A President and at least two members in every district: the forum a delayed Kerala passenger plans to take the railways to

Background

An engineer from Kanhangad has said he will take the Indian Railways to the consumer court after a train delay of eight hours cost him a business meeting and money. The forum he means is the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, known in short as the District Commission. Section 28 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 requires the State Government to establish such a commission in every district of the State by notification. The same section allows a State to set up more than one District Commission in a single district if it thinks fit. Each District Commission is made up of a President and not fewer than two members, the number being prescribed in consultation with the Central Government. The 2019 Act replaced the older consumer law and built a three-tier structure of District, State and National Commissions. A consumer who is unhappy with a service can file a complaint before the District Commission without engaging a lawyer.