Consumers win cases if they stay the course

Rebecca Samervel, Times of India | Oct 23, 2013

Service providers, be they builders or car makers, have the time and money to drag consumer cases till the national commission. But this should not discourage aggrieved consumers to file cases at district forums or appeal at the state commission. Because, experts say most state rulings favouring consumers are upheld at the national level.

“Many of the appeals are meritless. When the state commission passes a reasoned order, the national commission does not interfere with it,” said consumer activist Dr M S Kamath. “Over 90% of appeals by builders challenging state commission orders are dismissed,” he said.

An RTI query revealed last year that of 24,278 consumer complaints received by the six district forums in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region in 15 years, housing led with 7,499.

Consumer lawyer Uday Wavikar said the majority of appeals by service providers at the national level are not successful. “The matter that concerns the consumer the most is the time such an appeal will take. If two courts have decided in favour of one party, the third court should not even admit it unless there has been any perversion of law. Many appeals are filed on technical grounds,” he said.

The national commission is the last stop for aggrieved parties within the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act and its orders can only be appealed in the Supreme Court (SC). Even here, consumers often win. Wavikar cites the case of Sanjay Berde that reached the SC. Berde (55) had booked a flat in Shivaji Park in 2004. “The builder refused to hand over possession. Due to escalating prices and a change in government polices, he wanted to make more money on the same flat. So, he asked me to take a refund,” Berde said. The state and national commissions ruled in Berde's favour, as did the SC.