Do not give up on your Consumer Grievance – Here is a quick guide for you

How many times have you been cheated in terms of quality, quantity or price when you have bought a product? Has a service you have paid for proved deficient in some way? How many times have you got satisfactory resolution to your problem? And how many times have you just let go, or given up? As a consumer, it is not just your Right to get redressal for your grievance, it is also your Duty to call out all such product/service providers. Here is a quick guide to what you can do when you have a consumer grievance.

Contact CERC to help you solve your Consumer Complaints

We, at Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), have dedicated ourselves for the last 47 years, to helping you protect your Consumer Rights. Our 360o approach has helped many consumers get their small and big grievances resolved. We have a well-established multi-step complaints resolution mechanism to help you get redressal for any consumer grievance that you may have.

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Toll-free Consumer Helpline -1800 233 0332- (Monday to Friday – 10am to 5:30pm) – The CERC Helpline team listens to your complaint and gives you guidance on who and how to approach for your complaint.

Consumer Advice Centre – Here, consumers are provided with pre-purchase advice on goods and services and helped with their post-purchase complaints.

Complaints and Mediation Dept. – This team makes effort to help you get redress through mediation. On receipt of your complaints, companies are approached for solving your problem. If required, face to face mediation with both parties is undertaken for better understanding and resolution.

Legal Aid and Litigation – Our legal team takes your consumer cases all the way from District, State and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions to the Supreme Court for getting you justice. When mediation fails to resolve an issue, complaints can be filed in consumer courts by our lawyers, where CERC becomes the first party to your case lending weight and credence to the matter.

Contact us
Consumer Education and Research Centre
“Grahak Suraksha Kendra”, 801, Sakar 2, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad – 380006
Email – complaints@cercindia.org
Helpline – 1800 233 0332 (Monday to Friday – 10am to 5:30pm)

Other Options for Redress

You can get resolution for your consumer grievances in several ways. However, it is best to go step by step for grievance redressal. Given here are various ways in which you can get your consumer complaints resolved.

Approach the manufacturer/seller, service provider – First contact the seller or manufacturer/service provider with your complaint regarding their product or service. You can contact their Customer Care or write/email to them. Many times, you will get successful resolution to your complaint. However, if your complaint to them is met with silence or the company refuses to act on it, remember that you are not alone or helpless. There are other avenues available for you to pursue grievance redressal.
Do not hesitate to write to the top management of the company, if you get unsatisfactory response from down the line. Often, the top management is committed to consumer satisfaction.

Approach a Consumer Organisation – You can approach a Voluntary Consumer Organisation (VCO) to resolve your complaint through mediation. In many cases, complaints are resolved through mediation, and the hassle and expense of litigation can be avoided. We at CERC are at your service to help you get redressal.

Approach a Consumer Court – If mediation efforts fail, Consumer Organisations can also help you to file and litigate your complaint in a consumer court, saving you time and effort.
You can also approach consumer courts directly. Option for e-filing of consumer complaint is now available at https://e-jagriti.gov.in/

Contact the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) – You can lodge your complaint on the NCH portal through the various options provided on it. (https://consumerhelpline.gov.in/)

Use Social Media – You can post your grievance on Facebook or Twitter (now X) of the company. Quite often, you will receive a prompt response.

Escalate your complaint to Regulatory Bodies – You can escalate your complaint to Sector specific Regulatory Authorities like the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), etc.