Mediation can speed up consumer justice: Telangana HC Acting CJ

Winning a case was not the only measure of success, Justice Koshy said.

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court Acting Chief Justice P Sam Koshy has urged stakeholders to “first mediate instead of litigate” in consumer disputes, saying the real success in consumer protection lies in a consumer getting a fair remedy without spending years chasing it.

Winning a case was not the only measure of success, Justice Koshy said at an awareness programme here on Saturday, November 7. Mediation, he said, could bring the law closer to that ideal and efforts should be made to promote it as a tool for settling consumer disputes.

“This should not be understood as a retreat from adjudication, or the court procedure, but as an effort to reserve adjudication for disputes that require authoritative determination,” he said.

The programme, “Mediation in Practical and Functional Perspective in Consumer Disputes,” was organised by the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and its bar association.

Justice Koshy took over as Acting Chief Justice last month after Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh was elevated to the Supreme Court.

Mediation at complaint stage

High Court judge Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya said the Consumer Protection Act and the Mediation Act, 2023, should work as a single, coordinated system to cut delays in consumer cases. Mediation could resolve consumer disputes quickly and at low cost, she said.

Complaints over flight delays, cab services and goods purchases could be settled faster if consumers were encouraged to opt for mediation when they file the complaint, she said. She suggested that consumers approaching e-grievance portals or helplines be asked whether they are willing to try mediation.

Consumers should also be given an environment where they can freely explain their problems to a mediator in their own words, the judge said.

She proposed legal literacy camps and awareness programmes on December 24, National Consumer Day, to explain the benefits of mediation to the public.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, already allows consumer commissions to refer disputes to mediation with the consent of both parties. It also provides for mediation cells attached to the commissions.