The piling up of cases in consumer forums across the Country over the years has really defeated the purpose of quick justice. If these works like normal Courts and people have to wait for two to three years for justice the very objective of having Consumer Courts becomes meaningless. Over 37 lakh cases are pending in consumer forums across the country and at least 70 per cent of these are in district forums. Of the 644 district forums only 630 are functional and out of 473 district forums which have the facilities for online access to web-based case monitoring only 377 such entities are regularly entering data. Even there is maximum pendency at district levels about two dozens of district forums are defunct. Meanwhile under the computerisation and computer net working of consumer forums being undertaken to enable access to information and quicker disposal of cases, the government has come out with a new hardware so that access to justice deliverance can be made time saving. Despite all these drawbacks consumers faith remains unshaken which is an indicator of rising number of cases coming to the forums. Government especially the Consumer Affairs Ministry should encourage mediation route open during the entire period the case is heard. This will not only save time but will satisfy both parties to reach at a consensus at an amicable way. The online facility gives access to consumers to monitor the progress of the judgment using internet. The provisions of this Act cover ‘goods’ as well as ‘services’. The goods are those which are manufactured or produced and sold to consumers through wholesalers and retailers. The services are in the nature of transport, telephone, electricity, housing, banking, insurance, medical treatment, etc. Yet there is an urgent need to create an awareness among consumers to know their rights and the apparatus dealing with such cases and alongside onus should be on the manufacturers of goods and service providers to stress on quality so that chances of litigation at any stage can be avoided. It will also help in cutting down the number of pending cases in the forums.
