Tirupur dist to get consumer redress forum by March

Tirupur: After a long wait, the Tirupur district consumer disputes redress forum (DCDRF) will soon be opened as the state government has sanctioned funds to establish a facility for the same.
Though the Madras high court in 2015 directed to establish the forum, it took several months for the government to finalise the project.

Around 700 cases, under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, related to various goods and services categories are filed from Tirupur district every year. Most of the cases would be preferred before the Coimbatore DCDRF and the rest of the cases would be filed before the Erode DCDRF.

Though Tirupur district was formed in 2009, the government has failed to establish the forum in the district. A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed before the high court seeking its intervention. The high court directed the government to establish the forum in Tirupur and Ariyalur districts within eight weeks, said N Shanmughasundaram, joint secretary, Federation of Consumers’ Organization Society.

The government too passed an order in the assembly but it is likely to be realized in Tirupur now only. The authorities have identified a building at Sengunthapuram on Mangalam Road, where the forum will start functioning from March. They will soon fix a date for inauguration, said sources.

Apart from appointing a retired trial court judge as president of the forum, a team of head clerk, two office assistants, one junior assistant and stenographer were also sanctioned for the forum as per norms.

Shanmughasundaram said: “As Coimbatore and Erode forums were burdened with handling more cases, the disposal rate was slow in many cases in both the forums. So, the consumers from Tirupur district were suffering the most. If the forum starts functioning from Tirupur, the disposal rate will increase.”

The consumer rights activists have urged the judiciary to transfer all the cases which were filed from Tirupur district to its forum.