The Government on Friday said it has finalised a template for online filing of consumer complaints through e-daakhil, which will lead to easy admission of genuine cases in the consumer commissions. Addressing a day-long workshop in Guwahati on consumer protection-related issues in the north eastern region, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said: “The template will be very soon deployed and proliferated in the system and thereby commissions may expect a rise in number of cases being filed through e-daakhil throughout the country.”

 

The template comprises standard fields and once all the mandatory information is provided, commissions can easily admit the genuine cases, he said. There has been a steep rise in consumer grievances related to the e-commerce sector on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH). Out of the 90,000 complaints registered on NCH every month, 45-50 per cent of the total complaints pertain to e-commerce, an official statement said quoting the secretary. While regulator Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is taking required measures to protect consumers' interest, it is upon consumers to be more aware and assertive of their rights and challenge the actions of e-commerce companies, he said. One of the recent steps taken was the launch of a BIS standard on fake reviews wherein e-commerce firms need to adhere to these standards within their policy of generating and publishing reviews on their platform, he added. The secretary mentioned that the central government provides fund support for strengthening infrastructure of consumer commissions and requested state governments to submit utilisation certification of previous year for release of funds for subsequent year.