Project of Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Summary Report – March 2016

National Consumer Helpline

Centre for Consumer Studies, Indian Institute of Public Administration,

Indraprastha Estate, Ring Road, New Delhi-110002

Toll-free Number: 1800-11-4000, SMS: 8130009809

Email: web@nationalconsumerhelpline.in, Website: www.nationalconsumerhelpline.in

NCH – March 2016

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National Consumer Helpline – March 2016

In the month of March 2016, National Consumer helpline handled 17, 854

calls, which includes complaints registered on NCH Website as well as sms

received. Out of this, 12,865 calls were handled at Toll free number, 976

outbound calls were made, and 4989 complaints were reported on NCH

Website against various companies. This is the highest count that NCH has

handled in its 11 years of operation.

The count of calls to the helpline surged between 15th March 2016 to 22nd

March 2016, as the citizen received SMS from Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting in English & Hindi. “As a consumer do you have a grievance?

Please call National Consumer Helpline Number 1800-11-4000 for guidance.

Jago Grahak Jago’. Call to the helpline number was made by recipients of

these messages to enquire about NCH service.

The maximum numbers of calls were from Uttar Pradesh – 2932 calls,

forming 16.42% of total calls. The rest of the top five states are Delhi,

Maharashtra West Bengal and Haryana registering between 15% to 6% of

total calls.

For the first time, The „E-commerce‟ sector contributed the highest -18.22%

of the calls i.e. 3253. Products Sector was at second position with 18.11% of

the total calls. The rest of the top five sectors are „Telecom‟, „Banking‟ and

„Automobiles‟ registering between 17% to 3% of total calls. This is the first

time that E-commerce stands at first position. This is reflective of the growth

in the e-commerce sector.

22 sessions on various topics were held in the „Continual Consumer

Education‟ series every morning.

Feedback on counseling services averaged a score of 4.01 out of 5. Out of

114 respondents, 75% have said that they are very satisfied and will

recommend NCH counseling service to others.

Convergence - Responses to complaints/ feedback received for March 2016

are 4050. Out of this, 3960 complaints were responded to, by various

companies under convergence and response percentage stands at 73%.

90 consumers either called back on the helpline to inform that their complaint

has been resolved or informed of the resolution of their complaint through

email or calls.

Downtime of PRI line and IT infrastructure was 37 hours and 23 minutes

(working time) during the month.

NCH – March 2016

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STATE – WISE CALLS RECEIVED AT NCH

S.No. State Calls %Age of total

calls

1 UTTAR PRADESH 2932 16.42

2 DELHI 2757 15.44

3 MAHARASHTRA 2035 11.40

4 WEST BENGAL 1218 6.82

5 HARYANA 1111 6.22

6 RAJASTHAN 1097 6.14

7 GUJARAT 1084 6.07

8 BIHAR 892 5.00

9 KARNATAKA 765 4.28

10 MADHYA PRADESH 738 4.13

Top Ten States - Calls to NCH- March 2016

NCH – March 2016

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E- Commerce18%

Products18%

Telecom17%Banking

5%

Automobiles2%

Insurance2%

DTH / Cable2%

LPG/PNG/ Petroleum

2%

Real Estate2%

Travel & Tours1%

Other Sectors31%

SECTOR- WISE CALLS

GENDER WISE CALL DISTRIBUTION

MALE

92.67%

FEMALE

7.33%

Genderwise Distribution of Calls for March 2016

MALE FEMALE

NCH – March 2016

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To ensure that high quality is maintained, training is organized every

morning for half an hour from 9 AM to 9:30 AM

In-house Training Sessions in March 2016

Sector No of Days

Topics Covered

Banking 3 Financial Inclusion Scheme by banks and queries by counselors. Credit Card and its types and grievance redressal by banks, Gold Monetization scheme by bank and Gold Loan

Legal 3 Docket Audit with information on legal calls and advise thereon. Presentation on different facets of Consumer Protection Act

NBFC 3 Frequently Asked Questions with presentation on NBFC, Gold loans given by NBFC.

E-Commerce 1 FAQs and Jurisdiction of ecommerce complaints. Clarification of Queries & Doubts of Counselors

Legal Metrology

1 Session on legal Metrology was taken by external expert who has given answers to queries of NCH Counselors.

Airlines 1 Frequently Asked Questions on Airlines and issues regarding refund, luggage etc.

Automobiles 1 Complaints related to Dealers/ service centre and role of Financer in Automobiles complaints

Mediation centre

1 Mediation Centre Basics & how consumer complaint and other cases can be taken up by Delhi Dispute Resolution Society - Mediation Centre

Quality Standards

1 Information on Quality Marks approved by Government such ISI, Hallmark & other Quality mark

Misleading Advertisement

1 ASCI - cases upheld /not upheld and detailed discussion on queries received by counselors

Insurance 1 Gadget Insurance and Questions Answers by Counselors on third party insurance

Quality of Calls & Data

5 Call Audit Observation with Docket no & voice calls. by sector experts and Supervisor. Observation on Convergence companies data capture, Consumer Satisfaction Index, Topics required by counselors on Training, General Rules on NCH Working for staff

Total 22

CONTINUAL CONSUMER EDUCATION

NCH – March 2016

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The feedback on counseling services by NCH is evaluated for to gauge the

counseling services provided. Feedback helps in getting inputs for training and

operations, as it gives the complainants perception. All complainants who have

registered their email id during the course of the call receives questionnaire

asking them to evaluate their experience of our service

Was the NCH

counsellor

helpful and

courteous?

The counselor

listened to me

effectively &

understood my

concern

The advise

given to me

was

appropriate

I will /have take

action on the

advise given

I will/have recommended

NCH to a friend or

acquaintance who needs

help

Yes 88 89 86 85 85

No 3 2 5 6 5

Not Specified 23 23 23 23 24

Out of 114 consumers, who have replied, consumer satisfaction averages 4.01

out of 5 for the month of March 2016, where 5 stand for very good and 1 stands

for extremely dissatisfied

75% of complainants, who have given this feedback, have said that they are very

satisfied and will recommend NCH counseling services to others.

The dipstick feedback taken from complainant who have received a resolution

from convergence companies and are satisfied, average 73%

Convergence Companies Non Convergence Companies

Month Total Complaints

Sent Responses received

Resolution confirmed by Complainant directly at NCH

March 2016 5420 3960 90

FEEDBACK ON COUNSELING SERVICES OF NCH

GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL@ CONVERGENCE

NCH – March 2016

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“Customer detriment can be defined as the negative outcomes for consumers relative to reasonable expectation.” At NCH, we consider only the direct, measurable financial loss in specific sectors for fresh complaints. For the month of March 2016, consumer detriment was estimated for 1353 dockets at Rs. 8,03,95,438 and later extrapolated for 5993 dockets at Rs. 43, 53,11, 607. Extrapolated total detriment value is derived by multiplying average detrimental value with no. of complaints received in respective sectors.

Sr. No Sector /Category No of DocketsTotal Detriment

Value (Rs.)

Average Detriment

Value (Rs.)

No. of

Complaints

received

Extrapolated Detriment

Value (Rs.) ( Average

Detriment X no of

complaints received

1 Real Estate 40 66826193 1670655 209 349166858

2 Banking 49 2335468 47663 389 18540756

3 Automobiles 15 1272197 84813 198 16793000.4

4 Products 491 4573233 9314 1272 11847560

5 E-Commerce 402 2715921 6756 1268 8566636

6 Legal 3 633000 211000 38 8018000

7 others-Service 12 465689 38807 141 5471846

8 Health Insurance 1 123000 123000 41 5043000

9 Education 12 247450 20621 144 2969400

10 Life Insurance 4 102903 25726 74 1903706

11 Travel & Tours 24 456129 19005 88 1672473

12 Placement Services 11 255220 23202 66 1531320

13 Postal 18 152089 8449 139 1174465

14 Medical Negligence 1 14000 14000 63 882000

15 Electricity 5 28282 5656 141 797552

16 Telecom 169 71501 423 1010 427314

17 Packers & Movers 9 97895 10877 20 217544

18 LPG/PNG 3 2985 995 144 143280

19 Railways 4 7700 1925 40 77000

20 Weights & Measures 44 7534 171 148 25340

21 DTH / Cable 4 654 164 115 18803

22 Courier /Cargo 18 5465 304 51 15484

23 Food 13 756 58 76 4420

24 Drugs & Cosmetics 1 175 175 22 3850

Total 1353 80395438 59420 5993 435311607

Real Estate is always at the top because the value (in Rupees) per transaction is

generally the highest amongst all sectors.

CONSUMER DETRIMENT

NCH – March 2016

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Complaints are forwarded to NCH through PG Portal www.pgportal.gov.in . The status of

complaints received in the month of March 2016 is as under:

No. Complaints

Received

Not Pertaining to

NCH

Closed Pending

115 1 93 22

On the occasion of the world consumer rights Day, a Workshop on Consumer

Education was organized by NCH, Centre for Consumer Studies on

15th March 2016 in the Conference Hall of Indian Institute of Public

Administration, New Delhi. Discussion on two topics - Safe & “Healthy food:

Antibiotics off the menu” and “Consumers & Financial market: Risk & Returns”

was organized. The topic of the World Consumer Rights Day 2016 was

„Antibiotics off the Menu‟. The first session gave an overview on the importance

and need for eating safe and healthy food and how adulterated food is affecting

our life and health to such an extent that antibiotics for simple infections may not

be effective on human beings in the years to come. The second session was

focused on Consumer and Financial Market: Risk and Return. The speakers for

the second session were invited from Bajaj Capital Ltd – a financial services

company. The second session emphasized on consistent and systematic

investment and financial planning to meet inflation and future challenges.

WORKSHOP ON SAFE & HEALTHY FOOD: ANTIBIOTICS

OFF THE MENU AND CONSUMER AND FINANCIAL

MARKET: RISK AND RETURN

STATUS OF PG PORTAL COMPLAINTS