Helpline emerges as single point access to consumers: Union Minister BL Verma
Hyderabad: The Department of Consumer Affairs has revamped the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) which has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country for grievance redressal at pre-litigation stage.
It is available to all consumers of the country wherein consumers can register their grievances from all over the country in 17 languages - Hindi, English, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Nepali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Maithali, Santhali, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Manipuri through a toll-free number 1915.
In a written reply, Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, BL Verma said these grievances can be registered on Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omni- channel IT enabled central portal, through various channels- Whats App, SMS, mail, NCH app, web portal, Umang app as per their convenience.
Transformative changes and technological upgradation of the NCH has led to increase in the call handling capacity of National Consumer Helpline. Number of calls received at NCH has increased during the last few years. These initiatives taken by the Department have also encouraged consumers to register their grievances on the NCH manifested with an increase in the number of grievances registered at NCH.
The helpline receives complaints related to a broad spectrum of consumer related issues like E-Commerce, Banking, Electronic Products, Consumer Durables, Digital Payment, Telecom, Legal, Retail Outlets, Broadband & Internet and Agency Services.
The helpline regularly trains their staff, equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed in the legal and technology field to handle complex cases effectively by conducting training workshops from time to time. This ensures that helpline counsellors not only offer comprehensive and accurate information to the consumers about existing regulatory frameworks and consumer rights related issues but also ensure efficient case management, data security and confidentiality.
The Mediation Act- 2023 provides for a voluntary option to parties to mediate any civil and commercial disputes before instituting any legal proceedings in court thus leading to out of court and amicable settlement of disputes. The department has received 1,02,976 average number of dockets registered on monthly basis in 2023-24 as against 83,832 in 2022-23. It received 1,07,966 dockets from April to June 2024.