registered users in the e-daakhil portal and 5590 complaints have been admitted till now.
To address the new and emerging concerns affecting consumers, the Consumer Protection Act 2019, was notified and enforced on 20th July 2020. Going through restrictions on consumers due to COVID-19, the e-daakhil portal was introduced as an inexpensive, speedy and hassle-free mechanism for filing consumer complaints.
Pertinently, the e-Daakhil programme offers a simple platform for consumers who are facing time constraints to contact the consumer commission for the resolution of their complaints. It has been agreed to integrate the Common Service Centers (CSC) with the e-daakhil site in order to make electronic filing easier for rural consumers. The services of CSCs are being used by consumers at the Gram Panchayat level who do not have access to or are unable to use electronic means of communication to file complaints with the Consumer Commission. The process of integrating this portal with CSC is now complete. As a result, consumers who lack access to or technical expertise to operate electronic equipment can seek assistance from their local CSCs to lodge complaints with the relevant consumer commission.
Several cases make success stories that have been disposed of through e-daakhil. Mainpuri District led by Hon’ble Justice Subhash Chandra Kulshrestha is leading the country in the quickest disposal of cases on the e-daakhil platform. Mandatory Acknowledgement of Consumer Complaints by e-Commerce Entity within 48 hours is established to redress complaints.
The efficacious provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, allow aggrieved consumers to seek compensation for injury. It also contemplates provisions for penalizing the violators by the competent court. The Act also encompasses provisions for hearing complaints through video conferencing in consumer commissions.
The facility launched on 7th September 2020 and is now functional in 33 States/UTs for respective NCDRC, State Commission, 13- Circuit Benches, 651-District Commissions
Any consumer or Advocate can sign up on the e-Daakhil platforms with the required authentication by receiving an OTP on their registered cell phone or an activation link on their registered email address. They can then move on with filing a complaint.
The portal has facilitated all aggrieved consumers to submit complaints to consumer commissions online in the comfort of their own homes, pay the appropriate fees, and track the progress of the case online.
With the recent updates, there are 5590 cases that have been admitted and 889 numbers of cases that have been disposed of on the e-daakhil platform. It has been also observed that there is a continuous growth in the number of registered users on e-daakhil from September 2020- August 2022 with a raise from a count of 5963 to 84657 users.
The e-daakhil system has several successful cases that were resolved in the districts of Firozabad, Aligarh, Mainpuri, Vaishali, Port Blair, Dumka, West Tripura and Rangareddi and Andaman & Nicobar through this platform.
Further, NCH (National Consumer Helpline) – 1915 is in 24*7 service and available in 12 different languages. Whereas in case of the complainant is not satisfied with grievance redressal, the NCH, also redirect the complainant towards the e-daakhil complaint portal. Through this, Government is taking all appropriate action for consumer rights through different platforms.
Moving forward, CCPA has sent letters to certain stakeholders to refrain from indulging in surrogate advertisements. Few notices have been sent to advertising agencies with information and broadcast industries for surrogate advertisement. Across different distribution channels, if matters are not taken up and further violations, the CCPA will take appropriate actions for the prevention of consumer rights.
Disclaimer : This is an official press release by PIB.
