Consumer helpline sees spurt in dispute complaints, refunds

COMPLAINANTS GOT REFUNDS OF ₹2.7 CRORE IN JULY, WHILE REFUNDS TOTALLED ₹3 CRORE IN JUNE

- Zia Haq

A majority of consumers using a national toll-free helpline to log complaints have received refunds worth crores for an array of faulty products and deficient services, potentially avoiding messy litigation processes, official data reviewed by HT showed.

In one instance, in July, a beneficiary of statutory food grains under the public distribution system (PDS) got his monthly ration, a lifeline for 800 million Indians, restored after a four-month gap after logging a call. The complainant from Bihar’s Nalanda district dialled 1915 when the local fair-price shop denied him food repeatedly, according to his case bearing docket number 7563209.