Consumer Protection in India and e-Jagriti

A consumer complaint used to mean paper files, physical hearings, and years of waiting. One digital platform now takes that complaint from filing to final judgment, entirely online.

MCQ Questions

Indian Economy

e-Jagriti: Digitising Consumer Justice

Launched 1 January 2025, unifying four legacy consumer-grievance systems

92.3%

Case disposal rate, FY 2025-26 (up from 89.47% in FY 2024-25)

2.29L+

Cases filed on e-Jagriti since launch

2.07L+

Cases disposed of since launch

1915

National Consumer Helpline toll-free number

3-Tier

District, State, National consumer commissions

4 July 2026: PM Modi shared Union Minister Pralhad Joshi’s article on X, describing how e-Jagriti digitises a consumer complaint’s entire lifecycle, from filing through mediation and adjudication to disposal.

Consumer Protection Act, 2019 mcqquestion.com

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Must Know

• The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 came into force on 20 July 2020. It replaced the older Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
• The Act created the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), established on 24 July 2020, under Section 10 of the Act.
• The Act set up a three-tier quasi-judicial system for consumer disputes: District, State, and National Commissions.
• The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) runs on the toll-free number 1915. It is the primary first point of contact for individual consumer complaints.

Good to Know

• The CCPA’s job is to promote, protect, and enforce consumer rights. It investigates unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements, and defective goods or services.
• The CCPA is headed by a Chief Commissioner, along with two Commissioners. One covers goods, the other covers services.
• Each consumer commission tier has a different pecuniary jurisdiction, based on the value of goods or services in dispute. District Commissions handle claims up to ₹50 lakh.
• State Commissions handle claims above ₹50 lakh, up to ₹2 crore. The National Commission handles anything above that.
• The National Consumer Helpline’s call volume has grown sharply over the years, reflecting rising public awareness of consumer rights.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. The Legal Metrology (General) Rules, 2011 amendment of 6 July 2026 cuts the mandatory standard-weight requirement for high-capacity weighing instruments from 50% of capacity to what?

20%

40%

30%

10%

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Great to Know

• The 2019 Act moved consumer law past its 1986 origins in real ways. It added product liability, rules for e-commerce, and misleading-endorsement liability for celebrities and influencers.
• Consumers can now file complaints from where they live or work, not just where the seller is based. This alone removed a major access barrier for people far from a company’s registered office.
• The CCPA can act on its own initiative, known as suo motu action. It does not have to wait for an individual to file a complaint first.
• The three-tier commission structure exists so that dispute size roughly matches dispute complexity. A small consumer claim gets a quicker, local hearing, not a multi-year National Commission process.

Current Affairs

• On 17 July 2026, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) fined SpiceJet ₹1 lakh, for using deceptive “dark patterns” on its flight booking platform. (Source: PIB)
• SpiceJet had auto-enrolled customers in its loyalty programme, and pre-selected promotional-message consent, both through pre-ticked checkboxes. CCPA called this “Forced Action” and “Interface Interference.” (Source: PIB)
• The order held this violated the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023. Consent must be explicit and freely given, not assumed by default. (Source: PIB)
• 19 July 2026: The CCPA initiated suo motu action against 41 restaurants nationwide, for levying service charge by default without consumers’ explicit consent. It acted on complaints filed through the National Consumer Helpline (NCH). (Source: PIB)
• The Delhi High Court, in a 28 March 2025 judgment (National Restaurant Association of India v. Union of India), had already upheld CCPA’s Guidelines on Service Charge. It held that mandatory service charge collection is contrary to law. (Source: PIB)
• The Guidelines, issued 4 July 2022, bar restaurants from adding service charge automatically, collecting it under another name, or restricting service to non-payers. GST cannot be levied on service charge either. (Source: PIB)
• In one enforcement order, CCPA fined Chaayos (Sunshine Teahouse Pvt. Ltd.) ₹50,000. It also directed the company to reimburse collected service charges, and fix its billing software across all outlets. (Source: PIB)
• 6 July 2026: The Department of Consumer Affairs amended the Legal Metrology (General) Rules, 2011, for verifying high-capacity weighing instruments.
• The amendment cuts the mandatory standard-weight requirement, from 50% of an instrument’s maximum capacity down to 20%, before constant loads can substitute for it.
• Previously, verifiers needed standard weights of at least one tonne, or 50% of capacity, whichever was greater.
• The new method uses a scientific, repeatability-based approach. A repeatability test checks the instrument’s own consistency and stability, based on internationally accepted metrological principles.
• The change targets industries, warehouses, logistics operators, and weighbridge owners. It aims to cut compliance costs, and lower transport and handling costs for moving standard weights. (Source: PIB)
• 4 July 2026: Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared an article by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on X. It described how e-Jagriti digitises the entire lifecycle of a consumer complaint. (Source: PIB PRID 2281010)
• e-Jagriti is the Department of Consumer Affairs’ unified digital platform. It launched on 1 January 2025.
• It merged four older, separate systems into one AI-enabled, paperless platform: OCMS, e-Daakhil, NCDRC-CMS, and CONFONET.
• The platform covers a complaint’s full journey. This includes online filing, fee payment, case tracking, virtual hearings, and access to judgments.
• e-Jagriti also integrates Consumer Mediation Cells, set up under Section 74 of the 2019 Act. If both parties agree, a dispute can be routed to mediation instead of a full hearing.
• Since its launch, the platform has handled over 2.29 lakh filed cases and disposed of more than 2.07 lakh of them, a disposal rate above 90%.
• In FY 2025-26, the disposal rate rose further, to 92.3%, up from 89.47% in FY 2024-25.
• e-Jagriti won a Silver Award at the National Awards for e-Governance 2026, in the Government Process Re-engineering category.