Govt to pay upto Rs 5,000 fee of empanelled mediators in consumer cases

The Consumer Affairs Ministry said on Friday that empanelled mediators in consumer cases will now be paid a fee between Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 by the government which will lead to the settlement of more complaints through mediation cells. An official release said that the ministry has taken this decision after a series of consultations with various stakeholders, and during regional workshops held in northeastern and northern states. 

The official release informed that Consumer Welfare Fund Guidelines have been amended and now Section IV Purpose (m) of the updated guidelines includes reimbursement of legal expenses incurred by a complainant, or class of complainants in a consumer dispute, after its final adjudication.

It said that the amount of dispute, or the fee of the mediator as set by the President of the Commission, or the fees prescribed in the table below, whichever is least, shall be paid to the mediator from the interest accrued on the Consumer Welfare (Corpus) Fund, established with co-contribution from the state and the Department of Consumer Affairs.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 for the speedy, hassle-free, and, inexpensive redressal of consumer complaints has provided the provision of settlement of consumer disputes through Mediation under Chapter V. With regard to it the Department have notified Consumer Protection (Mediation) Rules, 2020 on July 15th, 2020, and the Consumer Protection (Mediation) Regulations 2020 were notified by the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission on July 24th, 2020.

It informed that most of the Consumer Commissions have set up mediation cells and have also empanelled mediators. Currently, there are 247 mediators empanelled in the State Commissions and 1387 in the District Consumer Commissions all over India. 

The Department observed that a substantial number of cases are not resolved through mediation, and it held deliberations on this issue during the Regional Workshops held in the North-Eastern States and the Northern States. It also held various stakeholder consultations with Voluntary Consumer Organizations and Alternate Dispute Redressal Agencies working in the country.

Among the several issues, the main issue resulting in non-satisfactory results in the redressal of cases through mediation is the fee of the mediator. The parties in the disputes are observed to be reluctant in paying the fees of the mediator which results in unsuccessful conduct of the mediation process. To resolve this issue department furnishes suggestions and comments from all the State Consumer Commissions. On the basis of the deliberations held, and suggestions and comments furnished the government said that it has decided to pay the fees of the empanelled mediator from the corpus of the Consumer Welfare Fund. 

The amendment guidelines are available on the Departmental website — consumeraffairs.nic.in