Archive · 7 Sep 2026
Consumer Commissions Face Vacancies, Massive Case Backlogs Across India
Consumer commissions are bodies that help people solve complaints about products and services.
Many of these bodies do not have enough leaders or members.
Ten state commissions are without a president, and 19 have member vacancies.
Three states have no working members at all.
Because of this, thousands of cases are waiting for decisions.
Maharashtra has more than 34,000 pending cases.
Some cases have been waiting since the 1990s.
The report says low pay, few job applications and uncertainty over appointment rules are among the reasons for the vacancies.
This makes it harder for consumers to receive decisions quickly.
Ten state consumer commissions reportedly lack presidents, while 19 commissions have member vacancies.
Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh have no working members in their state commissions.
Maharashtra has more than 34,000 pending cases, followed by Uttar Pradesh with over 15,000.
Some of the oldest pending cases date to 1994 in Maharashtra, 1995 in Kerala and 2000 in Uttar Pradesh.
The report links vacancies, limited applications, uncertain appointment procedures and inconsistent pay rules to slow case disposal.
- Who
- State consumer commissions, state governments, consumers and a panel of amici curiae appointed by the court.
- What
- A report found widespread vacancies in consumer commissions and large backlogs of unresolved cases.
- When
- The report describes vacancies and pending cases through the period covered by the inquiry; some vacancies date from 2015 onward.
- Where
- Across India, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Kerala, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.
- Why
- Vacancies, low attractiveness of posts, inconsistent service conditions and uncertainty about the appointment process have slowed case disposal.
- Presidential vacancies
- Ten state consumer commissions reportedly have no president.
- Member vacancies
- Nineteen state commissions reported vacancies among members.
- Zero working strength
- Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh have no working members in their commissions.
- Largest backlog
- Maharashtra has more than 34,000 pending cases.
- Other major backlogs
- Uttar Pradesh has more than 15,000 pending cases, Karnataka has a little over 9,000, and Haryana has about 8,700.
- Oldest cited cases
- The oldest pending cases date to 1994 in Maharashtra, 1995 in Kerala and 2000 in Uttar Pradesh.
- Order-upload delays
- 460 Karnataka orders and 805 Maharashtra orders across the Mumbai and Nashik benches had not been uploaded after more than six months.