Digital Consumer Justice or Paperwork by Another Name? My e-Jagriti Experience in Delhi
By Adv. Amarjeet Singh, Founder, PRAN Foundation
India has made significant progress in digitising access to justice. The introduction of e-Jagriti was expected to make consumer dispute redressal faster, easier and more accessible.
But sometimes, the real test of a digital system is not the launch presentation or the portal interface. It is what happens when an actual consumer complaint is filed.
My recent experience of filing a consumer complaint for a client before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, South-East Delhi left me with serious questions about how far we have really travelled from paper-based consumer justice.
The first problem: Which Commission?
I filed the complaint through e-Jagriti.
One would expect that after entering the relevant jurisdictional details, the system would either:
automatically identify the appropriate Consumer Commission; or
provide a clear, intuitive list of the relevant commissions from which the correct one could be selected.
That did not happen.
The complaint ended up being filed before DCDRC South-East Delhi-I, whereas the appropriate forum was DCDRC South-East Delhi-II.
There was no obvious system-based mechanism that prevented this error at the filing stage.
The complaint remained there for several days before it was returned with the observation that the wrong Commission had been selected.
So the process had already consumed valuable time before the actual scrutiny of the complaint even began.
For an experienced advocate, this is frustrating. For an ordinary consumer trying to navigate the system without legal assistance, it can be considerably worse.
Then came the second submission
After the complaint was returned, I submitted it again to DCDRC South-East Delhi-II.
This time, the complaint remained under scrutiny for several days.
Eventually, I was asked to submit hard copies at the Commission.
That was the point where the promise of digital consumer justice began to look rather different from the reality.
I had already prepared and submitted the complaint electronically.
Yet I now had to physically travel to the Commission carrying three sets of the complaint and accompanying documents.
I visited the Commission on 20 August 2026 for the physical submission.
And then came another practical hurdle.
During scrutiny, it was pointed out that one page was missing from the set.
That can happen. Documents can be missed.
The bigger problem was what happened next.
There was no convenient facility at the Commission to print or photocopy the missing page.
I requested assistance in getting a printout/copy made, but there was no facility available to do so.
I therefore had to leave the premises and travel to the nearby Katwaria Sarai market to get the required copy.
Only after returning could the filing process move forward.
This is not about one missing page
Someone might reasonably say:
"The advocate missed one page. Why blame the system?"
Fair point.
But that misses the larger issue.
A modern consumer justice system should be designed around accessibility, efficiency and convenience.
If a document is filed electronically, the system should ideally identify missing documents before the litigant has to travel to the Commission.
If physical submission is still mandatory, the Commission should at least have basic facilities such as:
printing;
photocopying;
scanning;
document uploading;
assistance for correcting filing defects; and
clear guidance regarding scrutiny requirements.
These are not extravagant demands.
They are basic requirements for a system that claims to be moving towards digital justice.
What exactly are we digitising?
This experience raises a fundamental question:
Are we actually digitising consumer justice—or merely digitising the first step of a paper-based process?
A genuinely digital consumer filing system should ideally work something like this:
File online → automated jurisdiction check → document checklist → defect notification → online correction → scrutiny → registration → notice → hearings → orders → compliance.
Instead, the experience can become:
File online → select the wrong Commission → wait → complaint returned → file again → wait for scrutiny → travel to Commission → carry three paper sets → discover missing page → search for photocopy shop → return → submit papers.
That is not end-to-end digital justice.
It is digital entry followed by physical bureaucracy.
The problem is bigger for consumers
As an advocate, I could manage this.
I could prepare multiple sets.
I could travel to the Commission.
I could locate a photocopy shop.
I could understand what the scrutiny objection meant.
But what about an ordinary consumer?
Consider a senior citizen pursuing a defective product complaint.
Or a consumer from another district.
Or a person with a disability.
Or someone who has never visited a Consumer Commission before.
Or someone who cannot afford to take a day off work simply to submit documents that have already been uploaded electronically.
For such people, every additional physical step becomes a potential barrier to justice.
And consumer disputes are often about relatively modest amounts of money. The system must therefore ensure that the cost and inconvenience of pursuing justice do not become disproportionate to the claim itself.
And this is Delhi
Perhaps the most troubling part of my experience was the location and condition of the Commission itself.
The Consumer Commission is located in the Qutub Institutional Area.
The overall accessibility and physical infrastructure do not create the impression of a modern, citizen-centric justice delivery system.
And this is Delhi—the national capital.
If consumer commissions in the national capital face such infrastructural and procedural difficulties, one can only imagine the challenges faced by consumers in smaller cities, districts and remote areas.
Digitalisation was supposed to reduce these geographical barriers.
Instead, if the digital process ultimately requires physical visits, multiple paper sets and local printing facilities, much of that benefit is lost.
Consumer justice should not depend on a photocopy shop
There is something deeply ironic about a supposedly digital consumer justice process ending with an advocate searching for a photocopy shop.
The problem is not the photocopy.
The problem is what the photocopy represents.
It represents a system caught between two models:
The old paper-based system
and
the new digital system.
We need to move beyond simply putting forms online.
Digital transformation should redesign the process itself.
What should change?
1. Automatic jurisdiction identification
e-Jagriti should use the information entered by the complainant to identify the appropriate District Consumer Commission wherever possible.
If multiple forums are possible, the portal should clearly explain the jurisdictional options.
2. Clear Commission names and mapping
The portal should provide simple, consumer-friendly descriptions of each Commission rather than leaving users to figure out which similarly named commission is applicable.
3. Pre-submission document validation
Before allowing final submission, the system should check whether mandatory documents/pages have been uploaded.
A simple document checklist could prevent many physical defects.
4. Online scrutiny objections
If a complaint has a defect, the litigant should receive a clear online objection:
Document missing → upload replacement → resubmit → scrutiny completed.
There should be no unnecessary physical visit merely to rectify a minor documentary defect.
5. No unnecessary multiple hard copies
If the complaint and documents are already available electronically, the requirement of three physical sets should be reconsidered.
If physical copies are legally necessary for a particular stage, the system should clearly explain why and when they are required.
6. Basic facilities at Consumer Commissions
Until the transition to a genuinely paperless system is complete, every Consumer Commission should have basic litigant facilities:
Printing. Photocopying. Scanning. Internet access. Document assistance. Drinking water. Proper seating. Clear signage.
Consumer justice infrastructure should not be treated as an afterthought.
7. Track the filing journey
A consumer should be able to see:
Submitted → Under Scrutiny → Defect Raised → Defect Rectified → Registered → Notice Issued → Hearing → Order.
Transparency reduces uncertainty and unnecessary visits.
The larger question
India has built impressive digital platforms for many public services.
Consumer dispute redressal should be no different.
The purpose of e-Jagriti should not merely be to replace a physical filing counter with an online upload button.
The objective should be to remove unnecessary friction from the entire consumer justice journey.
A consumer should not need legal expertise merely to understand which Commission to select.
A consumer should not have to wait several days to discover that the complaint was filed before the wrong forum because the portal did not adequately guide the user.
A consumer should not have to travel to a Commission simply because a page was missing from an electronically submitted document.
And an advocate should certainly not have to leave a Consumer Commission to find a photocopy shop to complete a supposedly digital filing.
A personal experience—but a systemic question
This article is not intended as criticism of individual Commission staff. The difficulties I experienced are symptoms of a larger institutional problem.
Staff working within the existing system also operate within the infrastructure, rules and processes available to them.
The question therefore is not:
"Who is responsible for this inconvenience?"
The better question is:
"How do we redesign the system so that this inconvenience does not occur in the first place?"
That is the real promise of digitalisation.
PRAN's view
At PRAN Foundation, we believe that consumer protection is meaningful only when consumers can actually access the remedies available to them.
Digitising consumer justice is welcome.
But digitalisation must be measured by the reduction in barriers faced by consumers—not by the existence of an online portal.
The ultimate test should be simple:
Can an ordinary consumer file, correct, track and pursue a consumer complaint without unnecessary physical visits, paperwork and procedural confusion?
If the answer is still "not always", then the job of digital transformation is not finished.
e-Jagriti is an important step forward. But e-Jagriti should not become e-file-and-then-come-with-three-hard-copies.
India needs a consumer justice system that is not merely digital at the front end, but accessible, efficient and genuinely paperless from filing to final relief.
Because justice delayed by a defective process is still a problem—even when the first click was digital.
About PRAN Foundation
PRAN Foundation (Policy Research Action Network Foundation) works on consumer rights, legal awareness, public policy, access to justice and public-interest interventions.
By Adv. Amarjeet Singh, Founder, PRAN Foundation
Disclaimer: This article is based on the author's personal experience of filing a consumer complaint and reflects observations and opinions regarding the filing process and consumer justice infrastructure. It is not intended to attribute individual misconduct to any particular officer or staff member.
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