How to file a consumer complaint in India

Put it in writing — email is fine — and get a complaint or docket number. Every subsequent forum will ask what the company said, so the paper trail is the foundation of everything after.

Structure it in four short parts: what happened with dates, order numbers and amounts; why it is wrong, quoting the promise, advertisement or term breached; what specific remedy you want; and a deadline, with fifteen days as a reasonable default.

Use the word 'complaint' and use the company's designated grievance officer. Under the E-Commerce Rules and the IT Rules, e-commerce entities and intermediaries must publish a grievance officer's name and contact and respond within prescribed timelines — which is a far better address than general customer support.

Escalate internally before escalating externally. Most companies have a nodal officer and then an appellate authority, published on their website, and each level has more authority than the last.

Keep everything: order confirmations, invoices, screenshots of the advertisement or listing as it appeared when you bought, photographs of defects, chat transcripts, and a dated log of calls with names.

The National Consumer Helpline on 1915 is the most under-used consumer resource in India. It takes complaints across every sector, and mediates directly with over a thousand companies that have registered with its convergence programme — for those companies, the complaint lands with a designated contact rather than in a queue. It is free, and complaints can also be filed on consumerhelpline.gov.in, the UMANG app or by SMS.

In parallel, go to the sector regulator, because several of them have stronger powers than a general consumer forum. Banking, NBFCs and payment systems: the RBI Ombudsman on 14448, free and binding, after 30 days with the institution. Insurance: the IRDAI's Bima Bharosa and then the Insurance Ombudsman, also binding. Securities and mutual funds: SEBI's SCORES. Telecom and DTH: the operator's appellate authority under TRAI's framework. Electricity: the state electricity regulatory commission's forum and ombudsman. Airlines: AirSewa and the DGCA.

For a government department rather than a company, CPGRAMS is the central grievance portal, covering every ministry, with a tracked status and an appeal stage.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority is newer and different in kind: it acts on unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements and consumer rights violations at class level rather than resolving individual disputes, and can act on its own motion. Report misleading advertisements to it even where you also pursue your own case.

For goods sold above the printed maximum retail price, or with short weight or wrong declarations, the state Legal Metrology department is the enforcement route and charging above MRP is an offence.

The Consumer Protection Act 2019 created a three-tier structure: District Commissions, State Commissions and the National Commission, with jurisdiction determined by the value of the goods or services paid.

The 2019 Act made a change that matters more than it sounds: you can file where you reside or work, not only where the opposite party is located. That removed the single biggest practical barrier to complaining about a company headquartered in another state.

File through e-daakhil at edaakhil.nic.in. Register, create the complaint, upload documents, pay the fee online and submit. No lawyer is required and the forms are designed for self-representation.

Your complaint needs: the parties, the facts in date order, what makes it a defect in goods or a deficiency in service, the relief you seek, and an affidavit verifying the contents. Attach the invoice, the correspondence and the evidence.

Ask for what you can justify: refund or replacement, compensation for the loss actually suffered, compensation for mental agony where it is genuinely attributable, and the costs of the proceedings. Inflated claims weaken otherwise good cases.

The limitation period is two years from the date the cause of action arose. Delay beyond that requires condonation with a reason, which is not always granted.

Mediation is offered under the Act and is worth accepting where the company engages — it is faster than adjudication and the settlement is recorded and enforceable.

Appeals lie from District to State to National Commission and ultimately to the Supreme Court, each within prescribed periods, and appealing usually requires depositing part of any award.

A 'consumer' is someone who buys goods or avails services for consideration, excluding purchases for resale or commercial purpose — though a person using goods to earn a livelihood by self-employment is included, which is a wider exception than it appears.

'Defect' covers goods; 'deficiency' covers services, including negligence and withholding of information. Both are defined broadly, and deficiency in service is the head under which most successful complaints are framed.

There is no general right to return goods because you changed your mind — that depends on the seller's return policy. What the law gives you is a remedy where goods are defective, services deficient, or where an unfair or restrictive trade practice has been used.

Product liability under the 2019 Act allows a claim against manufacturers, sellers and service providers for harm caused by a defective product, which was a significant addition.

E-commerce platforms have specific obligations under the E-Commerce Rules: disclosing the seller's details, country of origin, return, refund and grievance procedures, and not manipulating prices or misrepresenting goods. Failure on any of these is itself a ground.

Unsolicited commercial calls and messages are regulated by TRAI, and registering on the DND service through your operator or the DND app is the first step against them.

Free legal aid through District Legal Services Authorities is available to those who qualify, and Lok Adalats regularly take consumer matters with awards that have the force of a decree and are not appealable.