Date:22/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/22/stories/2008032253860500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Just a click away from the consumer court

Raghava M.

Proceedings of 20 district consumer forums in the State can be viewed on the website
Ministry wants to bring in transparency and efficiency in the working of consumer forums

BANGALORE: You no longer have to wait for days to see the fate of the case filed by you before the consumer courts. Just enter the website (http://confonet.nic.in) and see the judgement on the very day it is passed by the court.

In a move that will reach consumer courts to the doorsteps of the consumer, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has put in place a system that will help consumers know about the cases in various consumer courts in the country. The proceedings of 20 district consumer forums in the State can be seen on the website.

Under the Computerisation and Computer Networking of Consumer Forums in Country (CONFONET) project, the Ministry wants to bring in e-governance, transparency and efficiency in the working of consumer forums. Entering the website, the consumer will be able to see the judgements and the cases listed for the day (case dairy) in the district consumer forums, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. A new feature facilitating online filing of complaints is also being introduced.

In Karnataka, each of the 30 district consumer forums has been provided with three computers and broadband facility. They are provided with software designed by the National Informatics Centre, which is also used by other courts across the country. The entire working of the consumer forums, including the orders passed, the next hearing dates, judgements and the compensation amount deposited before the forums will be made available on the website. The NIC is providing resource personnel to help consumer forums to upload the judgements and case diary to the website.

Of the district consumer forums, only 20 have been able to provide the information. “The NIC’s regional centre has not been able to oversee the work of the resource personnel,” said an officer looking into the functioning of the consumer courts. The State Consumer Commission, which has its own website is yet to be linked with the network.