New Delhi, August 13, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has expressed serious concern over the mounting backlog of cases before consumer commissions across the country, observing that prolonged delays defeat the very purpose for which these specialised forums were established.
The Supreme Court was hearing a matter concerning the functioning of consumer dispute redressal bodies when the CJI referred to a media report about a case pending since 2019 that was listed only once in 2022 and had not been heard thereafter.
Questioning the functioning of consumer commissions, the CJI observed that such delays raise serious questions about the purpose of having dedicated forums for consumer disputes. He stressed that these bodies were created to provide speedy and affordable justice and that the objective is undermined when cases remain pending for years.
Taking note of the issue, the Supreme Court directed the President of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) to submit a comprehensive report on the functioning of consumer fora across the country within two weeks.
The report has been sought to include details of pending cases, vacancies, disposal rates of individual benches and an assessment of whether additional consumer commissions are required to deal with the existing workload.
The Bench also directed State Consumer Commissions and State Consumer Affairs Departments to provide detailed pendency data, including year-wise figures, so that the court can assess the scale of the backlog and identify systemic bottlenecks affecting disposal.
The Supreme Court further emphasised the need for the Centre and state governments to prioritise filling vacancies and strengthening the institutional capacity of consumer commissions.
The directions come amid concerns that delays in consumer forums are undermining their mandate of providing accessible and expeditious redressal to consumers.
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