‘Doesn’t the State government care about consumer rights?’ That has been on the minds of officials at the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (TSCDRC), who have been waiting for the appointment of a president for over a year. Nearly 2,000 cases have piled up at the TSCDRC, which are yet to be disposed of.
According to a senior official at the TSCDRC, the Commission came into existence post-bifurcation on October 15, 2014, after a GO was issued. Since then, 2,000 cases, which include 900 new petitions. “The only action being taken is that those applications are being numbered,” he remarked. The other 1,100 cases pertain to old cases, which were filed at district forums.
The situation has reached a state where builders and big companies that have lost cases at district forums are taking advantage of the fact that there is no one to hear cases at the TSCDRC, said the official. “Once they lose a case, they are getting a stay order from High Court, by petitioning that they are confident of appealing against it, but cannot as the State Commission has no head,” he explained.
In other cases where consumers have even approached the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and won cases, there is no one to issue orders to release cheque payments, said the TSCDRC official. “Even if an opposite party loses, the complainant cannot get the money because of that particular problem,” he stated, adding that even a petition at the High Court was not enough to fill the president’s post.
As per Section 1 of the Consumer Act, the president is to be appointed by the State.
