The forum is fixed by the value of what you paid, and getting it wrong costs you months. A complaint filed in the wrong commission is returned, and the two years in Section 69 keeps running while you re-file.
| Commission | Value of the consideration paid | Appeal goes to |
|---|---|---|
| District | Up to 50 lakh rupees | State Commission |
| State | Above 50 lakh and up to 2 crore | National Commission |
| National | Above 2 crore | Supreme Court |
Where those figures come from
Section 34(1) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 gives the District Commission jurisdiction where the value of the goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed one crore rupees, and then adds a proviso: where the Central Government deems it necessary so to do, it may prescribe such other value as it deems fit. The Central Government used that proviso. The figures in the table above are the prescribed ones and they are what the registry applies today, not the one crore in the bare section. Anyone quoting the section without the notification is quoting a number that is no longer operated.
Two jurisdictions, not one
Pecuniary jurisdiction is only half of it. Section 34(2) separately fixes territorial jurisdiction, and a complaint has to satisfy both. Filing in the right-value commission in the wrong city fails just as completely as the reverse.
What to check before you file
- The consideration actually paid, evidenced by the invoice, receipt or bank statement
- Whether the payment was in instalments, in which case the total paid is the figure
- The date the cause of action arose, because Section 69 allows two years from that date
- Whether you are a consumer at all under Section 2(7), which excludes goods or services obtained for a commercial purpose
On that last point, the commercial-purpose exclusion in Section 2(7) is where a surprising number of complaints die. It has an explanation carved out for goods bought and used for the purpose of earning a livelihood by means of self-employment, which is what keeps the small trader inside the Act. A company buying equipment for its business is generally outside it, and its remedy is a civil suit or arbitration.