Conceptual illustration: A generic shopping receipt and parcel beside a formal complaint folder and small scales of justice. Headline: FILE A CONSUMER COMPLAINT.

AI-generated illustration by CyberShitty. Not a photograph or a document from the organisations named.

Consumer commissions decide complaints about defective goods, poor service and unfair trade practices, including by e-commerce sites, banks and online course sellers. Since January 2025 all of them, district, state and national, work through one portal, e-Jagriti, run by the Department of Consumer Affairs.

You can file yourself without a lawyer. Before that, the National Consumer Helpline (1915) can often get a company to settle without a case.

Use it when

A seller or service provider took your money and did not deliver, delivered something defective, or refuses a refund it owes you.
The company's own customer care and the National Consumer Helpline did not resolve it.

Not the right tool when

Criminal fraud by a scammer: call 1930 and file on cybercrime.gov.in.
Service problems with a bank, NBFC or wallet: the RBI Ombudsman is free and often faster.

Keep this ready

Bills, receipts and proof of payment
Your emails, chats and complaints to the company, and your National Consumer Helpline docket number if you used it
The company's name and address
What you want: refund, replacement, compensation
A notarised affidavit, which e-Jagriti requires with the complaint

Step by step

Try the National Consumer Helpline first: call 1915 (8am–8pm), WhatsApp or SMS 8800001915, or use consumerhelpline.gov.in or the NCH app. It forwards your grievance to the company.
If that fails, register on e-Jagriti with your mobile number and email and verify by OTP.
Choose the commission by the amount you paid: District Commission up to ₹50 lakh, State Commission from ₹50 lakh to ₹2 crore, National Commission above ₹2 crore.
Fill in the complaint, upload your documents and the notarised affidavit, and pay the fee if one applies. The portal's help documents and videos show each screen.
Track the case on the portal and attend hearings, which can be online or in person depending on the commission.

What happens next

The commission issues notice to the company, hears both sides and passes an order, which you can download from the portal.
There is no fixed date for a decision in the portal's guidance.

Know the limits

Filing is free for complaints up to ₹5 lakh at the District Commission. Above that, fees start at ₹200 and rise with the amount.
You can file for a relative or friend only with their written authorisation.
File without long delays; consumer law sets a time limit from when the problem arose.