New Delhi: India’s flagship on-line client grievance platform, e-daakhil, has resolved lower than 1 / 4 of the complaints it has obtained since launch, a parliamentary panel mentioned in a report Tuesday, flagging the dearth of oversight and accountability regardless of the federal government’s push for digital redressal.
Solely 23% of the full complaints filed by way of the platform have been resolved to date, with no devoted system in place to trace efficiency or implement authorized timelines, the Standing Committee on Shopper Affairs, Meals and Public Distribution mentioned. The committee expressed disappointment with the Ministry of Shopper Affairs for failing to behave on earlier suggestions for institutional reforms, and known as once more for pressing corrective steps.
“The Committee stays involved concerning the persistently low decision fee of 23%… it (ministry) doesn’t present substantive data on steps being taken to deal with the backlog or speed up case decision,” the report famous.
The e-daakhil portal was launched in September 2020 by the Nationwide Shopper Disputes Redressal Fee (NCDRC) to supply a cheap, paperless mechanism for shoppers to file complaints, monitor progress, and make funds on-line. As of 27 November 2024, greater than 198,000 complaints had been filed by way of the portal, of which 38,453 had been resolved, in keeping with knowledge from the buyer affairs ministry.
The 23% decision fee displays cumulative efficiency because the portal’s launch, however the Division has not printed a transparent baseline decision fee from the interval earlier than 2020.
Underneath the Shopper Safety Act, 2019, complaints that don’t require product testing or skilled evaluation should be resolved inside three months from the date the discover is obtained by the other get together. If testing or skilled enter is required, the Act offers for a most decision timeline of 5 months.
Queries despatched to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Shopper Affairs remained unanswered until press time.
Consultants say the portal’s restricted impression stems not from its design however from the absence of institutional follow-through.
“If there’s no mechanism to measure what occurs after a grievance is filed, then the platform turns into only a submitting cupboard,” mentioned Ashim Sanyal, chief govt, Shopper Voice, a non-government client advocacy group.
The report additionally raised considerations over delays in implementing primary infrastructure below CONFONET, the federal government’s IT spine for client courts. Of the 45 video-conferencing programs scheduled to be put in by March 2024, solely six have been in place—all on the NCDRC—as of the deadline, the panel mentioned.
The delays not solely added to the backlog but additionally left greater than ₹30 crore in FY24 funds unspent, the panel, chaired by Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, mentioned.
“We’ve requested for very primary measures from the Division, which is the custodian of client rights. Putting in a monitoring mechanism for grievance redressal would deliver better transparency and considerably velocity up grievance decision,” Ranjeet Ranjan, Rajya Sabha MP and member of the Committee, advised Mint.
The ministry attributed the spending shortfall to procedural restrictions below the Authorities e-Market (GeM), which permits funds solely after full supply. However the committee discovered that clarification insufficient and reiterated its name for the creation of a devoted mission administration unit to watch implementation timelines.
In a written response dated 14 Could 2025, the Division of Shopper Affairs mentioned the implementing company, the Nationwide Informatics Centre (NIC), had accomplished set up at solely six benches of the NCDRC by the 15 March deadline. “As per the phrases and situations of GeM, fee can solely be launched after 100% supply. Due to this fact, the funds couldn’t be launched in 2023–24,” the ministry mentioned.
The panel mentioned it was significantly involved by the ministry’s failure to ascertain a devoted monitoring cell, a step it had advisable earlier to trace key efficiency indicators and guarantee authorized compliance below the Shopper Safety Act, 2019. Digitization, the committee famous, had made submitting simpler however would stay ineffective with out administrative reforms to scale back pendency.
“The Committee, subsequently, reiterate their authentic suggestion for a devoted monitoring mechanism and urge the division to take pressing and concrete steps to enhance the case decision fee and scale back pendency,” the report mentioned.
