Nearly 6 lakh cases pending in consumer commissions, over 860 posts vacant: Centre

Further data disclosed by the minister points to staff shortages, which could be a key factor behind the backlog. Against a sanctioned strength of 36 presidents and 167 members in the SCDRCs, 18 president posts and 74 member posts are currently vacant. The situation is similarly strained at the district level, where against a sanctioned strength of 637 presidents and 1,416 members, 234 president posts and 538 member posts remain vacant. The NCDRC itself has three vacancies at the member level.

Rise in SCDRC vacancies

An analysis by the India Justice Report (IJR) in its Consumer Justice Report 2026 shows that vacancies among member posts in SCDRCs worsened over the past five years (2021-25). The report notes that while eight SCDRCs had all member positions filled in 2021, only two, Haryana and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, were operating at full member strength in 2025. Vacancy levels increased in nine SCDRCs during this period, including Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Goa, Jharkhand, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.

Among the 17 SCDRCs that reported data between 2021 and 2025, West Bengal and Rajasthan had the highest sanctioned strength of 10 member posts in 2025. The report further found that, among states where sanctioned strength remained unchanged, vacancies rose most sharply in Kerala, Jharkhand and Goa. Only Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana recorded a decline in member vacancies during the period. In Uttar Pradesh, this reduction was largely due to a cut in sanctioned member posts from 10 in 2021 to four in 2025.

According to the IJR’s findings, at the 19 SCDRCs that provided data on the duration of pending cases in response to RTI requests, an average of 35 per cent of cases had been pending for more than three years. In the state commissions of Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand, 70 to 80 per cent cases were pending for more than three years. In Uttar Pradesh, 60 per cent of cases in the SCDRC had been pending for three years or more.

Mechanism to deal with vacancies

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, provides a mechanism to ensure that the functioning of district consumer commissions is not disrupted due to vacancies. Under Section 32 of the Act, if the office of the president or a member of a district commission falls vacant, the state government may issue a notification authorising another district commission to exercise jurisdiction over that district.

Alternatively, it may direct the president or a member of another district commission to discharge the functions and exercise the powers of the vacant post until the vacancy is filled. This provision is intended to ensure continuity in the adjudication of consumer disputes despite vacancies in the commissions.

The ministry said that under the 2019 Act, filling vacancies in state and district commissions is the responsibility of state governments. The Consumer Protection Rules, 2020, require states to initiate the appointment process at least six months before a vacancy arises.

It added that the appointment process for presidents and members of the state and district consumer commissions is presently governed by the proceedings in the Dr Mahendra Bhaskar Limaye matter before the Supreme Court. The Department of Consumer Affairs has filed an affidavit and a review petition, and the matter is presently sub judice before the apex court.

NCDRC’s disposal rate

The national commission’s five-year data suggests it has been steadily working down its backlog rather than adding to it. In 2021, the NCDRC took up 2,697 cases but disposed of only 1,965, leaving that year’s shortfall to carry forward. From 2022 onwards, however, the pattern reversed and disposals outpaced filings in every subsequent year, with 4,054 cases cleared against 3,655 filed in 2022, and 6,125 cleared against 5,816 filed in 2023.

The gap widened sharply in 2024, when the national commission disposed of 6,953 cases against just 4,546 filed, a surplus of over 2,400 cases beyond that year’s fresh intake, and remained wide in 2025, with 4,908 disposed against 3,402 filed. Taken together, the NCDRC saw 20,116 cases filed and disposed of 24,005 cases over the five-year period.

Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh figured among the states with the heaviest caseloads through the five-year period (2021-2025), while Union territories such as Ladakh and Lakshadweep recorded negligible or zero filings.

Gujarat recorded the highest number of fresh cases before state commissions in 2025 with 18,280 filings, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 16,550 cases and Maharashtra with 16,434 cases. Haryana and Kerala also reported high volumes, with 12,385 and 12,018 fresh cases, respectively. These states have consistently featured among the highest contributors to consumer litigation in recent years.