You have to have a basic idea before reading further - What do consumer courts do?
- How to contact one?
- How to file your complaint
To get this information, see the following link: How to file a case in Consumer Court in India? Consumer Court Fee Structure in India:
With your complaint before the District Forum or State Commission or National Commission you will have to pay the prescribed fee as the case may be. Go through the list below to find which level of court you can file your case with. The list below helps you find your jurisdiction and has to pay mandatory court fees to file a case. The fee payable in consumer court based on the total value of the goods or services and the compensation claimed is provided below;
District forum 1. Up to Rs 1 lakh - Rs. 100 2. Above 1 lakh and up to 5 lakh - Rs. 200 3. Above 5 lakhs and up to 10 lakhs - Rs. 400 4. Above Rs 10 lakh and up to Rs 20 lakh - Rs. 500
State commission 5. Above 20 lakhs and up to 50 lakhs - Rs. 2000 6. Above Rs 50 lakhs and up to Rs 1 crore - Rs. 4000
National commission 7. Above Rs 1 crore - Rs. 5000 After mentioning the above list you can easily identify where your jurisdiction falls. The next thing to know is the process of payment to the consumer court as outlined below;
Mode of payment of court fees: Another important aspect of court fees is that they should be paid, which is also laid down in Rule 9A of the Consumer Protection Rules, 1987. The rules provide the following methods of payment:
- Cross demand draft drawn in a nationalized bank or
- Indian Postal Order exceeded;
These have to be drawn in favor of the Chairman of the District Forum, the Registrar of the State Commission or the Registrar of the National Commission, as the case may be, and payable at the relevant place where the District Forum, State Commission or National Commission are located. There are some NGOs that will work to prepare complaints, pay court fees and send legal notices. But it is best that you do all the formalities yourself. It falls under your personal risk to rely solely on someone other than government officials. The concerned forum is not required to pay anything other than the fees mentioned in the above list. See our other articles on resolving issues without contacting the court and how to file a consumer case in India, especially in the city.
Ways and means of raising customer complaints