Journal Homepage: http://www.jmspublication.com, Email: publicationjms@gmail.com Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories Indexed & Listed at: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, U.S.A., Open J-Gage as well as in Cabell s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, U.S.A A STUDY ON PERFORMANCE OF DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUMS IN DISTRICTS UNDER FAIZABAD, GORAKHPUR, JHANSI, KANPUR AND LUCKNOW DIVISION OF STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH HEENA SHARMA RESEARCH SCHOLAR, MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY) MULLANA, AMBALA (HARYANA) ABSTRACT This paper attempts to study working and performance of 25 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums working in 24 different district headquarters under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow Division of state of Uttar Pradesh. Although overall disposal percentage of cases i.e. 87.10 in case of all 25 District Forums in these 24 Districts of Uttar Pradesh is satisfactory but, if we make one to one analysis of 25 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow Division of state than we came to know that performance of District Forums of Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Aurraiya, Barabanki, Deoria, Jhansi, Kanpur Nagar, Lucknow-II and Sultanpur need improvement and Uttar Pradesh Government must take necessary steps like filling vacant post of eleven presidents and nineteen members in District Forums of state and starting of Lok Adalats to ensure quick justice to consumers. KEYWORDS: District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums, Uttar Pradesh. JEL CODES: D18, K15, K30, K40, K42, P37. INTRODUCTION Government of India enacted number of laws for protection of aggrieved consumers but, Consumer Protection Act,1986 was one of the landmark Law which facilitated setting up Consumer Disputes Redressal Agencies at District, State and National level for providing simple, speedy and inexpensive redressal to aggrieved consumers and accordingly Uttar Pradesh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Comission and 79 District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forums was set up by Uttar Pradesh Government in its state capital Lucknow and 75 District Headquarters of 172
different districts of state. Uttar Pradesh has 18 Divisions and 75 Districts. Ambedkarnagar, Barabanki, Faizabad, Sultanpur and Amethi district falls under Faizabad Division. Deoria, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar and Maharajganj district falls under Gorakhpur Division. Jalaun, Jhansi and Lalitpur district falls under Jhansi division. Auraiya, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur Dehat and Kanpur Nagar district falls under Kanpur Division. Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Lucknow, Raebareli, Sitapur and Unnao district falls under Lucknow Division. Lucknow District under Lucknow division has two District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forums in Lucknow. TYPE OF RESEARCH The present study describes the present state of affairs of Consumer Dispute Redressal Agencies in 24 different district headquarters under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow Division of state of Uttar Pradesh and further explores reasons for the same. Hence this study is descriptive cum exploratory in nature. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY It attempts to elaborate the state of affair of the cases filed/disposed/pending of at 25 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums of Uttar Pradesh working in 24 different districts under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow division of the state. The study points out various problems being faced by these Agencies and suggests their possible solutions. ANALYSIS Sr. No. TABLE 1.1: STATEMENT OF CASES FILED/DISPOSED OF IN 25 DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUMS IN DISTRICTS UNDER FAIZABAD, GORAKHPUR, JHANSI, KANPUR AND Name Division LUCKNOW DIVISION OF UTTAR PRADESH (AS ON 31-12-16) of Name of District Forum Filed Since Disposed Of since 1 Faizabad Ambedkarnagar 3537 2774 78.43 2 Faizabad Amethi 585 161 27.52 3 Kanpur Aurraiya 2451 2007 81.88 Disposal 4 Faizabad Barabanki 5657 4546 80.36 5 Gorakhpur Deoria 15211 12462 81.93 6 Kanpur Etawah 6214 5763 92.74 7 Faizabad Faizabad 10365 9029 87.11 8 Kanpur Farukkhabad 14403 12917 89.68 9 Gorakhpur Gorakhpur 14998 13073 87.16 10 Lucknow Hardoi 10976 10094 91.96 11 Jhansi Jalaun 5969 5688 95.29 12 Jhansi Jhansi 11012 9387 85.24 13 Kanpur Kannauj 1520 1344 88.42 14 Kanpur Kanpur Dehat 6431 6179 96.08 173
15 Kanpur Kanpur Nagar 27767 23796 85.70 16 Gorakhpur Kushinagar 9243 8070 87.31 17 Lucknow Lakhimpur Kheeri 10444 9489 90.86 18 Jhansi Lalitpur 5448 5127 94.11 19 Lucknow Lucknow-I 18933 16883 89.17 20 Lucknow Lucknow-II 16884 13252 78.49 21 Gorakhpur Maharajganj 4035 3633 90.04 22 Lucknow Raebareli 9277 8541 92.07 23 Lucknow Sitaapur 6870 6337 92.24 24 Faizabad Sultanpur 9446 7764 82.19 25 Lucknow Unnao 10055 9376 93.25 Total 227676 198316 87.10 Source: Unpublished records of U.P. State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Lucknow TABLE 1.2: STATEMENT OF CASES FILED/DISPOSED OF/PENDING IN 25 DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUMS IN DISTRICTS UNDER FAIZABAD, GORAKHPUR, JHANSI, KANPUR Sr. No. Name Division AND LUCKNOW DIVISION OF UTTAR PRADESH (AS ON 31-12-16) of Name of District Forum Filed Since Disposed since Of Pending 1 Faizabad Ambedkarnagar 3537 2774 763 21.57 2 Faizabad Amethi 585 161 424 72.48 3 Kanpur Aurraiya 2451 2007 444 18.12 4 Faizabad Barabanki 5657 4546 1111 19.64 5 Gorakhpur Deoria 15211 12462 2749 18.07 6 Kanpur Etawah 6214 5763 451 7.26 7 Faizabad Faizabad 10365 9029 1336 12.89 8 Kanpur Farukkhabad 14403 12917 1486 10.32 9 Gorakhpur Gorakhpur 14998 13073 1925 12.84 10 Lucknow Hardoi 10976 10094 882 8.04 11 Jhansi Jalaun 5969 5688 281 4.71 Pendency 12 Jhansi Jhansi 11012 9387 1625 14.76 13 Kanpur Kannauj 1520 1344 176 11.58 14 Kanpur Kanpur Dehat 6431 6179 252 3.92 15 Kanpur Kanpur Nagar 27767 23796 3971 14.30 16 Gorakhpur Kushinagar 9243 8070 1173 12.69 Lucknow Lakhimpur 17 Kheeri 10444 9489 955 9.14 18 Jhansi Lalitpur 5448 5127 321 5.89 19 Lucknow Lucknow-I 18933 16883 2050 10.83 174
20 Lucknow Lucknow-II 16884 13252 3632 21.51 21 Gorakhpur Maharajganj 4035 3633 402 9.96 22 Lucknow Raebareli 9277 8541 736 7.93 23 Lucknow Sitaapur 6870 6337 533 7.76 24 Faizabad Sultanpur 9446 7764 1682 17.81 25 Lucknow Unnao 10055 9376 679 6.75 Total 227676 198316 29360 12.90 Source: Unpublished records of U.P. State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Lucknow TABLE 1.3: STATEMENT OF CASES FILED/DISPOSED OF IN ALL 79 DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUMS OF 75 DISTRICTS OF UTTAR PRADESH (AS ON 31-12-16) Filed Since Disposed Of since Disposal Pending 664912 590375 88.79 74537 11.21 Pendency Source: Unpublished records of U.P. State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Lucknow Sr. No. TABLE 1.4: STATEMENT OF CASES FILED/DISPOSED OF SINCE INCEPTION UNDER CONSUMER Name of Agency 1 National Commission 2 State Commissions PROTECTION ACT, 1986 (AS ON 31-07-2017) Filed Since Disposed Of since Disposal Pending 113117 97571 86.26 15546 13.74 760786 651797 85.67 108989 14.33 3 District 3995088 3692798 92.43 302290 7.57 Forums Total 4868991 4442166 91.23 426825 8.77 Pendency Source: Unpublished records of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1. The study examined the Statement of Filed / Disposed of/pending in 25 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums in 24 Districts under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow of Uttar Pradesh as depicted in Table 1.1. Analysis of Table1.1 reveals that 227676 cases have been filed out of which 198316 cases (87.10%) has been disposed of. 2. The overall disposal rate of 87.10 percent reflects that disposal rate of the cases at 25 District Forums in 24 districts under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow division of 175
Uttar Pradesh is satisfactory but, if we compare disposal percentage of these District Forums than we can definitely say that performance of nine District Forums i.e. Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Aurraiya, Barabanki, Deoria, Jhansi, Kanpur Nagar, Lucknow-II and Sultanpur is not very satisfactory. 3. Out of total 25 District Forums in 24 districts under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow division of Uttar Pradesh, District Forums of Etawah, Farukkhabad, Hardoi, Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat, Lakhimpur Kheri, Lalitpur, and Lucknow-I, Maharjganj, Raebareilly, Sitapur and Unnao have disposal rate higher than the overall disposal rate of 87.10 percent. 4. Out of total 25 District Forums in 24 districts under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow division of Uttar Pradesh, District Forums of Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Aurraiya, Barabanki, Deoria, Jhansi, Kanpur Nagar, Lucknow-II and Sultanpur have pendency rate higher than the overall pendency rate of 12.90 percent. 5. Analysis of Table1.1 and 1.4 reveals that all District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums in districts under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow division of Uttar Pradesh except 5 District Forums i.e. Etawah, Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat, Laitpur and Unnao is far behind in disposal of cases if we compare their performance with disposal percentage of all State/U.T. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums i.e 92.43 percent. 6. Analysis of Table1.1 and 1.3 reveals that District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums in districts under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow division of Uttar Pradesh i.e. Ambedkarnagar, Amethi, Aurraiya, Barabanki, Deoria, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kannauj, Kanpur Nagar, Khusinagar, Lucknow-II and Sultanpur are far behind in disposal of cases if we compare their performance with disposal percentage of all 79 District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums of Uttar Pradesh i.e 88.79 percent. 7. As per statistics released by National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on its official website on June 30,2017 eleven post of Presidents and nineteen posts of members were vacant in different District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums of Uttar Pradesh so, U.P. Government should take necessary steps to solve this problem. CONCLUSION Consumer Disputes Redressal agencies are playing a very important role to protect the interest of consumers by providing justice to the affected consumers. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums are facing problem of vacant post of president and/or members which is a serious issue. For example, as per statistics released by National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on its official website on June 30,2017 eleven post of Presidents and nineteen posts of members 176
were vacant in different District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums of Uttar Pradesh so, U.P. Government should take necessary steps to solve this problem. Analysis of Data makes it crystal clear that all District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums in districts under Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur and Lucknow division of Uttar Pradesh except 5 District Forums i.e. Etawah, Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat, Laitpur and Unnao are far behind in disposal of cases if we compare their performance with disposal percentage of all State/U.T. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums i.e. 92.43 percent. There is still need of agencies working at state level to dispose of the pending cases as early as possible by creating additional benches and by introducing evening shifts to ensure timely justice to consumers. REFERENCES 1. Mehta, D.S. (1992), Changing Faces of Indian Consumers, Hindustan Times, May 2, p. 20. 2. Bhavet (2010), An Anaysis of Performance of Consumer Disputes Redressal Agencies with special reference to state of Uttrakhand of India, SDCM Journal of Management, Vol.1(1), July, pp.63-74 3. Tangade, F. Shrimant and Basavaraj, C. S. (2004), Awareness and Perception of Educated Consumer about Consumer Protection Laws, Indian Journal of Marketing, April, pp.3-6 4. Bhavet (2012), An Analysis of Working and Performance of District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums in India, MMU Journal of Management Practices, Vol.6(1) January-June, pp.37-43 5. Unpublished records of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi 6. Bhavet (2013), A Study of Working and Performance of District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums in State of Andhra Pradesh, Shree Ram Institute s International Journal of Commerce and Management, Vol.1(1) June, pp 69-70 7. Unpublished records of Uttar Pradesh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Lucknow 177