Coimbatore: 'COVID-19' virus outbreak has hit the functioning of the Consumer court hard and more than 1,000 cases are currently pending.
Coimbatore: 'COVID-19' virus outbreak has hit the functioning of the Consumer court hard and more than 1,000 cases are currently pending.
At present no new cases are being filed and orders on pending cases have not been pronounced. Hence the number of cases would be mounting when the court starts to function normally.
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum at Coimbatore is located inside the District Collectorate premises. Consumer court has been set up with one president, two members and 10 staff. On an average each month 30 to 40 new cases would be filed. On the other side orders would be pronounced on nearly 30 cases.
The way in which the orders are pronounced gives perfect compensation to the affected consumers and this has in turn helped to increase awareness. More consumers have now started showing interest to approach the consumer court to get justice. The 'COVID-19' outbreak has hit the court functioning hard, as a result of which no new cases can be filed and orders cannot be pronounced.
Consumer court sources said, "There are more than 1,000 cases pending before the court. The normal functioning has been affected due to the 'COVID-19' outbreak. At present no cases are filed and no orders have been pronounced. Once the consumer court starts to function normally then new cases will mount and as a result of which all the staff members will be under severe work burden. Already out of the total 10 staff postings, 3 posts are vacant. Unlike the other sectors, implementing an online system is difficult due to many ground level difficulties", sources said.