Their pending cases with UT, burden off Punjab and Haryana; consumers finally see justice

Chandigarh, November 11 Working as a labourer in Muktsar district, Ram Brij Paswan waited for seven long years to get back the money he sent to his village in Bihar in 2001 as a money order that was never delivered. It had been a tough fight for him as his consumer case moved from the district forum to the Punjab state commission where the post office had filed an appeal against the order issued in his favour. The heavy pendency in the Punjab commission resulted in a long wait for him to get back his Rs 2,800.

Paswan is a contented man today. His case was transferred to the UT State Commission, following an order by the National Commission this year. He has got his money back, along with a compensation of Rs 1,500 from the post office concerned.

“I had lost all hope. It was good that the case was transferred to UT,” said the labourer.

The UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has settled 2,687 cases that were transferred to it from the Punjab and Haryana commissions since last year. With a disposal rate of over 60 per cent, the UT commission has been quite successful in reducing the pendency of the two states, if the statistics are any indication.

Of the 919 cases received from Punjab, UT has disposed of 635 cases till now. It received 1,768 consumer cases from Haryana, of which 941 stand settled.

With the two state commissions burdened with heavy pendency and non-availability of benches and infrastructure, the transfer of cases proved to be a boon for the consumers fighting for their rights. The Haryana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has a burgeoning 14,564 cases pending before it, while the number is 17,747 in the various district forums of that state.

In Punjab, the district-wise pendency adds up to 4,973 cases, while 5,101 cases are pending before the Punjab State Commission where appeals and claims above Rs 20 lakh are filed. The UT commission received cases, dating back to as early as 2001 and 2002, pertaining to problems of farmers, medical negligence, coaching institutes and those related to electricity boards of the respective states.

In one such case decided on October 31 this year, the Haryana Vidyut Parsaran Nigam was directed to pay for imposing wrong penalty in a bill dating back to 1999.

Most of the cases heard by it were from far-flung areas of Bhiwani, Rohtak, Mukstar, Sirsa, Narnaul and other districts of the two states.

“It was a good decision to transfer the pending cases to UT. The cases mostly pertained to cattle insurance and electricity complaints,” said Justice K.C Gupta, president of the UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

“This has eased our burden to a great extent. Many consumers have got justice which could have been delayed here due to the long pendency,” said Justice S N Aggarwal, president of the Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.