Consumer complaints and RTI in India: helpline 1915, e-Jagriti and RTI Online

How to complain about a shop, company or service provider, how to claim compensation, and how to ask any government office for information under the Right to Information Act. Every link goes to an official government website.

Consumer complaints: National Consumer Helpline, 1915

If a product is faulty, a service is not delivered, you were overcharged or a refund is refused, first complain to the company in writing. If that does not work:

• Call the National Consumer Helpline on 1915, or register the complaint at consumerhelpline.gov.in (also on WhatsApp and the NCH app). The helpline takes the complaint up with the company, and many are settled this way, without a case.
• Keep the bill, the warranty card, and copies of emails and messages with the company.

Claiming compensation: consumer commissions

To claim a refund, replacement or compensation, file a case with a consumer commission. It can be filed online on e-Jagriti, and you do not need a lawyer.

• District commission: claims up to ₹50 lakh, in the district where you live or work, or where the company has an office.
• State commission: claims over ₹50 lakh and up to ₹2 crore, and appeals against district orders.
• National commission: claims over ₹2 crore, and appeals against state orders.
• File within two years of the problem. The fee is nil for claims up to ₹5 lakh and small above that.

The rules are on the website of the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Right to Information (RTI)

Under the Right to Information Act, 2005, any citizen can ask a government office for information it holds, such as the status of an application, how money was spent or why a decision was taken, without giving a reason.

• Central government offices (ministries, railways, banks owned by the government, central universities and others): apply on RTI Online. The fee is ₹10, paid online.
• State government offices (including the district collector, police, municipal and panchayat offices): use the state's RTI portal where it has one (the table below), or send a letter to the office's Public Information Officer (PIO) with the state's fee.
• People below the poverty line pay no fee; attach a copy of the BPL card.
• The office must reply within 30 days, or 48 hours where a person's life or liberty is at stake.
• If there is no reply, or the reply is not satisfactory, appeal to the office's first appellate authority within 30 days, then to the state information commission, or for central offices the Central Information Commission.

RTI in each state and union territory

See also: health help, help for senior citizens and disability support.

Sources: Department of Consumer Affairs; Consumer Protection Act, 2019; Right to Information Act, 2005; Department of Personnel and Training. Links checked November 2026.