20 pc decline in consumer cases in UT area

Chandigarh, January 21

The consumer courts in Chandigarh have witnessed 20 per cent decline in the cases filed by consumers as per figures released by the Secretary of UT State Consumer Commission.

As per analysis of the figures of the last five years, only 2,798 cases have been received by the consumer courts till December 31 last year, as against the average annual filing of 3,530 cases for the last five years in Chandigarh, which has the dubious distinction of having the highest per-capita filing of consumer complaints.

“But the decline is neither due to higher consumer satisfaction nor due to any inertia on the part of the consumer public,” said president of the Ghuman Law Firm, Chandigarh. The apex court is continuously restricting the scope of consumer jurisdiction on account of strict interpretation of law, he explained.

The most recent exclusion from consumer jurisdiction is of disputes relating to telecom/mobile billing. The National Commission judgement relies on the order of the Supreme Court, in “General Manager, Telecom Vs M Krishnan & Another”, in an appeal No.7687 of 2004 filed by the BSNL, wherein it was held that the Indian Telegraph Act was a special law and its provisions would prevail over a general law like the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

“It is a settled law that general law must yield to special law,” observed the bench and noted that there was a remedy prescribed under Section 7B of the telegraph Act for resolution of all disputes regarding telecom through arbitration. The bench said since there was a specific remedy prescribed, it would oust the jurisdiction of consumer courts.

“In spite of the downfall in the total number of complaints, there is a noticeable increase in the complaint cases relating to the housing sector”, he said, who keeps a close watch on the consumer trends.

An analysis of the figures since the inception of consumer courts in the city shows that the telecom had been the third highest litigation category. Insurance and banking took the first and second spot, respectively. But now with the telecom taking a backseat, housing has emerged as the prime litigation category, pipping even banking to bag the second spot and relegating the latter to the third spot.